Shortly after the release of Blast Havers’ debut track, the electronic dance number “Tested on Animals,” somebody told Ori Kawa, the group’s spokesman, that he liked it.
“So I just said, joking, ‘Yeah? How did it make you feel?’” he said, semi-quoting the song:
Does this make you dance?
Does this make you dance?
Does. This. Make. You. Dance?!
How does that make you feel?
And, when Ori asked his interlocutor that same question, “Their answer was, ‘Like an animal, to be honest.’ I had to laugh because, yes, that’s the fully intended purpose.”
The idea for the song came from a package of dog treats. The label said, “This product is not tested on animals.”
“That sparked the idea in my head that it should be tested on animals, and when you’re a DJ and you’re playing music, and when it’s new and different, that’s kind of what you’re doing, testing it out on animals.”
“People,” he added.
“So, we wrote the lyrics first, and then started making the music and it all started falling into place.”
Ori himself has done the band thing but when Covid struck, “the landscape changed,” and it was more difficult to keep a band going and performing.
He and Blast Havers produce electronic dance music with the idea of taking electronic house back to a time when it was just as energetic but slower.
“I went back to using just a laptop for production, and I got really into it, and when I did, I became more productive than I had ever been before, and that part kept feeding itself. You get a little addicted to productivity sometimes.”
The music was fun, he was having fun, and in the end, he created Blast Havers.
The first test, waxing satiric with the lyrics and production, is “Tested on Animals.”
The dance beat, the music featuring tech with animal noises, and the vocals, delivered deadpan “like you’re sitting on a couch with a therapist asking questions and taking notes,” have the power to make you laugh.
And dance: whole-body dancing at the club; hand-dance on the steering wheel driving to the store; feet dancing at the sink doing dishes; thumbs on the Trackpad.
Fun is the thing. That’s kind of the point behind the group’s name, Blast Havers.
“If you like to have a blast, then you’re one of us,” he said.
“I’m having fun with the whole process, too. The process of making music has become very enjoyable to me, to all of us in Blast Havers, and I want everyone to get in on the fun.”
Another purpose, stated in the group’s bio, is to “get back to the roots of electronic music.”
Ori, being the spokesman, wrote that and, asked about it, said, “Originally, I was referring to slowing down the music a little bit in tempo. Nowadays, everything’s got to be faster, with a harder edge. It’s got to be faster to melt your face off. Or whatever.”
As a technical aspect, he explained, the slower tempo goes back to disco, “which is the roots of all the stuff we electronic music producers do now.”
“Dance music stuff all comes from that. It was originally a little slower than a lot of the tech house that is out right now.”
Two more singles are coming out very soon, and then more later. An album, he says, is on their radar.
The ultimate inspiration for Blast Havers’ music is a song by Psychemagik, “Mink & Shoes.”
“It did all the things I thought slower music can do. It was funky. It still has a groove in it, if you’re in that mood, and you could really just lose your mind on the dance floor.”
That is a pretty fair description of “Tested on Animals.” The goal is bringing people together to have fun.
“That’s the main focus,” he said. “If you’re having a blast, then this refers to you, and all the other stuff doesn’t matter.”
Like the song says:
This product has been tested on animals
You are the animals
Dance, you party animals
Dance!
Dance into a connection with Blast Havers on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.
“Tested on Animals,” YouTube
Bandcamp
SoundCloud
Spotify
Facebook
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