CITIES AVIV - Interview

(I)

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Back in February we featured your most recent release, 'Man Plays the Horn', on our new music selects page. Overall, we really enjoyed the project! What was your inspiration behind this recent release?

CITIES AVIV

Man Plays The Horn is a meditation on hip-hop as it relates to histories of jazz, soul, and the macrocosm of black music. For a year prior, I had been daydreaming on the total idea while constructing the first few songs. After months of jamming & writing everything just fell into place. Everythang working on a natural time.

(II)

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Several tracks throughout 'Man Plays the Horn' stretch without vocals for significant lengths of time. What was the intention behind this decision to either have long instrumental gaps?

CITIES AVIV

I wanted to include sections where the album could breathe but also expand into more of a freeform experience. The instrumental portions are interstitial works but are also just as vital as the spoken rap pieces.

(III)

ETHEREAL.PRESS

‘Smoking on a Brighter Day,’ is a beautiful 12-minute instrumental which builds throughout the entire run time, but doesn't overstay its welcome. This track diverges from the rest of the project with such a long runtime.

What was the artistic intention behind this building instrumental?

‍CITIES AVIV

Smoking On A Brighter Day was one of the last songs I made for the record. I felt that the album already had a large phonetic population and needed a new dimension. Ultimately i'm flattered that you feel the song doesn't overstay its welcome. I feel the same. Some seem to think long instrumental pieces take away from such a release but I feel that such a sentiment speaks more to the limited attention spans of casual music listeners.

(IV)

ETHEREAL.PRESS

In the credits on, 'Man Plays the Horn,' you have several 'peace to' statements regarding inspirations/collaborators on the project. What is the significance of using the phrase 'Peace to' when representing these names?

CITIES AVIV

Peace simply is a gesture of love.

(V)

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Can you elaborate on the art direction of the album cover? How did the design come to be?

CITIES AVIV

The cover just came to me. Over the past several years, I have been collecting random ephemera. Photos, trinkets, cassette tapes, paintings, notes, and letters among other items. The final cover is a riff on an image I found in a discarded duffel bag full of photos and old cigars. One morning I woke up from a dream I had about the image and literally tore my studio apart looking for the photo. I sat with the design for a few days but immediately felt it spoke to the sonic language present on the album.

(VI)

ETHEREAL.PRESS

How does spirituality / religion come into play on the album?

CITIES AVIV

I'd say less religion and more of an appreciation for the infinite life source that moves through all things. This record is an ode to that. Most works I make are in alignment with that source.

(VII)

ETHEREAL.PRESS

What's next for Cities Aviv?

CITIES AVIV

We shall see. One Love.

ARTIST LINKS: BANDCAMP - INSTAGRAM

‍