ronan steinbaum

Q: Where did you grow up?

A: I was born in Argentina. I grew up in Jerusalem, Israel and partly in a small village in south India.

Q: When and how did you get into music?

A: I started playing the guitar at the age of 12, but my first real attempts to write and compose music were about 10 years after.
My first CD entitled "Ronan Songs" is in Hebrew and was released in Israel on 2004.

Q: Name 5 of your biggest musical influences.

A: 1. Bob Dylan: not very original but still, he is the greatest lyrics writer I’ve ever heard.
2. Caetano Veloso: his melodies and harmonies with that perfect voice (especially an album called "Joya").
3. Nick Drake: he influences the way I play guitar and write.
4. Joni Mitchell: in particular an album called "Blue".
5. Lou Reed.

Q: How did you get to writing in English?

A: Most of the songs in this album were written in Paris where I spend quite some time these last 2 years. I guess being far from Israel plus feeling quite comfortable with the English language, it just came naturally.

Q: A word on the musicians you've been working with on this album.

A: First of all Gedy Ronen who produced the album with me, he's been the eyes and ears of this project, doing everything from recording to playing, editing and mixing. He's my greatest musical soul mate.
Uriel Sverdin, the drummer, is a close friend from high school, we've been playing together for many years now.
The twin brothers Eyal and Ofer Ganor, play the bass and guitar.
They are two great musicians whom I've met recently, it’s been a real lesson playing music with them.