After their set at Gottwood this year we had a chat with Red Axes about their live set up, the scene in their hometown Tel-Aviv and much more.

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Red Axes discussing their upcoming album The Beach Goths...

Tel-Aviv based electronic music duo Red Axes (Dori Sadovnik and Niv Arzi) represent something different. Indeed, a refreshingly eccentric, organic approach to music production guarantee that they have, and will continue to, cultivate their own space. Their upcoming album The Beach Goths seems to be the product of this approach as well as, more specifically, being locative of their current musical moment. In terms of introducing the LP its title is a useful place to start, the unusual linguistic marriage of The Beach Goths signposts an irregularity and eclecticism not always seen in music production. Shifting in focus, chameleonic and undoubtedly the product of a moment the album covers vast ground while maintaining a sense of coherency. Masterminds of sonic intrigue, we couldn’t resist contacting the enigmatic duo in an attempt to find out a little bit more about them, Tel-Aviv and their upcoming album. Certainly, with a string of upcoming summer live performances The Beach Goths and Red Axes will be an unavoidable presence in the months ahead.

The album is released on your own imprint Garzen Records, which you describe as a place for your “own special deviations”, can you expand on this somewhat? What’s your vision for the label?

 Our goal is to find and release to the world the music that we love with an emphasis on local music. You can call it a deviation, as it is very different from what we did until now

The album is called The Beach Goths and the sound is noticeably less dancefloor orientated than your recent EPs. With reference to the name, and assuming you aren’t planning on invading the Roman Empire anytime soon, does it mark a re-appreciation of your post-punk beginnings?

We are a band, DJs, producers, and one we day we will conquer Rome. We don't really know what the album represents, it represents us as we are now, and also not always.

The album surprised me, do you think this is an important factor of music production? There are lots of musicians, especially in electronic music, who seem content to rinse and repeat a proven formula.

Actually we were surprised by the album too and we are happy with it. Especially that it surprised you too. It's not that this was our goal but we are happy with it if this is the result. 

Hearing Ben UFO play ‘Sun My Sweet Sun’ was my first encounter of your music, it’s an ear-catching, eccentric and infectious track and I think this description could be applied to a lot of your releases. Indeed, I would go as far as to call them subversive, is this idea central to your production?

I don't think we had an idea for the production. It's not like we said let’s do a sticky track or hey let’s make avant-garde music. We just flow with it and see what comes out naturally. The only plan we had upfront was whether to take the track towards the dancefloor vibe or not. Which is something that also happens whilst making the tracks.

After a hiatus in Amsterdam you returned to Tel-Aviv and started your party “Break It!”. To me Tel-Aviv seems like it’s a diversely exploding music scene, is this the case? Did you find influence in the city for your album?

Yes definitely. We got a lot of inspiration from the city and the artists around us. We grew up here and Tel-Aviv has grown us and many other artists that are now starting to rise and shine. There also many collaborations between artists from different genres and places and it feels like there's a great blooming going on and an orgy of ideas and creativity.

Finally, The Beach Goths is incredibly varied, it looks both to and beyond the dancefloor, what do you see as its ideal setting?

This album is very eclectic, wide, and cross genre. You can play with it and play it in very different situations, places, times and spaces.

Red Axes are an unintentionally elusive musical presence. Ultimately, this lack of intention stems from a disregard for predetermined planning in production and an approach that prioritises the natural. The duo are without an artistic comfort zone which is reflected in the ideology of their imprint Garzen Records. A space to do something different, the label is where The Beach Goths finds its home. Oscillating in tempo, intergalactic synths meet raw, deep, hazy guitar work and clattering percussion which is often supported by a myriad of vocal work, ranging from the euphoric to the whimsical to the insistent. Ultimately, an album that covers such extensive generic, ideological and musical ground is difficult to describe with such little space. With this in mind, it is perhaps best broadly defined as a hypnotic psychedelic journey traversing an expanse of differing landscapes. At times tilting at windmills a kind of subversive creativity sets the album musically apart. From what they have let us learn, Red Axes prioritise their natural, individual and unwavering musicality. Certainly, much aided by the ever intriguing Tel-Aviv as both a setting and a hub of musical progression the album is refreshingly different. In a brief space, Dori Sadovnik and Niv Arzi have provided a welcome insight into the originality and eccentricity of the process that is Red Axes. The Beach Goths touches down on Garzen Records on 11th August, with this set in stone and Rome ever on the horizon we hope to see much more of them.

Pre-order The Beach Goths

15/06/17
Words by Hugo B