Coming soon to Tel Aviv, Noblesse is a catchy rock act from the Netherlands. I caught vocalist/guitarist Orson Sven (a former dancer that lived in five different countries, wow..his parents now live in the North of Israel) on Myspace….

OS: Good evening.

MI: Good morning to you, huh? What time is it in the Netherlands?

OS: 2 in the morning.

MI: Heh.. so how would you describe your music to someone who never heard it?

OS: Rock. Or indie rock. Or alternative rock. It really doesn’t matter.

MI: Who are your main influences?

OS: The three of us have very different taste. It ranges from roots, blues and jazz to Nirvana, PJ Harvey, Smashing Pumpkins.

MI: (while listening to the disc, downloadable for free here) You got harmonica in there!

OS: Yes, the harmonica was a last minute addition, but just for 1 song.

MI: So what made you guys decide to come to Israel?

OS: We played in Tel Aviv 2 years ago and had a lot of fun. we played in the Hoodna. it was an illegal street concert. We played together with “Ha’shakranim”. It was pretty amazing.

MI: Where’s the Hoodna?

OS: It’s in the south of Tel Aviv, they don’t usually have concerts, but we set up a sound system and stage in a small alley behind it. The police came to stop us, but they couldn’t find it. we had a 100 people sweating with us. You can’t do that in the Netherlands.

MI: Why not?

OS: Everything is too organized here… and the weather sucks. Anyway, we have some family in Israel.

MI: Yeh, I saw something, you said you’re half-Israeli?

OS: Kind of, yes. We all lived in Israel as kids for different times but have been in The Netherlands for more than half our life.

MI: You all Jewish?

OS: Yes.

MI: So let me ask you, where are you playing when you come?

OS: Ahh… I don’t know if I can say yet… since the dates are not 100%, but Tel Aviv for sure.

MI: What Israeli bands have you heard/do you know of?

OS: We like Beri Sachrof, Monica Sex. I hear Betzefer are doing really well.

MI: Baruch Hashem, they’re kicking it hardcore. They played in Holland, or they’re playing there, not sure. Did you ever hear a band called Weird Chicken? You kind of sound like the two of you would be a good show.

OS: I saw the video on your website.

MI: Wow, cool.

OS: Yes, it could be a good combination. Are they in Jerusalem?

MI: Yeh, one of them is in Tel Aviv now though, running a guitar store. But they’re still Jerusalem based. So how long has your band been together? Tell us about your latest, Sound the Alarm.

OS: we’ve played together for just over 2 years. Sound The Alarm is our first full length album, we first released an EP called Four Song Demo in 2005, between the EP and the album we did a lot of shows and that’s how we chose the songs for the album. it also made it easy to record, since we recorded the whole album in just 6 days.

MI: First question from that last answer, Where did you tour?

OS: We played all over The Netherlands, Tel Aviv, Berlin and one festival in Belgium.

MI: Next – wow, six days? Where did you record it? What town are you guys from, btw?

OS: We are based in The Hague. we recorded the album in a small studio here. Most of what is on the album was recorded live.

MI: Well, it’s a great disc and I wish you the best of luck.

OS: Thank you.