Amit Erez

In his native Israel Amit Erez is recognized as an outstanding and respected musician where he performs both as a contemporary singer/songwriter and as the guitarist of the eclectic-rock band Eatliz as well (sonicbids/eatliz). Born in 1980, Amit began playing guitar at the age of 10 and spent his early years listening to Metal and progressive rock. Heavily influenced by the likes of Metallica, Yes and Robert Wyatt, Amit developed an early knack for composition which helped carve out his identifiable style and sound. As Amit moved on he discovered the music of those who were to become his musical mentors - Elliott Smith, Nick Drake and Joni Mitchell. After his mandatory army stint Amit formed a band and began preforming for the first time focusing on the songs he wrote during his service. In 2003 Amit self-released his CD entitled Wish I Could Make It A Story which was actually recorded on a mini-disc in his parents' home of just him accompanying himself on guitar. While the disc was distributed in an underground fashion it caused a great stir in the small but active indie scene in Israel. Off to Rotterdam, Amit spent a year studying at the Rotterdam Conservatory where he focused on composition. Batteries charged, Amit returned to Israel ready to put together a band in order to record his first full CD. On arrival Amit joined the eclectic prog band Eatliz as rhythm guitarist. While putting together his band for the recording sessions Amit recorded the single Come Get Your Love with Ran Jurgenson, drummer of Amit's band as producer. Using Electrical instruments for the first time and releasing the single under an assumed name of Trickstar Waterfall, the single received tremendous airplay positioning Amit as a rising star. The songs' sound was clearly influenced by Minimal Compact, Jesus and Mary Chain and Joy Division. At that point Amit continued his work with Eatliz and devoted most of his energies to preparing his original material to be recorded. In 2006, a year and a half after the release of his single, Amit released the EP Black Light through Earsay Records which featured five songs recorded in a home-studio but intimate style. The EP received multiple spins on Israeli radio. In 2007 Amit played a mini tour in Germany for which he received a lot of local media coverage. Currently Amit appears throughout Israel and is actively involved in several musical projects both as a musician, arranger and singer as well. In August Amit signed with AnovA Music of Tel Aviv and in December, the new album "Amit Erez" was released. A few months later, Amit has won the IMA Vox Populi Poll of the 7th annual IMA awards 2008, with his song "Postcard".