Avidan: Misinformation regarding Israel infuriates me

Lead vocalist of the band Asaf Avidan & the Mojos tells 20 Questions of the reluctant right-wing stance he feels necessary to adopt when abroad to combat lies spread about his home country.

By DEBORAH DANAN
20 questions 58 (photo credit: courtsey)
20 questions 58
(photo credit: courtsey)
Do you feel that you’re an ambassador for Israel? Do you think music is a catalyst for social change? Having recorded a separate album with non-Mojo instrumentalists, do you feel like you’re betraying them?
This week’s 20 Questions hosts singer-songwriter Asaf Avidan, front man of the successful folk rock band, Asaf Avidan & the Mojos. Asaf’s distinct voice coupled with the Mojos’ outstanding instrumentals make listening to this band a truly unique experience. The band’s latest album “Through the Gale,” released a few weeks ago, has been heralded as the best out of the three full albums they have made so far.
RELATED:Singing up a stormHe’s got his Mojos workin’
On January 20, Asaf Avidan & the Mojos together with the Ra’anana Symphonette Orchestra performed most of “Through the Gale” to a sold-out crowd in the Tel Aviv Opera House. Some of the older songs from the first two albums “The Reckoning” and “Poor Boy/Lucky Man,” were also performed, and the conservative etiquette normally associated with opera houses was shed as people took to the aisles to dance to the edgy classical-rock combination. 
We interviewed Asaf in the band’s final rehearsal with the orchestra the day before - a time when tensions should have been peaking. Yet Asaf was relaxed as he answered reader’s questions that ranged from his personal battles with cancer to his public image as an Israeli artist abroad.
20 Questions is a new JPostPremium Contentinitiative empowering our readers to shape the content they would liketo see.Reader participation is vital and we encourage your feedback. Pleasesubmit allcomments, questions and suggestions to jpost20questions@gmail.com

 

 



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