| Aviv Geffen | |
|---|---|
Aviv Geffen |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Aviv Geffen |
| Born | May 10, 1973 Ramat Gan, Israel |
| Genres | Alternative rock, post-punk, glam rock, pop rock, piano rock, new prog, experimental rock |
| Occupations | Musician, Singer-songwriter, Producer |
| Instruments | Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar, Piano, Mellotron, Xylophone |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Associated acts | Blackfield |
| Notable instruments | |
| Fender Toronado Fender Lead Series Disklavier Yamaha PSR-185 Rhodes piano |
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Aviv Geffen (אביב גפן, born May 10, 1973) is an Israeli rock musician, singer, songwriter, producer, keyboardist and guitarist. He is the son of writer and poet Yehonatan Geffen and Nurit Makover, brother of actress Shira Geffen, and an alumnus of Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music.
Geffen was and is extremely popular among Israeli youth, who were known during the 1990s as the "Moonlight Children". Politically, he associates with the Israeli left. His music deals with subjects such as love, peace, death, suicide, politics, the army in general and the IDF specifically. He is often criticized for not serving in the IDF, though, officially, he was discharged for medical reasons.[1]
In 2005, he was voted the 59th-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.[2]
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Geffen was born and raised in Ramat Gan. Geffen's first public performance was in 1984, in the Israeli youth program "Sminiyot BaAvir" on the Israeli Channel 1, in which he sang the song "You're only 40 years old" which his sister wrote and which he composed by himself. In 1987 Geffen participated in the amateur film "Hamitpahat", for which he wrote and sang the song "Ima".
In 1990, Geffen recorded his first song, "Friend" (Chaver), together with the band "Cats in the Piping". In 1992, he released his first album, It's Only The Moonlight (Ze Rak Or Hayareach). All of its songs were written and the music composed by Geffen himself.
Also in 1992, he played a part in the teenage television series A Matter of Time. That year, he also wrote a song for the Israeli movie The Beach Boys. Aviv performed in clubs with his band "The Mistakes" (Hatauyot) (the Hebrew name is purposefully misspelled in two places).
In 1993 Geffen released his second album, It's Cloudy Now (Achshav Me'unan) which reached Gold in the same year. It was produced by Moshe Levi and Ofer Meiri, who created a typical Geffen sound. Aviv expressed his generation's dissatisfaction with the Israeli government. The title track "It's Cloudy Now" was followed by the question that many Israeli teenagers asked with Geffen – "Do you want change?"
In 1994, Geffen released his third album, Aviv Geffen III, which marked a change in Geffen's sound. The production was made by Geffen and Lior Tevet. The album featured the major hit "Should I Be In Love With You" (Ha'im Lehiot Bach Mehohav), which was promoted by a video. This album followed the success of Achshav Me'unan. In his next album, Nowhere (Shumakom), Geffen took charge of the production, albeit with help from Reuven Shapira (as sound engineer), and producer Moshe Levi. Geffen wrote the lyrics and music. As a political activist, Geffen also expressed the hope for peace with Israel's neighbors.
On November 4, 1995, the Israeli peace political parties had decided to arrange a rally to support the peace process. Geffen was invited to sing in that rally, and surprisingly decided to perform "Cry for You" (Livkot Lekha), which Geffen wrote and gave to Israeli singer Arik Einstein. Only later it was found out the lyrics had prophetically preceded the tragic assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin later that night.[3] "Cry for You" became a kind of national anthem, and was the song that symboled the Candle Children movement. In 1996, Geffen released The Letter (Hamikhtav). The Tears Rebellion (Mered Hadmaot) was written after the murder in 1995. Furthermore, it expressed a change and a turning point in Geffen's music. Later, in 1996, Aviv recorded what was known later as "The Israeli version of 'Imagine'", "Let's Walk for the Dream" (Shir Tikva), which expressed deeply Aviv's vision.
In 1997, Geffen released his first compilation, which included a CD with the best songs of the early era, and a second CD which included B-Sides and live performances. An attempt to widen his audience on a global level saw one of Geffen's more unusual albums – "Hollowed" (Halulim). Like his bigger "brothers", it was also produced by Moshe Levi, but unlike them, it is a hard, cold, alienated album, full of distortions. Despite heavy advertising (such as billboards), the album failed commercially.
1999 saw the release of Geffen's 8th studio album – White Nights (Leilot Levanim), which was created under the influence of the changes in Aviv's life. Moshe Levi was again the producer; the combination of the two created a soft & melodic album compared to "Hollowed (Halulim)". The album contained the song "Mexico" which stayed in the Israeli charts for a long time.
In September 2000, Geffen released his 9th album,"Yoman Masa" ("Journey"), for the first time produced by Louie Lahav, and on a new label – "Helicon". Geffen collaborated with two notable colleagues – Daniel Salomon (who joined from the "White Nights (Leilot Levanim)" Tour) and Moshe Levi who was involved in the orchestration. Aviv had recorded 11 melodic songs, with a bonus track – a tribute to Bob Dylan – an Israeli cover to "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" (Geshem Kaved Omed Lipol) (translated by his father). The album produced three notable hits for Geffen: "Wake Up" (Uri Ur), "Scars (Zalakot)" & "Journey" (Yoman Masa) (together with Arik Einstein).
In 2001 Geffen met and began to collaborate with British rock star Steven Wilson, with whom he created the band Blackfield. Blackfield combines the musical efforts of both musicians and they perform their own original composition as well as Aviv's own songs translated into English. Since then, the band toured several times and release two highly acclaimed albums in the mid-2000s (see ahead).
Two years after "Journey" – April 2002 – Geffen released his next album:"Memento Mori", which he dedicated to his grandmother who died a short time before the album's release. The name was taken from the Latin phrase, "Remember You Will Die" (meaning one should remember one's mortality). Like his previous albums, "Memento Mori" was soft (but still features harder compositions). The album featured two major hits: "Ray of Light (Keren Or)" and "Moving Forward (Holech Kadima)." From this album came the single Sad Song (Shir Atzuv).
In 2003 the Israeli documentary film "Aviv" was released which focused on Aviv Geffen's life. The film primered in the Bangkok International Film Festival.
In 2004 the album "Blackfield" was released which was a result of the collaboration between Geffen & Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree.[4]|author=[5] Its followup Blackfield II was released in early 2007,[6] followed by the live DVD Blackfield: Live in NYC later in the year. Both of the Blackfield albums spawned several hits, notably "Blackfield", "Pain" and "Once". A third album, entitled "Welcome to my DNA" was released in March 2011, in which most songs were written by Geffen. It also contains a renewed version of the track Zigota (זיגוטה) from his album "Memento Mori".
In 2006 the 11th album by Geffen was released, "With Time (Im Hazman)". The theme song is a cover to a French chanson by Léo Ferré, which indicated matureness & sobering from the clichés that he symboled in his first years. Most recently he compiled a 2CD/1DVD live album, simply titled Live. Lately, Geffen declared himself radical left.[7]
After releasing two albums with Blackfield, Geffen announced in November 2007 that he was recording his first English-language studio album.[8] In January 2008 his single 'End of the World' charted at number one in Poland and he performed at Bush Hall in London on the 31st. He released a single (Silence) at the end of 2008 and is touring throughout January 2009, with dates in Kraków, Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Amsterdam, Munich, Paris and London.
In June, he announced that recording had begun at Sarm West Studios, with Trevor Horn producing and Steven Wilson and Mike Garson featuring on the album. These sessions led to his debut English-language album, Aviv Geffen, released towards the end of summer 2009. The debut single released was 'It was Meant to be a Love Song'.
In March 2011, Blackfield's third studio album was released called "Welcome to my DNA".[9]
Over the years, Geffen's musical style has been influenced by rock bands like Pink Floyd, U2, Radiohead, Nirvana, and artists like John Lennon and Bob Dylan. Geffen's piano and guitar playing is mainly influenced by Radiohead's Thom Yorke and U2's The Edge. Geffen has often cited Bob Dylan and Roger Waters as major influences.
Geffen is the son of producer Nurit Geffen and author and poet Yehonatan Geffen. His sister is actress Shira Geffen. Geffen was named after his deceased grandmother, Aviva Geffen.
In 1996 Geffen married Israeli actress Elana Berkowitz. The couple divorced in 1998.
In 2005 Geffen was re-married to Shani Friedan, after a seven-year relationship. The couple's first son, Dylan, was born in 2007. He is named after singer Bob Dylan.[10]