(PR) A couple of Middle Eastern based rock bands believe that rock & roll can help change the world. Seek Irony (from Israel) frontman, Kfir, and Blood Ink (from Lebanon) frontman, Rab, first met via My Space in early 2006. Over time, they shared music, a blossoming friendship, and a mutual frustration that they probably would never be able to meet in person and perform together. When war broke out between Hezbollah based in Lebanon and Israel, the two contacted one another to make sure that they, their bandmates and families were okay in the midst of all the violence and bloodshed. They would email or instant message back and forth almost daily to check on one another and in time the conversation evolved into one of political views.
These two young men agreed that the world had a very lopsided view of how most people in their respective countries felt about one another when the seemingly never-ending conflict is usually about smaller extremist groups on either side. The two singers talked about possibly doing a show together, but it quickly became evident that there was no way to get the two bands from these two countries in the same place at the same time. Eventually, they started discussing writing a song about it and Everything We Are was born.
For weeks, Kfir and Rab emailed verses and chorus ideas and lyrics back and forth, which Kfir then took to the rest of Seek Irony members to put down on tape. It took so long because my internet would go down for 3 weeks at a time, explains Rab, so I would have no way to be in contact with Kfir until it went back up. Several versions later, the final song was done, but now came the even more complicated problem of finding a way for Blood Ink and Seek Irony to record the song together. At first, both bands had been excited, but after awhile, Blood Inks members, except for Rab, became concerned about any repercussions they might suffer, not only for speaking out against what was going on, but especially for working with an Israeli band. The band members wanted desperately to take part, but their families started putting pressure on them to stay uninvolved. Rab, however, refused to be intimidated and continued to work with Kfir. It took more weeks of emailing vocals to one another, each one working in their home studios, until finally Kfir was able to mix it together into the final version.
Since it was put up for listening only on both bands MySpace pages a few weeks ago, the comments from listeners has ranged the spectrum of the emotions involved in the Middle East conflict. Everything from this is a wonderful way to bring about peace to you guys are traitors and should all be thrown in jail. But the members of both bands stay committed to their initial goals. For now, the song is still available for listening only on www.myspace.com/seekirony and www.myspace.com/bloodink, but plans are in the works to make it available for download in the very near future.
