I think it was 1965 - yeah, about 35 years ago. Wow, a long time. I was only 15. At that time I met Hayim Romano (later to be Churchills guitarist), he was a guitarist in an unknown band. Ami Trybich (later to be the Churchills drummer), and Ytshak Klepter (founder member of Churchills initial line up, quit just before the first recordings) were in this band as well. I started playing with these guys in the neighborhood club. The set included Shadows covers and some old Elvis type rockers.

No. We weren't called anything at all (smiles). We were referred to as 'Tequila' because we used to play that tune. This was the pre-Churchills line up. Later we called ourselves The Whisperers, and at one point we were 'Churchill's Hermits', you know, as in Herman's Hermits. We used to do gigs in clubs around the country (Israel), and at a certain stage we got ourselves a manager, in which point it became more of a serious business. Klepter was drafted around 1968, and we had to find a replacement. At that time there was a British band in tour in Israel, The Tornadoes, they were riding on the success of their "Telstar" hit. We spent an evening with Rob Huxley (from the Tornadoes) and another fellow, Stan Solomon, the vocalist of a band from Haifa (northern Israel - JR) called The Saints.

Stan, a Canadian staying in Israel, was instantly recruited to join the band. He was really into American soul music, which took us all to a new direction. We still needed a guitar player and Stan suggested Rob. This was in fact the birth of the creative phase of the Churchills. We quit doing the covers and started digging into what we than referred to as "underground rock". I believe we were the first Israeli band to have a rough 'kick ass' sound.

Jefferson Airplane, Doors, Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, and many others.

We were certainly influenced from the Bedouin (Mid-Eastern nomadic desert tribes - JR) and Arab music. Naturally, this came from Hayim and myself. We came from an eastern, call it Asian background, while the rest of the guys in the band were westerners. Of course, Rob and Stan had nothing to do with this, neither did Ami.
You have to realize, it's not as if we've made calculated decisions as to the use of these sounds, it came from our background, and it's only natural. Reaching the eastern sound was not an 'intellectual' process. After all we did grow up in this part of the world. In addition to ethnic instruments, we even used a water pipe in the studio (in the song "Debka") True, there were other bands that were experimenting with these sounds, such as Jefferson Airplane, but it was in different way; they borrowed elements and embedded them to parts of their music. It was more of a stylistic thing.

Anyway, the fusion of Ethnic elements with our Underground attitude, and with Rob's and Stan's ideas, has eventually led to this 'Freak Out'. Yeah, it really was a Freak Out. Stan and Rob, were totally mind blown by the revelation of the Mid Eastern sounds. They were crazed so to speak, and it has nourished their conception in a very creative way, resulting in enormous creativity. I remember their minds caught in a blaze when we played Greek music in a gig, we actually sang a couple of songs in Greek. For them it was a whole new thing. We went in to the studio with this musical attitude to record the soundtrack for an Israeli film called A Woman's Case. This resulted in the Churchills' first album.

It was a club scene, young folks in crowded clubs. There were some other bands doing the same clubs we did.

We're talking about 1968-1969, there was a rock scene all around the world. There was an audience for the Churchills and the record company realized that fact. In the studio however, we managed to scare them a bit with our tendency to experiment. We were into backward tapes and sound effects. We were rowdy and wild. Stan used to roam the streets screaming: "We are the tits-men of Tel Aviv!" At one point we recorded that and played it backwards. It just sounded right, so we inserted into one of our songs ... was it "Strange People"? Oh no, I'm almost sure that it's on "Too Much in Love to Hear" (their first single, 1967). If you listen carefully you'll find it there, backwards of course. Try playing that song backwards, it's there.

Anyway, they had a hard time in the studio adjusting to some of our crazed ideas, not to mention our unusual behaviour and the use of some weird machines in order to create non-costly special effects. We used an Oscillator, never before used on records. In the song "Debka", you will notice the presence of that sound. We had no funding, nor did we have the technical abilities to do the kind of studio work that is today taken for granted. We would wrap our Marshall amplifiers in heavy-duty blankets, and place them in the corner of the studio. We would take the drums and isolate them in another corner, making sure that the sounds of different instruments would not leak into other instruments' microphones. It drove the recording engineers nuts.

Yes, it was a primitive approach with creative attitudes. We had no money, and yet we were determined to achieve exactly what we had in our minds. You know, even today, having all the needs and possibilities to implement any audible idea, I still suggest this attitude. Young musicians approach me for consultation, asking me how to achieve the right sound. I always claim that one doesn't need extensive funding in order to provide the technology. It's the creativity and the motivation that would take you there. You could even do it with an eight-track, or for that matter, even four-track.

The first album was in the making only for a month or two. We came to the studio relatively ready, having rehearsed extensively. Being fluent with our parts in the songs, in the studio most of the energy was invested in achieving the sound that we desired. It was an enthusiastic experience. We never related to the whole thing as 'business', it was merely fun, and we loved it.

Our recording process was gradual. We'd record instruments on a few tracks, mix them into one channel and clean all the tracks after the mix so we could put other instruments in. We'd than repeat that process in order to create more channels. In the end we came with a few pre-mixes of instrument groups and then mixed them into one big mix. The sound effects (reverb, panning, etc) of those instruments were mixed during the pre-mix. Coming to the final mix, we'd already have the desired sound.

No, I think it was 1971. In 1970 the Churchills' new line-up (with the new vocalist, Danny Shoshan, replacing Stan) had a significant trip to London.

Around 1970, Stan has decided that he wanted to go back to Canada and run a normal life. There was some family business with his father. Yes, it was a crisis. We were left a quartet not exactly knowing what to do. It was a confused time. There was a lot of talk about Rob or myself taking the lead singer role. As for myself, I instantly knew I wasn't into being a lead singer. We became involved in some projects that did not require a lead singer. We started backing Arik Einstein (Israeli folk-pop singer, and a cult figure during the '60s and the '70s. The Churchills backed him in concerts and recorded a couple of albums with him. He is still active and enjoys enormous popularity in Israel to this day - JR).

The acclaimed classical music conductor, Zubin Mehta, was at that time working with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra. He, and arranger Noam Sharif, supported the idea of merging the sound of the Churchills in a classical music event. We ended playing two JS Bach pieces. The orchestra came first and we followed their set (two Churchills tracks were recorded in the studio, without an orchestra, for the single "Churchill Sebastian Bach" released in 1970. A video of the concert event also exists -JR).

Back to the lead singer problem... Israeli rock-pop group Lions of Judah had just come back from a tour in the UK, as their lead singer, Danny Shoshan, had joined the Churchills.

From a musical, as well as personal point of reference, would you define the Churchills at this point in time as a re-formed band?

Everything we created up to that point was history now. The creative forces and the personal dynamics had shifted in a way that had affected the music. "Sunshine Man" was recorded with this new line up, but was still a derivative of the first Churchills' phase. ("Sunshine Man" was originally released as B-side of the single "She's A Woman". You can find it today as a bonus track in the Churchills' debut album's CD reissue - JR) And yet, a new sound was born with that song. It still had a bit of the "Underground" feel, but it leaned towards harmonic Beatles or even Hollies-type pop.

This didn't last. It kind of categorized the short transition period between all that we've done so far, and what was yet to be born. Our new lead vocalist Danny Shoshan - who was dominant in a willful sort of way, if not in a musical way - somehow managed to direct us towards making hard rock cover versions of songs like "She's a Woman", "Living Loving". These were songs that we liked, and we used to listen to - among others - yet making such covers was never our intention. It just wasn't our musical direction. Danny's concept was completely different. His orientation was the bluesy hard rock. We got into it, and our music became totally different.

It was very American, and it was Danny Soshan. It's more blues and soul based. For this album we hooked with A&M in England, they didn't like the name Churchills for obvious reasons, and so it became Jericho Jones. We went there (London) for a few weeks and recorded the album Junkeys, Monkeys & Donkeys, it was a swift operation. The album got considerable airplay and it went pretty well. Eventually we were called back to make another album, in which stage the "Jones" was dropped and we were just Jericho. By that time it was clear that we had to stay in London.

Not to take over, but yeah, we wanted to be in the heart of things, you know, having a contract with A&M, gigs, airplay, all that. It was mind blowing. We wanted to be there. Europe was the right place to be in for us, not Israel.

Yes. We toured with them and with other bands. We were pretty well known at that stage. We had tours all over Europe. The Danes loved it. We were different in Denmark as most of their bands were 'Popish'. Long before that time, while we were still with Stan, we lived there for about six months and enjoyed enormous popularity. They really dug our underground sound. We started to enjoy the benefits of being backed up by a major label. You know, limousines, fancy hotels and all that stuff. We'd do large festivals as well as clubs, all around. Jericho sold well, even in France where sales reached 20,000 copies within a relatively short time. We were the best selling foreign band in France, and they liked us in Italy as well.

I don't remember the names of the clubs in Liverpool and Birmingham, but there were quite a few. I remember performing in festivals in Italy, Paradiso in Amsterdam, and a gig Rotterdam a day after Pink Floyd. There were many rock festivals; I can't recall the names. We shared the stage with some great bands, including the Faces. We had a tour with Gary Wright and Mungo Jerry, doing shows in cathedrals.

No, no...(laughing). We were on our way to a Kibbutz in the Carmel Mountains (Israel), totally stoned in one of those old Volkswagen vans. When we got there, a large crowd formed around the van, and Rob, totally wasted, his face pressed against the van window, started squealing like an ape - he must've had a zoo association. He was playing a couple of chords and screaming: "Ethiopia, Ethiopia"! I guess that we ended up with a song.

Well, yeah, at that time we started listening to King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and other Prog bands.

We would have definitely gone into a broader spectrum. Kind of an attempt to fuse a classical model with rock music.

Much more than before. This change in style (already evident in Jericho) was all for the better. Between the Churchills' first album and Jericho, there was this vast gap. Jericho, in a way, takes off again from that point in time where the Churchills lost some of their creative force. You see, Jericho Jones was not the Churchills.

Absolutely. A period of transformation, and acquaintanceship between the new characters. A process that has finalized towards the making of Jericho, and has concluded in the inevitable break-up.

Because we have become to the realization that if we do not (artistically) move forward and create a major and significant breakthrough, there's no point in going on. We wanted to do our own concerts and draw a larger crowd to see the Churchills. Not just do the clubs and the festivals. We wanted to rise above our cult status and receive wide recognition. At this stage I was already married and I had a child, others were getting tired of the life on the road as well. We weren't kids any more. We wanted a life, so to speak.

I quit, and returned to Israel. So did Ami, our drummer. Rob stayed with Danny and Haim, they found a new drummer and Danny played the bass. They became a quartet, but eventually they split. The Churchills dissolved.

There's no doubt in my mind: The first, starting when I was 15 years old, till the age of 19. The band was at its creative peak; we were all connected, socially and musically. There was an essence and there was truth in what we did.

Yeah, (laughing) and Hayim was 13! Did you know that?

It might have been the JS Bach concert. Oh, and when we lived in Denmark, we participated in a 'Psychedelic Forum'. It was in a large hall, and in each corner there was a band playing. There was a big crowd there - not to mention, all stoned out of their minds. Imagine four bands playing simultaneously - and constantly changing - while 120 projectors are screening psychedelic images and films on the walls. The most uplifting and bizarre mindblowing experience. We were taken from there to a farm in the countryside, where a party was held. We jammed there, in the living room, till sunrise. It was an incredible night. It was all recorded on a four-track. The tapes unfortunately have since been lost.

It sounds like a fantasy to me. You are now telling me quite unbelievable things. I'm flattered. I've heard that the original Jericho albums have become collectors' items in England, but what you are telling me sounds pretty incredible.

Yeah, well, it definitely was a psychedelic era!