In this interview feature, we get to know the most radicalist up and coming stars on the planet. 

This time we had a chat with Brooklyn-based Isralei musician O Mer.

“All my dreams are rentals because I can’t afford my own” is a lyric from O Mer’s ‘Repack The Junk’ that truly encapsulates the essence of his songwriting. His optimism glimmers through the undeniable clouds of pessimism, although one could also call the latter pragmatism. His commentaries look at contemporary culture (be it politics or social media, as we hear in the aforementioned single), the environmental crisis is the focus of ‘The Flood’, and ‘Anthem’ considers how the praise of individuality is easily traded in for ticking boxes of who one “should” be. Each of O Mer’s tracks consciously examines the state of being human against a backdrop of evolved production that combines Middle Eastern patterns and scales, scorching rock chord progressions, soulful vocals, electronic samples, hearty bass and so much more. For this global citizen, he sees very little distinction between most of these genres and so the clever patchwork forms a language anew; one best to convey O Mer’s view of the world. 

Throughout the interview below we discuss the inspiration behind some of O Mer’s work, how life in Israel influenced his creativity, why he chose Brooklyn as his new home and what to look out for next from this unique talent.

TMR: We were really struck by 'Repack The Junk’, in which you oscillate between optimism and pessimism. Was this song inspired by recent events or something more internal?

Both. This song is basically me taking a critical look at the way I internalized pop culture. I think a lot of the stories we tell ourselves about the way we go about our lives are hypocritical and I’m totally a part of the hypocrisy. The way many musicians (me included) incorporate their “brand” into the art making process to the extent where they are inseparable can be very confusing to me. I wanna be able to tell myself I’m free as an artist, but artistic freedom is full of uncertainty and in a sense “unbrandable”. 

TMR: Almost everything you record is then warped or affected by electronic production, when did you first begin experimenting with digital sounds?

After hearing Kanye West’s ‘No Church In The Wild’, I realized there’s a freedom electronically manipulating sounds affords that is very hard (and expensive) to find elsewhere.      TMR: A rare acoustic moment arrived on your ‘Everything Is Everyone’s Fault’ with the title-track itself. Was it poignant to strip back the layers for this song?   Absolutely, this version of the song is the third version I made. The first one was orchestral with a very dense beat and the second was more groove oriented (which is ridiculous now that I think back on it). It took both of these failed versions for me to realize I wrote a good song that needs to be produced in as minimal a way as possible in order to really come through.    TMR: Where things really seemed to pick up steam for you was with the release of ‘Now I’m Alive’, does this track still holds a special place for you?   It is definitely one of my favorites to play live and I’m definitely proud of it, yet it’s not my favorite song that I wrote. I used to spend a long time trying to understand why it stood out the way it did and I think it has something to do with how simple and undeniable the message is, almost feels like I stole it…      TMR: Having previously lived in Israel, did you find that the proximity to Eastern and Western cultures has shaped the creative community in the country?   It most definitely did, not only the proximity but also that in the 20th century Jews came to Israel from all over. It’s probably why most Israeli musicians are very stylistically flexible (the marvelous Noga Erez is probably the best current example).

TMR: Now you're based in Brooklyn, what drew you to that part of the world?

I wanted to move to one of the bigger music scenes and see what it’d be like, Berlin felt to close, LA too far, and between London and Brooklyn, I knew more people living in Brooklyn so I moved there, it really was that naive and silly. 

TMR: Who's your favourite upcoming Brooklyn artist right now?

altopalo, Psymone Spine and Sabine Holler. 

TMR: What should listeners, new and well-acquainted, look out for next from you?

I’m working on new music all the time and am planning to jump back on the release wagon very quickly after this EP release. I’m also planning on shooting more live videos at home and maybe some band stuff, a bunch of people have been asking for those and I should be less lazy about it, maybe now that it’s in writing I can’t procrastinate no more?

By Hannah Thacker