Music Q&A:
Irit

What informs your music and songwriting?
I see music as theatre, which means that I’m here to tell stories, whether they’re complete fiction or the truth. Singing is like talking, only it’s talking via musical tones and scales. But from beginning to end I see songwriting first of all as a story.

How have you evolved as an artist over the years?
I’ve been performing since I was a child – on stages, folklore dancing, playing the keyboard and flute and singing in a choir. I’ve kept a diary since Year 3 and so I’ve been writing since then. I’m a big fan of words – I like to juggle them, their meaning, the root, the sound of the word itself. I volunteered in a kibbutz (a type of settlement unique to Israel) for one year before my service in the Israeli military and in south Israel I was part of a group which put on an open stage night one per week. Around that time I saw a brilliant Israeli man play at the theatre and I was so impressed by him that I couldn’t even breathe from all the excitement. I decided then that I wanted to be part of that magic. I went to the Academy of Performing Arts in Tel Aviv and studied at the Visual Theatre in Jerusalem. I went to all kinds of workshops to learn more about the field. I did theatre, television, documentaries and music until once, after a showcase I did, someone approached me and told me that I was very good and had passion. He suggested that I forget everything that I already knew and start afresh. So here I am starting afresh, I guess!

What are you up to at the moment artistically?
I’m into communication and languages. I’m studying Russian at the moment and I’m fascinated by it. I’m looking for a “language” that would make sense and that would touch people’s hearts because in the end we may not be equal but we are totally connected to each other as one massive net of living.

What’s on your rider?
There’s all kinds of food on my rider, especially vegetables, fruit smoothies – all kinds of fruits actually! And of course, water and tea.

Tell us your most embarrassing or surreal experience.
My most embarrassing experience would probably be when I was a student at the academy in my third and final year and we performed in front of an audience who had paid tickets to see us. In one of our shows I had a solo part in a very well-known emotional patriotic Israeli song. I started the first verse and completely forgot the words. I heard the piano dying slowly behind me and the audience were completely silent. I was so embarrassed that all I could do was to smile a huge smile from ear to ear. It was only for few seconds but it felt so much longer! Somehow the words came back to me but it felt so weird as if time stopped and it was only me in that dark room.

What song do you wish you’d written?
I wish I’d written If from Pink Floyd’s album Atom Heart Mother. I find it very moving, clever, unique, honest, original, soothing and beautiful.

What’s your worst lyric?
The most terrible lyric I wrote was about a character from one of Mark Twain’s novels who was a poor woman who killed and buried her lover. It was full of rhymes yet there was no strong story behind it. It’s extremely important in my opinion to have a strong story to start with.