We recently got a chance to catch up with lead guitarist Ishay Berger of the Israeli punk act Useless ID on the Asbury Park stop of their Fat Wreck tour with Dead To Me, The Flatliners, and Lagwagon. He filled us in on the Israeli punk scene, shooting their latest music video, writing the last album and what his favorite Fat Wreck releases of all time are.
Read it all here.
DS: We seem to be covering a growing number of Israeli punk acts on Dying Scene lately, how big is the punk scene getting over there?
Ishay Berger: It’s not about how big it gets, but about how it actually gets good these days. There’s not many people at shows, it would be at most around 300 to 400 people at a show. That would be the biggest punk show in Israel. Most shows have around sixty to one hundred. But it’s great. It’s not very big but everyone knows each other and there’s a lot of high-fives and it’s a very good small-type community.
Lyrically, your last album “Symptoms” is a very dark and introspective album. Given all that’s going on in the Middle East lately, and punk rock’s tendency to get political, do you ever feel compelled to write political songs?
No, I think with our lyrics when things appear to be harsher in the media it is actually a lot different for us at that moment. Israel is very up and down, but always bad. It’s very political, and the climate always shifts. There is never a dull moment. So, we never feel like “Oh, this is a great time to do a political song”. Whenever there is one coming up it is definitely because we felt like writing one. But we’re not very outspoken about politics.
When you’re all writing new songs, is it ever hard to determine whether your frontman Yotam Ben-Horin uses it for his solo career, or for Useless ID?
Well, he’s doing a lot of things all the time, like there were times where he had some songs for another band he played for that were softer than Useless ID. But his solo stuff, not yet. He has like an acoustic song for his stuff, and then a different one for Useless ID. I think he really has in mind if he wants to do something that is more quiet and emotional, or something more faster and pissed off then he definitely goes for a punk feel.
Your video for “New Mysteries” is hilariously creepy. How fun was that to film?
It wasn’t as fun as it looks. Everybody is telling me “It looks like you had such a good time” but it actually was kind of hard to keep working the makeup and keep changing into clothes that are not very comfortable for me. But I had fun seeing other people around me having fun at my expense.
This is your first Fat Wreck tour, has it been living up to expectations?
Yes, definitely. I’ve never been to a show like this, where all the bands are from the same label. It’s really great both backstage and on-stage. I think everyone is really helpful and very nice. Everybody is super kind on this tour. We all love what we do, and we’re all supportive of each other. It’s beautiful. And the crowds are really good too.
Do you feel that there is a different energy at a label tour?
Totally. I think everybody has a lot of the same experience, a lot of bands and friends that are from the label. It’s definitely different, we never did a tour with four bands, and it’s a different tour vibe.
If you could add one more Fat band to this tour who isn’t already on it, who would it be?
Dillinger Four, because I never got to see them play. I love the Fat Wreck Chords bands, I’m a big fan of most of the bands. But Dillinger Four is one I never got to see play so I would definitely love to see those guys for the first time.
What is your favorite Fat Wreck release?
There’s too many of those. I love many many many many fucking albums on this record label, but from when I was young I really loved the first Tilt album on Fat, I listened to it all the time. From the older releases, the first Good Riddance or Tilt on Fat. From the newer, the latest Dillinger Four or Swingin’ Utters. I’m a big fan of the Swingin’ Utters, and Frenzal Rhomb. The latest Frenzal Rhomb is amazing, I think it’s their best album and all their albums are fucking awesome.
Who is your favorite band to sing along to when you’re alone in your car?
I don’t have a car, but definitely millions of bands. My all time favorite band to sing along to is Bad Religion, because I love how their songs have big words and I figured them all out.
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