Biography

Road to Evenmind was originally formed by most of the band members comprising it nowadays, but as a completely different band. As 7-year-old kids, May Fall and Yaniv David lacked both the life and musical experience so crucial to the functioning of the modern RotEv, not to mention the knowledge of the English language. Affected by the thriving rock scene of the early 90s, both decided to be a part of the revolution and start their own rock band. At this stage, without any musical background, the music was played on random instruments, and at other times - on things that looked like instruments. Two years later, I. David Robin joined the band, turning it into a trio, and by that time every member had his own acoustic guitar. Through '94-'97, the band, then called Rotev (a Hebrew word for ‘sauce’), recorded many tapes with original songs in Hebrew, with constant rotation on the instruments between the three (everyone had his share with acoustic guitar, percussion or vocals). Every year brought new chords and new ideas, and in '98 the first transition in the band's history took place when it switched to electric instruments. Every member got his permanent role - I. David and Yaniv on guitars, May on keyboards and lead vocals (covering also the bass parts until not much later, when Yaniv grabbed the bass guitar), with a fourth band member, the drummer, later joining to form the band's new line-up.

The band started performing and recording CDs, gaining reputation on the local scene, and in 2002 started working on a self-produced studio album which turned out to be a very long and complex project. The album, called "Pandemonium", led the band to the conclusion that due to the unusual musical style the band had evolved into, singing in Hebrew would restrict it to a very small and local audience, not exploiting the music's global potential, and so it was decided to start singing in English. That move completed the second big transition in the band's history, although the original Hebrew name, even as meaningless as it was, had gained too much sentimentality for the band to get rid of after ten years, so it was kept just as it was without meaning.

During the last months of the album production reality knocked at the band's door, reminding them that although they sing in English, they still live in Israel and they have go to the army.The album was released independently, but for the next three years of army service the band reduced its activity significantly, holding only occasional rehearsals and writing new material.The band members got released from service in the summer of 2006, and not much later, Kfir Ben Aroia took the drummer's seat to complete the band's best line-up to date. The return of the band to civilian freedom was very symbolic after having waited for it for three years. This time they were able to dedicate their lives completely to achieving their goals as a band, without outside interference.

It took them a year until they had their own studio, wired and ready to begin the sessions of their new album, "Diagnosis: Unsolved", which they’ve written over three long years. The process was very long and exhausting - producing and recording every track themselves, performing tasks from the most creative to the most Sisyphean. Towards the end of the sessions their studio was flooded, so they decided to move in together as a band to a villa (which they called the Rotevilla) where they could finish the recording in the studio they constructed there, rehearsing in the rehearsal room they built in the basement.

After almost two years of hard work the recording sessions were done, but the lack was felt of the final touch of a true expert, so they contacted the multi-platinum selling producer Michael Wagener to mix the album. Wagener upgraded it tremendously, sealing it with a tight and powerful sound. The album, "Diagnosis: Unsolved" has turned out to be a deep and meaningful piece of work which the band feel can lead them to their desired breakthrough. But a last change had to be made. After every word in the lyrics had been given thought, it didn't feel right that the band's name hadn't gone through the same process. While trying desperately to preserve the old name, the band disassembled it to every possible term, phrase or unreasonable word sequence. Although out of necessity, they've now found the perfect meaning of their old name, which has eventually turned out to be their new one. As written in the introduction, Road to Evenmind is basically everything the band is about, and much more than that.