A Chat with Benmozes (31.03.23)
Filled with a raw passion for music in a hard-hitting rock melody, US-based band Benmozes captures your soul with an awe-inspiring sound. We speak with Amit Ben-Moshe (vocals and guitar) about Benmozes’ debut album IMMIGRANT, creative processes, bad advice and future plans.
OSR: What drew you to music and how did the band form?
Ben-Moshe: I moved to Boston from Tel Aviv, going on a one-way flight to a place where I didn’t know anyone. The one connection I was introduced to over an international phone call was a drummer, his name was Amit as well which was a strange coincidence. We played together just the two of us for some time. One late night coming back from rehearsal I went in the building’s elevator and met Neil who is now the lead guitar player. He saw me carrying the guitar and started asking questions. Neil later brought Mike who’s playing bass for Benmozes.
As a kid in Israel, music always surrounded me at home – I shared a room with my older brother who was a rock addict, so I had no choice but to be immersed in it. Although I never understood the lyrics, the distorted sound and grunge melodies engraved themselves into my brain – it became a part of me, part of my DNA.
OSR: What inspires you to make music?
Ben-Moshe: I don’t think I really know what this thing is – it’s energy from somewhere in the universe, floating around and finding its way to you in the form of a melody or a beat. If it caught me in the right time with my antenna well-tuned, usually I’ll make a note in my mind or use a recorder. Once it’s there I have a strong urge to channel that into a song, it can’t relax if I don’t, that thing has a life of its own.
OSR: Is there a theme or backstory to your album IMMIGRANT?
Ben-Moshe: IMMIGRANT was mostly written during the transition period – a transition between places, between cultures, and between languages. It’s kind of a documentary, though some of the songs were written about unrelated stories from the past that I’ve been carrying with me for years.
OSR: While IMMIGRANT is your debut album, you have created several EPs before. How did constructing the album differ from an EP or single?
Ben-Moshe: A huge difference. Our first single, ‘Summon You’, was nothing but a guinea pig. I was literally sitting home thinking which song can we sacrifice for the sake of the experiment. I had a track named ‘Summon You’ which I recorded with my friend Yossi Bartov back in Tel Aviv, before moving to Boston. I resurrected the song from the recycle bin. Zero expectations. It now has hundreds of thousands of streams which is very surprising. Then we put out a bunch of other singles from the early days before the band’s current lineup like ‘Introduce Yourself’ and ‘Miracles’.
The album on the other hand was a whole different game. The previous singles were recorded quickly, without much preparation or time in the studio. With IMMIGRANT we practised for a very long time, years, and then COVID hit and we found ourselves locked for 2 weeks in a studio. It’s the first time we had the chance to work with a producer – Kevin Smith, who made all the difference and took us to the next level as a band. The pandemic lockdown period added its fuel to the fire since we met in the studio eager to play, and things exploded. After we were done with the recordings, Kevin sent over the rough mixes and I’ll never forget listening to them on the dark highway from New York to Boston – the order, the story of the album was vividly clear. We didn’t need to think much further – it was already there.
OSR: What is your creative process?
Ben-Moshe: I start from a moment of inspiration where I catch a melody or a beat or more accurately it catches me. If that happens in the right time, usually a song was born. It could be just a few seconds but a song being born from that little kernel is just a matter of time, it’s just about bringing it back to earth. I usually create a crappy-sounding home demo out of that initial muse so I can share it with the band – taking a picture of what I’m hearing in my head. There is no other way for me to communicate this to the band when we meet in the room. After we meet in the room, we bring the song home – and this part is very different between each song – there are ones we don’t touch, just leave them to be as they were, and in others, we add more intricate parts like Neil’s solos in ‘Ominous’ and ‘Losing It’.
OSR: Do you feel IMMIGRANT is a true representation of Benmozes?
Ben-Moshe: IMMIGRANT is 100% Benmozes and a great introduction to the band. There couldn’t be a better reflection of the band. The message, the energy, the sweat – it’s us, as we were, as we are.
OSR: If you were a type of junk food, like pizza or fried chicken, what would you be and why?
Ben-Moshe: American burger with hot Mediterranean sauce.
OSR: What is the worst piece of advice you have ever received?
Ben-Moshe: “No one cares about that kind of rock anymore, if you want to make it you need to sound more like …”
OSR: What advice do you have for upcoming artists?
Ben-Moshe: Don’t try to sound like anyone else.
OSR: Are there future plans for Benmozes?
Ben-Moshe: Live is our next big challenge. For the longest time, it’s been making a killer album. We wanted it to not fall from the legends we admired and grew up on. We feel like the mission was accomplished with IMMIGRANT. Now we are working to bring that energy to the stage and be prolific. Stay tuned.
Many thanks to Amit Ben-Moshe for speaking with us! For more from Benmozes, check out their official website, Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
