ITAI is an organic house artist whose got a background as a jazz musician. He is a multi-talented instrumentalist whose live performances are a blend of electronic sounds and instruments such as piano and saxophone. Using a loop sampler to record himself playing instruments he is able to make electronic music with multiple organic layers, and his live sets are filled with intricate improvisation. He has also released music on record labels ranging from The Soul Brothers’ Talavera Records to Laroz’s Camel Riders, and he recently launched his own imprint called The Teddy Bear Lounge.
The Teddy Bear Lounge has been launched alongside ITAI’s new release series called ‘The Unfinished Project’ where he has been releasing solo tracks that each tell a chapter in an overarching story. Chapter six is called ‘Speedy Gonzales’ and we invited him for this interview to discuss that release plus his other projects…
WWD: Hi ITAI, please can you start by describing your music style for those who are discovering you for the first time?
Hey hey, this is a really good question and really not an easy one for me to answer actually. I have a really wide range, from downtempo, to techno and deep house. The new stuff I’m working on I would even consider tech house minimal or funky house. What I really try to do is take a wide range of genres, from jazz, funk, Latin, Middle East, and other influences, merging them with a beat that would work for me on the dance floor. Many would consider my style organic house, but I think it goes beyond that. I like calling it electronic world music.
WWD: I’m told you are also a saxophone player; can you tell me more about this and any other instruments you play?
Yes, I went to musical school in Israel for saxophone jazz, even though I started playing piano at the age of 4. I picked up the sax when I was 16, and some other wind instruments such as the EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument) and others. In my live set, I play all of the above and sometimes I use my voice in different ways as well.
WWD: When did you first discover electronic music, and how hard was the transition to start producing it?
I started my journey in the electronic music scene playing alongside DJs. Burning Man was one of the best places to just randomly jam with DJs too. Before even knowing who these artists were, I got to jam with artists like Acid Pauli and Nico Stojan on Robot Heart. Later on, I had the opportunity to play with others such as Be Svendsen, Goldcap and more.
Then I started playing my solo hybrid DJ and sax sets. At some point, I wanted to feel more flexible as a musician and less like a DJ so I started the journey of playing a full live set. This has been much more challenging, but also much more rewarding. My journey as a producer was similar in a way. My first releases were collaborations with artists such as Roderic, MoM, Elif and others, which eventually it led to me doing my own solo productions.
I took a mentor (Camiel Daamen from lessons in live) and he helped me understand the technical aspects of live production, he also helped me a lot with my live set preparation. I think producing my own music feels natural as I just try to bring the sounds I have in my head into life. So far, I’m really happy about the outcomes and certainly excited to keep exploring it.
WWD: You recently launched your own record label called The Teddy Bear Lounge, and I wanted to ask what inspired this decision?
The main reason might not be as exciting as you might think. I’ve gotten to a point of having a lot of ready music and the process of signing it and releasing it would have made it so that the music would be released a year or two after being done. Normally, two years after I finish a track, I feel like it doesn’t represent me and my sound as much as I want it to. I wanted immediacy with releasing the music and also to do it my own way. To get a label to release a 9-track series and then work on that for a couple years was just not the way I wanted to do it. I mainly opened the label to release my own music or music of close friends that have a “similar feeling. If we do decide to start releasing more music, I will be focusing on artists with live elements because that is what gets me the most excited.
WWD: The Teddy Bear Lounge has been launched alongside your Unfinished Series, and it would be great to learn more about this concept?
Like I mentioned earlier, after a while in the studio I found myself with about 14 tracks that needed a home, originally, I was thinking about another album, but I feel a lot of music gets “lost in the noise” when you release an album. Like with today’s attention span very few people listen to an album as a whole. On the other hand, releasing just a bunch of different EPs or different singles didn’t feel like it tells the story of the music properly. I remember driving around with my partner in LA and seeing all the billboards with the new Netflix series “coming soon” and it just clicked for me, this will be a series. I called it the Unfinished Project because that’s how I feel about music, it’s whole, it’s complete, but it keeps evolving all the time, and it’s never “finished”. I think that is also influenced by my live set, in which I play the tracks a bit differently each time.
WWD: ‘Speedy Gonzalez’ is the latest release from the Unfinished Series, and I’d love to know more about the track?
First of all, this is one of my favourite tracks in this project, it was really fun to make and it’s really fun to play live. In my travels to Latin America, especially Panama and Mexico, I kept hearing this sound in one way or the other. I wanted to take this Latin or even Salsa flair and give it an electronic bassline and percussions so I could play it on the dance floors, it’s one of those tunes that get the body moving in a very specific way.
WWD: Tell me about your live set up, and any shows you have coming up?
My live set up is an ever-evolving journey. The base for it is the Ableton Live set up, with the AKAI APC40 to control my pre-produced stems. Then I use the Roland TR-8 as a controller for constant loops including percussions and other FX. On top of that, I mix in the live elements of the Sax, EWI Nord 3 and vocal mic going into the Boss RC-505 looper which allows me to create ideas in the moment and also interact with the crowd.
My act is becoming increasingly interactive and I really enjoy collaborating with people in the audience looping whatever they have in mind haha. This has brought so many really special moments into life.
I have a couple shows coming up in LA on November 30 @ In the meantime LA and a special show on December 9th at The Play LA which are both sex positive events so just heads up about that.
WWD: Thanks for answering my questions, is there anything you want to add before we finish?
As someone who grew up in Israel, I don’t think I can give an interview these days without addressing the pain that we are all experiencing right now as a community. As an Israeli, as a Jew, and as a human being, I just hope the violence will end soon, the hostages will come home safely, and the Palestinian casualties will stop. We are living in the richest time of history, when technology can literally provide all of our physical needs, we have no real reason to use violence and I hope it stops NOW.