Starting in the year 2002 and continuing til now, The Apples blazed a trail in Tel Aviv, mashing scratching and Israeli music samples with James Brown style-funk rhythms and a wall of horns. We talked to one of the band’s leaders, Uri Wertheim — who also DJs and produces under the Mixmonster moniker — about the group’s origins, their unique place in the Tel Aviv scene, and about the necessity of connecting with his Israeli roots in finding his creative voice.

The Apple tree

As Wertheim explains, the Apples were born from the impulse both to follow in the path of a few of the band’s heroes, and the desire to strike out on their own sonically. “In 2002, I was working and sharing an apartment with the Ofer Tal (of The Apples), the Schoolmaster, and we were doing cut-and-paste music, like in the manner of, and influenced by DJ Shadow and Ninjatune. We were really into samples, so we were listening to a lot of James Brown, a lot of dub, and Lee Perry and King Tubby. We liked live instruments and live musicians but we also liked loops and samples.”

The concept behind the Apples, then, arrived when the bandmates decided to marry the two. “I think what made the Apples special was the live instruments,” says Wertheim. “The harmonies have been created by the horns, and the samples. It’s really strong, so you have a lot of space for the groove, the drum and the bass.”

Tel Aviv in 2002

According to Wertheim, part of the motivation behind the band’s upbeat, funky sound was a tendency toward gloomier sounds in the Israeli music scene of the late ’90s.

“I think people were looking for happy music. After Rabin’s assassination, the music on the radio became really melancholic. We used to call them Memorial Day songs, and they became mainstream,” Wertheim says.

“[By] the end of the millennium, in the underground, people wanted to be happy.”

Jew Fros and Eskimos

Early on, Wertheim and his Apples co-founder Ofer Tal realized that Israel’s own rich musical history was their secret weapon.

“In the beginning of 2000, I was into sampling,” Wertheim recalls. “And I was looking for interesting sounds, that maybe nobody sampled yet. If I found an American recording of funk or soul, there were probably 100 people, like Cut Chemist, DJ Shadow, and friends, who already got his break, who had already used it or were about to use it. Ofer Tal and I realized our secret weapon was Israeli music. We must get that there are diamonds in our own backyard.”

“I unconsciously understood by then that I could not sell ice to the Eskimo,” Wertheim says. “What I have here is sand — I can sell them sand.”

And when the band did cut-and-paste sounds from the other side of the glove — for instance, James Brown-inspired rhythms and horns — they made the appropriation clear, in their own lighthearted way. Take the eighth track on their debut album, Mitz; a song called “Jewfro.”

“We were playing funk music or afro-beat, but we’re white Jewish boys,” Werthaim says. “We’re not so tough. It was kind of an ironic title. It’s like saying, before you criticize us for playing that music, we already know. We’re the first to laugh.”

Back to the roots

Part of the advantage of drawing on Israeli sounds, of course, is that Israel itself comprises a mosaic of traditions from across the globe. “People came from Iraq, Persia, Egypt, Morocco, North Africa, India — from anywhere in the world, people were coming to Israel.”

For Wertheim and the Apples, part of making their own distinct impression was tracing their own roots and traditions.

“If you’re going to be authentic, you should get to know your roots. Be at peace with your childhood, with the place where you were born, with the Jewish religion — whatever,” says Wertheim. “Jewish music, Israeli music — it’s good to be influenced by anything. I also dig a lot into American folk music, or any folk music. I know that what I need, I have to look for it here.” Meanwhile, friends of Wertheim, like the electronic artist Kalbata — Ariel – were using traditional music in a different way.

Listen on for more on the history of the Apples, Uri Wertheim’s love of folk music, and the other artists in Israel who are blazing a trail alongside him.

Playlist

The Apples – Jew Fro
The Apples – Stack It Up
Kalbata – Al Shark
Aris San – Boom Pam
Lehakat Tsliley HaOud – LaDema Eini

 

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