We kept up with the Israeli folk pop duo LOLA MARSH for a little time now. And that’s probably just because these two really carry an indescribable energy into every room and onto each stage that they enter. GIL LANDAU and YAEL COHEN radiate positive vibes, but more importantly, however, they have a humanness sometimes lacking in other artists – essentially the feeling that they, too, are touchable.
Israel: Live The Reality
The band comes from Tel Aviv Israel, a region rife with political turmoil and a stark divide amongst the people there. GIL LANDAU, one half of LOLA MARSH’s original duo, admits that that situation obviously has an effect on them as well: ‘It rests at the front of our minds, as we live this reality’. However, LANDAU notes, ‘there are not so many musicians that are writing about the situation or saying “I protest!”.’ YAEL COHEN, the band’s front woman, elaborates, acknowledging that the conflict will be always be a part of their music. But at the end of the day, she says: ‘We are writing about our experience. It is very personal…I believe in human beings, in people. Of course you have countries, of course you have religions, but first of all, you’re a person.’
It is this same drive to express their selves that comes across in their video You’re Mine, which we recently featured. In the production, the leading pair goes through every emotion whilst stranded in the desert near the Dead Sea. They present an authenticity to match the relatability of the lyrics.
And it is in fact a certain lyric (‘The wall is empty and so flat/ The world around me is too large.’) that translates into the video, YAEL comments:
The moment that I wake up sometimes in the morning, sometimes I’m getting nervous. I feel like the world is closing on me. Fears are coming and the minute that you remember a face or a friendly soul that you like is the moment that you’re cheering up and thinking ‘okay, everything is okay’. We wanted a really open environment with only the two of us, on a loop, each day waking up. It was a little bit surreal.
This track comes from their recently released debut EP of the same name. Albeit satisfied with their first release, YAEL admits that the two ‘will always have criticisms on it’, adding that she is doing her best to accept it and recognize that ‘this is what it is. You always want to change it more and more and to open it. But, we set it free.’ And her partner GIL notes that them being musicians implies that their will to constantly change the album doesn’t mean dissatisfaction but rather a need as artists to continue pushing their own boundaries.
The flaws and virtues of Hope and Passion
Hope and passion have driven LOLA MARSH to continue evolving as musicians while they remember to be present in their time and revel in their current successes. When asked about his version of hope, GIL gives an answer seeped in gratitude rather than need.
I’m trying not to hope for anything because now is the best. I try to live the moment. And I know if I will hope for something all the time, then I would forget the now. And sometimes I would get disappointed because I didn’t get what I hoped. I’m just focused on the now…I realized the last few years that I’m doing what I’m passionate about. And I’m doing what I love, and I’m trying to focus on that. But it doesn’t work all the time.
GIL credits meditation as one of his ways to focus on the present, to maintain his own version of anti-hope. He tells us of the crow of thoughts that can distract him from concentrating on his current life and that he wants the success of the present to outweigh his hopes for the future, giving him a bit more control over said crow.
Every time you try to meditate or try to focus on something, the crow is coming and driving you crazy. And then what normal people do, they think they need to quiet him down and think ‘Okay, let’s see a movie’. You picture a man sitting and the crow next to him, and they’re both really quiet, and nothing happens. And then the movie ends, and the crow immediately ahhhhh is driving you crazy again. I know this guy; I know him, the crow.
YAEL on the other hand uses her own reality to define passion.
Passion to me is to do what you love to do. I have many friends that could’ve gone to different places…even my grandmother; she always told me she wanted to be a singer. But she came from Argentina to Israel and, in her situation, she had to be a Hebrew teacher. It’s a great thing for me to know that I’m doing what I love.
Given their versions of hope and passion, LOLA MARSH will likely continue to produce music with her irreplaceable voice and his captivating acoustics. Viewers can sense their energy even in their videos, and it translates into an idyllic connection with their audience in their live shows, when they are joined by the rest of their band. In the upcoming months, LOLA MARSH will be touring Europe and The States, while working on their first full length album, that we can only hope will grace us soon.
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