The Young Professionals

Israel never fails to fascinate us, whether we’re drawn to it or disturbed by it. Whatever image we have of the country, the Intifada has left a feeling of urgency, an impression of dancing on a volcano. This intense desire to live and create has led to the emergence of new undercurrents comparable to the Movida in Spain in the eighties, or Berlin after the wall came down. This desire for freedom, to cast off the straightjacket of tradition, is embodied by a new generation of artists who are as talented as they are exciting. Such is the case of The Young Professionals, a band created last summer by two of the leading artists on the Israeli music scene, Ivri Lider and Johnny Goldstein.

The band defines itself as follows: “We are The Young Professionals. We create something new, always based on something old. Through sound, words, visuals and materials, we try to communicate, with you, with others, with ourselves. TYP tries to define a new kind of a band, with music as its main passion, alongside other talented artists in various fields – Net Art, Design, Video and more.”

Their music is a mixture of pop and electro, sometimes dark, sometimes upbeat. Their first album, “9:00 to 17:00, 17:00 to Whenever”, is the product of an original concept whereby each track is intended to accompany an hour in the day of a young professional: from the barely awake email check, to morning coffee, a drive to the office, lunch break to dinner, straight through to the bar, club and after-party.

With great intelligence, this English language album underlines the conflicts of modern urban existence, the duality of life that we express through our everyday stress: we live, love and hate it all at the same time. This is an album that deals with lightning emotions and movements, the inevitable result of a “young professional’s” way of life.

The band’s most surprising achievement is somehow constantly bridging the gap between the ultra-cool and the more mainstream… they create and surf between the two like a dancer performing the splits, a difficult feat not everyone can accomplish, but always guaranteed to impress. For example, in the same week they might organize a live happening for the opening of the new Tel Aviv Museum of Art and follow up with a showcase at 2 o’clock in the morning in the company of super star DJ Offer Nissim in front of 6,000 people in the middle of the Israeli desert.

Forget borders and limits, with TYP everything gets mixed together, in the image of its two protagonists, who appreciate Bach as much as Blonde Redhead, Madonna, Paul Simon, Depeche Mode, U2 or Britney Spears. Their clip “Pop” is “arty” in an entertaining way, never veering into tiresome elitism; in the excellent video for “D.I.S.C.O”, kitsch flirts with high fashion and irony; the equally successful “20 Seconds”, cleverly hijacks religious and traditional Israeli references. Sophisticated but not uptight, funny but subtly so, provocative but not irreverent, thought-provoking but not tedious, this is why TYP is seen as such a “cool” band, and the reason it would be a great shame if the rest of the world didn’t get to enjoy them a little too.

“D.I.S.C.O”, the first single from “9:00 to 17:00, 17:00 To Whenever”, brilliantly samples the celebrated hit by Ottawan. Played non-stop in the gay clubs of Tel-Aviv as well as multi-synchronized on prime time TV in football match trailers, the track was an unprecedented success last summer in Israel. The clip features the incredible Uriel, a highly colourful personality and emblematic performer from Tel-Aviv (particularly at “Arisa” parties). DJs of all styles of music have also remixed the track, from Offer Nissim to Yuksek.

TYP publishes an online fanzine every month on http://issuu.com/typband. The photos on the index page are witty, arty, offbeat or totally pointless, just like the ones we take on our mobile phones or digital cameras to illustrate our lives and our Facebook pages…for in short, we are all Young Professionals…

Ivri Lider

While some artists choose to go for a solo career after a few years in a band, others take the opposite route. This was the case for Ivri Lider. Born on a kibbutz in 1974 to a Polish mother and an Argentinian father, Ivri’s texts and exceptional voice made him not only a star, but also one of the best loved and respected personalities in Israel. This multi-instrumentalist, who began his musical training on the piano at the age of 5, already boasts five certified platinum albums (200,000 CDs sold), 1 live DVD, 3 tours of more than 150 dates each…
This multi-talented artist has earned a number of awards (Artist of the Year, Concert of the Year, Best Writer/Composer in the Israeli Music Awards, Best Israeli Act at the MTV Music Awards…) In addition to his albums, Ivri also writes poetry, composes film music (“Yossi and Jagger”, “Walk On Water” and “The Bubble” by Eytan Fox and Gal Uchovsky) and has produced the music for several plays/ballet