From Winter 2012 Issue of Yallah Magazine - www.yallahmagazine.com
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Q&A with Liron Peled
by Onca O'Leary
THE CAVE MAN EMERGES
I've known Liron Peled for six or seven years, since Raquy and the
Cavemen crashed onto the national belly dance scene with their massive
percussive presence.
Liron is an exceptionally warm, gregarious person who brings out the
best in people and is distinguishable in a crowd both by his
charismatic demeanor and by his rather tremendous hair. I caught up
with him in Richmond, Virgina at the end of his one-man tour, and was
able to ask him some questions about his new doings and enduring
projects
Q: For anyone who doesn't know, tell us a bit about yourself and your
long standing connection to Middle Eastern music and the belly dance
community.
A: Sure. I grew up in Israel. Instead of going into the army after high
school, I had them disqualify me as insane, unfit to serve and then I
came to the U.S., moving to NYC with my Metal. band, EMOK. That was in
1998. I got involved in dumbek and Middle Eastern music there, and
formed a band in 2005 with Raquy Danziger called Raquy and the Cavemen.
We've been working together for years, touring heavily, making albums,
doing festivals and some international. gigs. We'll continue to work
together.
Q: You are still working with Raquy, but have some new projects,
including this traveling one-man show, and a line of Instruments ready
for market. Tell us what motivated you start that.
A: After years of touring with Raquy and the Cavemen, I've been feeling
this urge for quite a few years now to branch out and pursue my own
music. It's been building and growing, which has to do with the Middle
Eastern music that I love so much, but also with lots of the metal
influence that has been so important to me. The work with Raquy has
developed more of a mellow world music type sound. I also wanted to
pursue the crazy, distorted sounds that I love in metal, and the
ecstatic quality - the going wild, screaming and ripping your clothes -
that I love in metal, but with more of a positive vibe. I want to shake
an audience up but leave a positive feeling. Therefore, I have started
this solo project, which has me playing a variety of instruments I have
developed, and doing Tuvan throat singing as well as regular singing.
Throat singing is a technique that uses the over-tones (and undertones)
in your voice to sound more like a didgeridoo. The project is currently
called by my full name, Liron Feted. I do like to bring in special
guests, be it musical guests and more visual guests like belly dancers
and fire artists if the venue allows.
Q: Can you talk about the unusual instruments you use, and the flavor
of the project?
A: I like to call it acoustic metal. In addition to singing, stringed
melody, and hand percussion, I drum with my feet on my own creation, a
Dümset, playing bass dumbek and a riq-snare, the riq being the Middle
Eastern tambourine. I have hand cymbals and a hand drum with two drums,
the Baboombek, a huge copper drum with lots of bass, an amazing, deep
sound, and then what I call the Cartoonbek, a drum with a very, very
thin head that you can bend really easily to get crazy sound effects. I
also play the sazythar - I took a beautiful 12-string guitar and
restrung it to sound Like a saz, similar to a sitar, but with the
crunchy sounds of the guitar.
Q: There was never a vocal component to Raquy and the Cavemen, correct?
I never heard you choose to incorporate that. What else can you add
about the sound?
A: The new sound is heavily influenced by DubStep, Jungle and
electronic music, even though it is all played live. As far as singing
goes, last year Raquy and I started throat singing in harmonies, and
that is really great. It started out as a song in the show and the
place of vocals in our shows has expanded. I have also been working a
lot on regular vocals; its atways been a dream of mine to sing, but I
never dared to, thinking I was not good enough. Now I use it a lot in
my music.
Q: You created the Dümset. I understand that you have started selling
these instruments?
A: The kit system I have developed over the past six years is a Middle
Eastern drum set, set up to be played with the feet and with hand
cymbals. I'd like to see it come into regular use as an instrument in
the community, and it will be for sale on my website starting in
November of 2011. www.lironpeled.com or www.dumset.com
Q: Is there anything in particular that you'd like to offer people in
your shows?
A: Ecstatic, uplifting madness!
Once O'Leary is a career entertainer, one half of the Mezmer Society, a
core member of the Accidental. Circus, and producer of the annual
award-nominated TribOriginat: Tribal Dance, Music & Culture Camp,
and ABSfest: Americana Burlesque & Sideshow Festival. She is a
creator of the World Spirit Tarot, and travels nationally to teach and
perform belly dance. She lives in Asheville, North Carolina, in a
cooperative household nicknamed Awesometown:
PHOTOGRAPH ON OPPOSITE PAGE BY JOSHUA BEARD PHOTOGRAPH ON THIS PAGE BY
PIERRE FILTEAU
