Teder transmits Tel Aviv to Tokyo and back again

Israeli bar and cafe that houses an on-site radio station set to "pop up" in Japan for an ambitious new project.

By GIL STERN STERN KARPAS
Teder in action at the studio (photo credit: Teder.fm)
Teder in action at the studio
(photo credit: Teder.fm)
Pop-up is a word that defines the spirit of the now. Pop-up restaurants, pop-up shops and pop-up entertainment spaces are in many ways products of the festival generation. Just as festivals arrive on a site, and build a temporary village and then disappear as quickly as they arrived, so too does the “Pop-up.” From New York to London, to Paris and Tel Aviv and now Tokyo, Pop-up is all the rage and celebrates spontaneity, creativity and expression.
Teder (Hebrew for Frequency) is a pop-up radio station that has established itself as a by-word for musical quality. It originally had planned to be a roving radio station studio on wheels with a cafe and bar. However, municipality licensing restrictions across three different criterion probably meant that the original idea had to be compromised somewhat. That being said, the only apparent compromises are that the auto-mobile idea was transformed into something more of a venue-to-venue nomadic existence.
Principally located in the Allenby area of Tel Aviv, Teder is a bar and cafe that houses an on-site radio station that broadcasts three to four months twice a year. It plays host to international DJs, musicians and the best of the domestic scene. This idea is now on the move but not to the Tel Aviv Port or Jaffa Flea Market. Teder is in fact going far further afield and transporting from Tel Aviv to Tokyo There it will transmit and celebrate the advent of 60 years of Japanese-Israeli cultural and diplomatic ties.
Regular listeners to the seasonal broadcasts from Tel Aviv will know that Teder plays hosts to visiting DJs and musicians from across the globe as well as the very best of the Israeli scene. It is considered a reliable benchmark for all that is good in music, clubbing and radio.
One of the key people behind the Teder project, Zack Bar, spoke to The Jerusalem Post about the ambitious project.
What’s in store for the people of Tokyo?
"We have taken over Tokyo's Lapaz Cafe, and joined forces with pop-up design store Rafsoda Bar. We’ll set up the radio station, the gallery, the shop and have a cafe too. It will be a Tel Aviv hangout in the heart of Tokyo."
The concept is bewildering and innovative in its multidimensional aspects. Israeli food, drink, alcohol, art, clothes and design will sit shoulder to shoulder with music and radio but how did this idea first come about?
"We pitched the idea to the Israeli Embassy in Japan to make this event, which is an on-going urban type of festival with Teder Activities and we added and collaborated with Rafsoda."
This added dimension to the pop-up Tel Aviv experience, underlines that this isn’t exclusively about the Teder radio-bar-cafe experience it is more about the dynamic fusion of Israeli innovation in the modern urban environment. There, in between the static steel and concrete, lives the spirit of something fluid, creative and larger than any one particular brand.
"Rafsoda had already been working with a similar ethos but with a totally different area. They had started a pop-up gallery shop in the port of Tel Aviv. It was very successful and they showcased a lot of young and very talented Israeli designers. They were also in Paris last year at the design week and as we've also worked with them before in the last few years. It was a natural move for us. We are both similar and different but either way, we felt that it was a natural synergy to have us working together as they are also are part of that same Tel Aviv experience."
The district of Shibuya in Tokyo is densely populated, fashionable and packed full of entertainment and so provides the perfect setting for the polygonal Israeli cultural experience. There amongst the crowds, the sound of Teder will be pumping out into the urban throng and broadcasting across the web back to Tel Aviv. With such a diverse experience, one would expect that the music is also a reflection of this. What can the good people of Tokyo look forward to from the performances?
“Gilles Peterson will be playing for us in Tokyo on September 12  along with a whole host of Israeli DJs. Musically for us the spectrum is quite wide. As long as there is good, cutting edge and unique music we’re happy. I guess our music policy is best described as “good and interesting.”
When September is over, the keys will be returned to the owners of the Lapaz cafe but that isn’t the end of the story. The Teder and Rafsoda crew will board the train from Shibuya to the airport but they will be bringing with them a piece of Tokyo back to Tel Aviv. Five Japanese artists and musicians will join Teder back home for the other part of the cultural exchange. From November 1, Tokyo will be transmitting back from Tel Aviv and these two great cities will share their expressions and innovations to the world once more.