Interview: Stormbound

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

OF: I can't remember a specific moment. I believe everybody here would say that you're born into that.

(Entire band nods in agreement)

YH: In regard to the second part of the question, I would have tried my best to be a doctor in this case.

RS: I would also be somewhere in the field medicine.

PK: I'm both a musician and an architect, but without music I would just be a little bit of a boring architect.

SF: Same here, except I'm a cognitive psychologist in a university. 

YP: I have no Idea. I can't imagine myself in their jobs (points at other members)

OF: I own a private music school, so I guess if I wasn't teaching music, I'd be teaching something else.

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

RS: Netflix basically

PK: Drink beer

SF: I exercise quite often.

YP: So do I

OF: I watch soccer and even then I have an instrument in my hands. 

How long has your band been around?

PK: The current sextet was "finalized" in 2017 or 18, but there were different variations beforehand.

OF: Within five minutes into the first rehearsal with Yael, who replaced a previous singer, we felt that this is it and this band is ready to go. 

Where are you based and how did that influence your music?

YH: We're from Israel, all from cities around Tel Aviv. 

RS: I think what we do is quite international, doesn't sound anything like popular Israeli music

PK: I think there is some "Israeliness" in some of the stuff we do. 

OF: Desert's Roar has some of it. 

YP: The culture in Israel combines a lot of east and west, I believe we do a little bit of that combination.

SF: But we are, of course, mainly European sounding.

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

RS: The entire humanity is stormbound, in a sense that we are restricted to what nature allows us to do even though we believe it's up to us. 

OF: At a certain point, the planet will have enough of us. 

SF: I think the last pandemic was a little example of how vulnerable we are

YH: We need to change our ways in many fields.

Tell me about your most memorable shows.

RS: I don't know how familiar you are with the Israeli weather, but in case you're not then I'll just tell you that there's barely any rain here even during winter time. However, there was one rainy evening in August a few years back, which is the peak of the summer, and that same evening we were playing an open air show!

SF: I remember the sound guy running away

OF: we kept playing until the power went out, and I can still remember how my mic electrified the shit out of me.

YH: Other than that, we had a very good time the last time we played a festival. It was a fundraiser for Ukraine.

YP: In three days we're supporting Epica in their show in Tel-Aviv, let's see how that goes.

What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

PK: So far we've played at all the main venues in our country, and that's great because the Israeli crowd is phenomenal. Very enthusiastic. 

RS: Wacken Open Air would do it for me

YH: I'm a queen fan, I wanna play at Wembley stadium

OF: I really wanna tour Germany so I can practice my German.

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

YP: Jinjer & Meshuggah

OF: Mago de Oz, In Flames

RS: Cradle of Filth, Mayhem

YH: Hailstorm, Evanescence, Queen, 

SF: Nightwish, Arch Enemy, Iron Maiden

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

PK: Be the best team player you can be.

OF: Never eat nasty crap before going on stage even if it's on the house. Take violin lessons.

SF: I would tell my younger self to start playing with other people earlier.

YP: I'm still too young to advise my younger self

YH: Don't let anyone in the world stand in your way, avoid nay-sayers.

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

RS: Don't get hooked on coffee

OF: Never trust the horoscope

YH: Practice more piano

SF: Just be yourself and don't worry about it 

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

OF: Our album's title song, December. It's very well crafted, the entire band took part in the writing process, and it sends a very strong message.  

YH: Shadows, because of its personal story

PK: Flying High. This song goes all the way back to my previous band where we played that song but now it's much better and has a great chorus and a more modern sound.

SF: Sacred lies, because it's the heaviest.

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

RS: We don't have a favourite song as a band. 

YP: Except for when we have a new song that we just finished writing and for a short period of time it becomes our most favourite song in the world.

YH: I don't think there is a specific song that is most requested, but I believe that Desert's Roar is our most popular one. 

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

OF: It could either be something from our personal lives or a global issue that is important to talk about in our opinion, like global warming.

SF: Ofer and I care a lot about animal rights, we're both vegan for more than a decade.

YH: The creative process might begin from a lyric or a musical idea, and whatever comes up first will lead the way.

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

RS: Our lyrics have a lot to do with atheism.

OF: we address different issues, but I think our main subjects are the biggest global issues, such as tyranny, climate changes and the relationship between us as humans and planet earth.

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

PK: That happens quite often, but we learned that we can communicate everything and make sure we stay cool with each other and remember that we all care a lot about all this.

SF: We're six different individuals and it makes perfect sense that we will not agree on every subject.

YH: We make many decisions every day, musical and non-musical alike. Normally if we don't all agree on something we have a vote.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

RS: As we said earlier, the album will be out by the beginning of August, and there's that Epica gig and our own big concert in Tel Aviv coming soon.

YP: Other than that we're working on our next album, we have some very good stuff for it already.

OF: I hope we will begin touring soon, I really want to see that happen.

YH: Really looking forward to the next couple of years. So far it has been one hell of a ride.

Band Members
Yael Horwitz: Lead vocals
Shani Friedman: Guitar 
Ofer Friedman: Guitar & Vocals 
Pavel Kleiman: Bass
Yuval Partush: Drums
Rotem Sadia: Keyboard

For more info:
Stormboundband.com
Facebook.com/StormBoundBand
Instagram.com/stormbound.band
Spoti.fi/3wA14jF

Music Video – Flyin High -