Mashina ( he, משינה) is an Israeli

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

which was active from 1983 to 1995, and then again from 2003 to the present. The band is considered by many to be Israel's most important and influential rock band. Their musical style took inspiration from

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

and

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

, among others.

History

Mashina was formed by singer

Yuval Banai Yuval Banay ( he, יוּבַל בַּנַאי; born June 9, 1962) is an Israeli musician, best known as the lead singer of the influential Israeli pop rock band Mashina. Personal life Yuval was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, to Ilana and Yossi Ba ...

, a member of the noted Banai family. His father, the late Yossi, was an actor and singer, as are uncles Gavri and Ya'akov, along with many of Yuval's cousins. During his army service, Banai met guitar player Shlomi Bracha and the two started playing music together. A friend of theirs, a recent Russian immigrant, suggested they call their band ''"Machina Vremeni",'' which means "time machine" in Russian (this suggestion may have been inspired by the well-known Russian rock band

Mashina Vremeni Mashina Vremeni () is a Russian rock band founded in 1969. Mashina Vremeni was a pioneer of Soviet rock music and remains one of the oldest still-active rock bands in Russia. The band's music incorporates elements of classic rock, blues, and b ...

of the 1960s and 1970s). After the army service the two split up; Banai formed the band ''"Shlom Ha-Tzibur"'' ("Public Safety"), while Bracha teamed up with bassist Michael Benson to form the band ''"HaChazit Ha'amamit"'' ("The Popular Front"). In 1984 they decided to combine to form a new band, which they called Mashina, bringing in drummer Iggy Dayan; in 1985, they released their self-titled debut, which quickly became a hit on the Israeli charts. Later, Avner Hodorov joined the band on keyboard and saxophone. They gained widespread popularity in Israel during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In May 1995, the band announced their retirement and put together four heavily publicized farewell shows. What would have been their fourth and final performance, in

Arad, Israel Arad ( he, עֲרָד ) is a city in the Southern District of Israel. It is located on the border of the Negev and the Judean Deserts, west of the Dead Sea and east of Beersheba. The city is home to a diverse population of , including Ashk ...

, ended when three of the spectators were crushed to death by the crowd before the band went onstage. The band played another farewell concert several months later at

Yarkon Park Yarkon Park ( he, פארק הירקון, ''Park HaYarkon'') is a large park in Tel Aviv, Israel, with about sixteen million visits annually. Named after the Yarkon River which flows through it, the park includes extensive lawns, sports faciliti ...

, which they dedicated to those three fans. After Mashina broke up, Banai released 3 solo albums: "Yuval Banai" (1997), "Rashi Dub" (1999) (produced by bass player

Yossi Fine Joseph Thomas Fine (born December 7, 1964), known professionally as Yossi Fine, is an Israeli bassist and producer. fronted the world music/reggae/funk band Ex-Centric Sound System. Biography Personal life Fine was born in Paris, France, to a We ...

) and "''Nish'ar BaMakom''" ("Staying in Place") (2001). Bracha released a solo album, and Benson co-founded the electronic-rock group Atmosfire, which came out with one album. The band re-formed in 2003 and began touring and releasing albums again. On October 8, 2006, the band performed at the opening ceremony of the 27th Acco Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre. Mashina has gone on several North American tours, playing in cities including Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Toronto, Washington and Los Angeles.Mashina to tour North America
/ref> Banai and Bracha served as co-mentors on season 2 of ''

The Voice Israel ''The Voice Israel'' (Hebrew: ''The Voice ישראל'') is the Israeli version of ''The Voice of Holland''. It is part of the international syndication ''The Voice'' based on the reality singing competition launched in the Netherlands, created ...

'', in 2012–2013.

Music

The musical growth of Mashina can be mapped to different influences across their albums. Their early sound was obviously imitative of

bands like Madness; they didn't bother to hide the influence, titling what became one of their earliest hit songs ''"Rakevet Laila Le-Kahir"'' ("Night Train to Cairo"), an homage to Madness' " Night Boat to Cairo", or "Geveret Sarah Hashchena" ("Miss Sarah, the Neighbour") that copied the theme, music and opening lyrics of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

's "The Hurricane". Their subsequent albums combined reggae, punk rock and Middle Eastern elements. ''"Ha'Amuta Le-Heker Hatmuta"'' ("The Society for the Study of Mortality") has sounds influenced by

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...

, ''"Miflatzot Ha-Tehila"'' ("The Monsters of Fame") has sounds influenced by

The Pixies Pixies is an American alternative rock band formed in 1986, in Boston, Massachusetts. Until 2013, the band consisted of Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass, vocals) and David Lovering ...

and

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

, ''"Si Ha-Regesh"'' ("Peak of Excitement") has the blues influence of

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

, and ''"Lehitra'ot Ne'urim Shalom Ahava"'' ("Goodbye Youth, Hello Love") presents the anthemic quality of U2 and

Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United St ...

. Their lyrics tend to be cynical, sometimes humorously so. They have common themes of alienation, the struggle of everyday life and a desire for some sort of physical or spiritual escape.

Band members

* Yuval Banay -

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

* Shlomi Bracha -

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

* Iggy Dayan -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Avner Hodorov -

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

* Michael Benson -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, vocals * Supporting members ** Ilan Gozal -

Management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

** Yossi Lugassi -

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

** Izhar Rhozental -

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 tera ...

** Ilan Lamdan - sound monitor ** Amalia Banay -

video editor A video editor is involved in video production and the post-production of film making. The video editor's responsibilities involve decisions about the selection and combining of shots into sequences, as well as the addition of accompanying sou ...

** Ofir Sonnenschein -

back stage ''Backstage'', also previously written as ''Back Stage'', is an American entertainment industry trade publication. Founded by Allen Zwerdling and Ira Eaker in 1960, it covers the film and performing arts industry from the perspective of performer ...

Discography

Albums

Compilations

* Total sales: 420,000+

References

External links

Official site

{{Authority control Banai family Israeli alternative rock groups Musical groups established in 1983