He’s all set to ‘trans’cend to our city and take the octane levels at Sadashivnagar a notch higher. Asher Swissa aka Skazi began his musical career as a punk rocker and today he’s at the top of the league of the worldwide electronic music scene. We chat up with Israeli psychedelic trance guru Skazi who will rock the city today at Pebble - The Jungle Lounge for their anniversary.
“I started my music career as a guitarist in a punk band and we used to play in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Israeli punk scene was getting big then and soon I started producing electronic psytrance music. This was way before it became big and the world started talking about it. I put my punk rock skills in the electronic music. What really got me into psy trance was the vibe this music brings about.
There’s also an option to add many different styles to it. That’s why I grabbed the opportunity to produce electronic music,” states Skazi of how his musical journey began and evolved over the years.
This trance legend’s first album Animal combined live guitar riffs and techy hardcore sounds. Skazi has toured across the world and his tracks have featured in over 100 different compilations that have released worldwide. What should Bengaluru’s trance lovers look forward to from his gig tonight, we wonder and the Israeli artist states, “I will play all my past, present and future music. I will play Skazi’s unreleased music that’s completely fresh only for the city that loves its psy trance. And also some from my spin album (that got a gold album this year).
Also, the Skazi mega hits from all times that everyone loves. I’m excited to have won the first gold album in psytrance for my Skazi Spin 2016 and flying in to Bengaluru after a gig in Delhi. I’m thankful to all my fans who have given me so much love and that’s what keeps me inspired to keep making new music. The event in Bengaluru is produced by After Dark Productions that are known to organise exclusive trance and psychedelic events and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Skazi brought a novel and innovative twist to the trance scene, combining electronic with live guitar riffs and storming sounds. With many albums, compilations and endless number of tracks and thousands of shows across the globe to his credit, we ask him of some of his most memorable performances and he replies, “I’ve been touring across the globe since 2000. It’s lovely to be in a different country every weekend. Some of my favourite places where I’ve played at include America, Japan, Serbia, Australia, Argentina, Germany, Montenegro, England, across Russia and of course Israel, but each of these countries have a special magic and charm about them.”
You will find traces of hard house and techno in Skazi’s music which is known to be always ahead of his times. “My latest music Warriors is with Yaniv Biton (Mr. Black) and there’s lot of new music coming up by the end of this year. I want to tell everyone to never stop dancing and never stop smiling,” he signs off.
