Israeli Music Stars Promote New Album Benefitting Festival Massacre Victims: ‘We Want To Help
A month after Hamas' deadly attack on Israel on October 7, the group of electronic music stars are promoting a new 73-song project to raise money for the victims of the massacre at the Supernova festival.
The Bring Them Back compilation spans the electronic spectrum from trance to techno and features many famous names from Israel, including Infected Mushroom, Astrix, Red Axes and Astral Projection. At least 260 people were killed and dozens more kidnapped when Hamas militants attacked the Supernova psytrance festival organized by Israel's Nova tribe in Israel's Negev desert, about five kilometers from the Gaza border.
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"The Nova tribe that orchestrated the Hamas attack are good friends of mine," Astrix, whose real name is Avi Shmailov, told Rolling Stone . “The Psychotrance tribe is friendly, we all know each other. The hundreds of innocent dancers who have been killed, seriously injured and kidnapped are like my family. Thousands of others who somehow managed to survive were also badly affected. "We want to help them in any way we can."
Shmailov contributed to the project with the song "Shamanic Tales" from his latest album, which is now available for purchase on Bandcamp. He was on tour in Brazil when heavily armed Hamas fighters stormed the festival. He later learned that Avi Sassi, the uncle of Omri Sassi, a member of his Moonclipse Techno project, had died after allegedly stepping on a grenade thrown into a shelter where festival-goers were hiding. "His body can only be recognized by his jewels," Shmailov said, describing Avi as "a person you fall in love with when you meet him."
The musician said he was also aware of several hostages reported by Hamas. When asked what he thought about the wider conflict currently taking place in the region – including unprecedented revenge attacks and an Israeli ground offensive that reportedly killed 10,000 Gazans – Shmailov said he did not. answer: only hope for peace.
"I am a simple person, an artist, a musician. "I don't consider myself a person who has the knowledge to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because millions of people listen to my music," he told Rolling Stone . “I think innocent people on both sides have been victimized by Hamas. Let's hope that when they leave, they will find a way to live in peace. I have fans from many Arab countries and have been in regular contact with them over the years. We met at the festival. I know, and they know, that we can all live together in peace."
According to Electronic Music Community, the organization behind the project, the money raised from the Bring Them collection will go to the survivors of the massacre at the festival and the families of those killed, kidnapped or missing. Part of the funds will be used for psychological care and inpatient treatment centers, the group said.
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