Interviews: Roy Niv

We have had the opportunity to interview the Rock artist Roy Niv from Israel. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Why did you want to play this genre?

I grew up listening to bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin and found my way to express my feelings and thoughts through that kind of music. I feel like rock n' roll is freedom, and with that genre, I get away from everyday life to a fun, passionate universe. 

2. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

Actually, I knew everyone except the bass player I found on Facebook. But, in the first 15 minutes into the first rehearsal, they all immediately connected and started vibing together without me needing to do anything.

3. Each band member's favourite band?

Roy Niv (me) Singer - Foo Fighters

Dean Kilshtein Guitarist - Radiohead

Tamir Legal bass player - Cory anf the Wongnotes

Guy Sadeh drummer - Iron Maden

4. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

I draw inspiration from a lot of things, it could be simple things like the ocean or a beautiful song on the radio. Every song or project comes from a different source that triggers something in me. For example, one of my relatively mellow ballads was written from a place of pain after a breakup. That song almost wrote itself and I didn't have to do much to make it happen. In another case, I just heard a vocal line in my head during dinner and immediately rushed to my guitar to play it and develop it into a song :) I believe there is no one creative process and I try to just listen carefully to my musical sense and trust that it knows what the song needs.

5. Where was your last gig?

In Jerusalem of course. The holy city of Israel. It was very special and the crowd was amazing there.

6. Where would you like to perform?

London is one of my immediate goals and I would love to perform there. I don't care how small the venue is, I just want to feel the city and it's people because I always had a good feeling about this city and the awesome music scene that keeps evolving there.

7. Whom would you like to perform with?

No doubt, I would love to collaborate with many artists but those who most attract me are artists like Royal Blood, YUNGBLUD, Highly Suspect, Maneskin, KALEO and many more. I believe collaboration in the music world is necessary for growing and evolving and I always look for new people to collaborate with!

8. Whom not?

Nice question, I think I wouldn't play with Jazz artists only because their level is so high and I don't think I'd be able to keep up with all the changes. But you never know, maybe one day I'll get into Jazz, that could be fun.

9. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tips for beginners on how to beat that?

Luckily, I always loved performing and showing my skills to other people. I think as an artist this love for the audience is deep inside me. Surely, I get excited and sometimes nervous before shows. I think if someone has stage fright and wants to play in front of people, they should just work on their craft really well, to the level where they feel most confident and comfortable with it. Then start by showing it to family, then good friends, then friends of friends and slowly expand that circle until the fright is not taking over you and it's just a background noise you can live with while going proudly on stage and doing your thing.

10. What bands have inspired you the most?

Dave Grohl, Lead singer of the Foo Fighters, was always my hero. Songs like "The Pretender'', "Walking After You" and "Walk" got me through my worst and best times of my life. After being in a Foo Fighters concert in 2019, I immediately knew that music is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. The story of Dave proved to me that if the desire is there and making music makes you feel like you already have everything you ever thought you needed, the sky is not even the limit. I recommend watching his speech which made me realize a lot about being a musician - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Efv0Y5Fs7m4

The first song I ever danced to (when I was 3 year old) was Lenny Kravits's "Fly Away"! From there on, there was no escape from falling in love with The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Radiohead, Muse and more. Some new music like The Lumineers, Coldplay, James bay Greta Van Fleet, Sam Fender and Machine Gun Kelly hit me later on in life and gave me the inspiration to make music on my own. Nevermind, Nirvana's second and most famous album changed my life completely. I know some people would say I'm way too young to say this but the truth is I was introduced to this album by my dad when I was 11 and it led to a huge change in my perception of music. Until then, I only knew some Beatles songs and other music that sounded very nice and pretty. But when I first heard Kurt Cobain shouting and screaming I felt something like never before. I finally realized what passion can be injected into music in such a simple way.

11. What do you think of our site?

I think it's very cool and gives us a lot of opportunities to check out new music and explore new genres. Keep up the good work, it looks great!