Lider of the pack

With a solo tour underway and preparations for TYP’s 1st performance in Israel, Ivri Lider is a busy man.

By YONI COHEN
Ivri Lider and Johnny Goldstein 370 (photo credit: Ronen Ackerman)
Ivri Lider and Johnny Goldstein 370
(photo credit: Ronen Ackerman)
For most musicians the pressure of a new album and the tour accompanying it would be enough to keep them busy and their schedules full.
This isn’t the case for one of the country’s most popular singers Ivri Lider. As well as traveling the country on his “Mishu Pa’am” tour, the successful pop-rock star is also preparing for the first show in Israel of TYP (The Young Professionals) – the electronic dance music and multi-media collaboration between him and producer/keyboardist Johnny Goldstein.
In a recent phone interview with The Jerusalem Post, the popular singer talked about the successful year he’s had and his plans for the year ahead.
His latest album Mishu Pa’am (Somebody Once), which received a “Gold Record Award” for outstanding sales within three weeks of being released, was a labor of love for Lider.
“About a year a go I realized that I wanted to record a new album,” he explains. “I decided I wanted to work with the producer Yoav Nevo.”
Nevo worked on Lider’s first two albums and they stayed in touch ever since.
“I thought it would be cool to start working with him again and I went to London to record the album in his studio there,” Lider says. “It felt like it did 15 years ago. We hit it off and we wanted the same things.”
To coincide with the latest album, Lider launched a nationwide tour of intimate gigs last month with a celebratory first show at the Habima Theater in Tel Aviv. Lider explains that most of the venues for this latest tour were relatively small, holding around 800-900 people.
“These were exactly the kind of places and vibes we were looking for. Not too big and not too small.”
Following the opening show in Tel Aviv, Lider will go on to play venues such as Heichal Hatarbut in Nes Tziona on December 21, the Jerusalem Theater’s Shrober Hall on February 2 and the Herzliya Performing Arts Hall on February 16.
“These medium-sized venues allow for lots of special emotions,” Lider says. “But there is enough energy and space to enable us to perform all the up-tempo songs and dancing that goes with them.”
He explains that the particular venues chosen provide the option to perform different types of songs: “It’s like a concert with something more up-tempo built into it.”
As if Lider hadn’t been busy enough finishing off his album and preparing for the tour, he has also had a very successful year with TYP. Their first single “D.I.S.C.O.” and accompanying video became a huge hit around Europe.
Back in January, Lider and Goldstein signed a three-album deal with Universal, the world’s biggest record company, and in March they signed with American events promoter Live Nation Entertainment.
“Everything about this past year has been a highlight,” explains Lider. “Being able to work with Universal and Live Nation, meeting people there and then starting to work on our shows in Europe. It all felt like a dream.”
During the Cannes Film Festival, TYP appeared on French news/talk show Le Grand Journal, something that Lider looks back on with great pride, and played many of the big festivals.
“This is just the beginning,” he says. “We are starting to work on a new album.”
After such a positive reception in Europe, Lider and Goldstein have finally decided to bring their own unique brand of electronic dance music and multi-media show to Israel.
They will perform for the first time as TYP in Israel at Tarbuta Broadcast in Holon on December 28.
While Lider usually sings in Hebrew when performing as a solo artist, TYP has a much more international appeal and the pair perform only in English. Lider stresses, however, that he always makes sure to tell people around the world that TYP is an Israeli act. “We always say that we are from Tel Aviv.”
“For all this time we’ve been playing here and there but now we want to play in Israel,” says Lider. “We don’t see it as something that isn’t Israeli.”
“We think we have an audience [in Israel] that wants to see us. We want to meet them,” Lider says. “People are going to see the show that we perform in Paris. It is important for us that our Israeli fans enjoy it.”
Juggling two separate careers in two different languages doesn’t phase the experienced musician. He explains that TYP is a different experience to that of his solo career.
“TYP is more of a party and includes all the extra multimedia that we use, such as the visuals,” Lider says. “I never expected it to be similar to my solo career. It’s totally different. But there is a place for both. I enjoy both.”
TYP has been praised as an act that goes beyond dance music and offers something more, something that Lider thinks allows it to stand out.
“It’s not purely dance music. It’s music that makes you want to dance but it’s not just pure dance,” he explains. “It’s a different kind of vibe. It’s hard to explain.”
Lider has no plans to slow down after the busy year that he’s had.
“I am looking for new things all the time,” he says. “We want to keep on doing new projects. That’s what makes me want to wake up in the morning.”
TYP will play Tarbuta Broadcast in Holon on December 28.Tickets www.leaan.co.il