Sam: First of all, congratulations on the new album. How are you finding being in the metal scene and what have you seen the general response to the album to be?

Miri: Thank you, it is very exciting for us to finally release the debut album Memorial, a moment that we have been waiting for too long. Still it is very hard to know about all the responses of the album because it had just been released lately in Europe and only three months ago in Israel. So far there are some pretty good responses from people all over the world saying that they really love our music, that it is very unique and they really got into the album's atmosphere but of course there are some people that saying that it is not their "cup of tea", so it is all about musical preferences. There will always be some people that will love it or some that won't. We appreciate all kinds of responses and we just happy that people can finally listen to it. Every day more and more people hear about us so I guess that in a few years or even less we would be able to say that we truly feel a part of the world wide metal scene.

Sam: What other names did the band have before Distorted and what made you settle on this as a final name?

Miri: This question always brings out funny memories. In 1998 we started as "Distorted Minds" and had no reason or ideal behind that name we just felt like distorted minded people but after our first show that year, when this name appeared in Hebrew on the poster we decided that it was too funny so we kicked out the "minds". After that, we thought to add something more "interesting" to the name so we tried to add 3 dots "Distorted…" It is very unnecessary to say that it didn't worked out, so since 1999 we are just Distorted with no other decorations. We just feel that this name suits us and our music.

Sam: Seven songs were released on demos between 1998 and 2002, which is quite a long time. Why did it take the band this time to get started, was it not such a serious enterprise at this stage?

Miri: To tell you the truth, we had worked together for many years before Memorial and recorded many songs but we felt truly ready for real recordings just on the last two years.  We thought it would be best for us to record this album when the materials are more mature and professional, And to know that we are ready for it with no regrets or doubts about anything we have written so far. Now a year after the recordings, we feel that we have made the right decision about doing things in our own pace and with no pressure.

Sam: What change took place in 2002 which made you want to take playing live more seriously? What was it that made the band become more committed at this point?

Miri: Well, before 2002 we could say that the metal scene in Israel was quite dead. There were no metal events no festivals or nothing that could have indicated that this scene will ever become alive again. After 4 years of partnership we understood that we have to start having more live concerts. It wasn't so easy because that time no one wanted to take a young band to perform, particularly a young metal band! It is important to say that nowadays People in Israel are just starting to accept the metal scene but not as embracing as it is in other states.  Then we came up with this idea to start doing our own concerts - If no one will provide us a stage we will provide it to ourselves! So we started organizing metal events just so we will have a place to perform. Along the way we gave other young bands the chance to perform on stages in big clubs when no one else gave them the opportunity. We gave the name "Metal Till Dawn" to our main production line, and it became pretty famous here… people from all over the country came to see young metal bands. The scene had started to awake from its long sleep and people became more aware to us as a band and as supporters of the Israeli metal scene. Today, After 4 years of hard work on MTD people still really appreciate the change that it has brought to our small scene. I can say that since that point we really started to focus on our music and getting closer to achieve our goals as a band.

Sam: Distorted is, as far as I’m aware, the only female-fronted metal band in Israel. What is it like being in such a position?

Miri: As for today we aren't the only female fronted anymore. There are several bands with female-fronted and some of them are very nice, but they are still in the same phase that we were a couple of years ago, I mean they are still trying to figure their music style and still has no serious recordings so far. Of course I wish them all the best of luck and I am trying to be supportive as much as I can. When we first started doing live concerts I was the only girl among a bunch of guys and the crowd wasn't so open minded about a female vocalist banging her head the same as a male vocalist does on stage (but only with sexier clothings). In the beginning, it was very hard for me to become acceptable among metal heads here and I really had to fight for my existence as a female singer (Just like a true metal girl J) but on the last two years the crowd is really supportive and loving and I really appreciate this change!

Sam: I notice that you have sung for Orphaned Land in their live shows. How did get in contact with the band and what is it like to work with them?

Miri: It was very natural for me to sing with OL because we consider them to be good friends of ours. We kind of grew up in the same city and we know them for a long time. OL are great people and we really love them as a family.

Sam: I’ve heard some people describe the music that Distorted play as doom metal [though I have no idea why] whereas others describe it as death metal. Do you think that people overcomplicate matters and are too concerned with labelling things rather than just enjoying music for what it is?

Miri: I think that our music is very hard to describe. It combines a lot of music styles such as: doom, death, dark, gothic, oriental, heavy and more… so I can understand why the responses can be so different sometimes. Sometimes I do think that people are more into labelling bands rather than enjoying their music but it is how human nature works. People need certain definitions so they will be able to know and define what they like or dislike about music or other matters in life. Labelling create distinctions. There is no way to escape from it and I really understand how it works. In my opinion listening to Music is all about judging and exploring yourself and defining the music as you hear it and not based on what other people's think of it. For me, music is all about moments and moods. We are not trying to categorize our music, We go with our hearts and minds and create the thing we all do best. If you insist, we like to call it "Distorted Metal".

Sam: What bands and artists do you think have shaped your sound from the inception of Distorted and are there any other Israeli metal acts that you admire and that are particularly dear to you?

Miri: There are lots of good bands in this world! But the ones that had influenced us the most are: Metallica, Nevermore, Opeth, Dark Tranquillity, The Gathering, Tool and more… About Israeli influences, I can say that we really appreciate OL's and Salem's work and music, but I think that our oriental sound that everyone is mistaking with comparing it to OL comes from home and not related directly to OL. Israel is known with its mid-eastern culture and it is very hard to ignore it if you are born here, so I can say that the mid-eastern oriental music has a part that always influences our sound and music along with all of our favourite bands.

Sam: I love the artwork for the Memorial CD. Who was responsible for the cover of the album and what does it represent?

Miri: Thank you! We are very pleased about it as well. Memorial main theme is pain and personal loss. The best way to express your feelings is through pictures (a picture worth more than a thousand words). We tried to describe an image of pain the best way we could, so we chose to show a real person but a person that had lost his human image because he sank too deep into pain and forgot how to live his life due for the pain and sadness. He is all wrapped around old photos from the past trying to feel some human emotions once more. When we sat down together and talked about the future cover of Memorial everyone agreed immediately on the photos elements. I came up with the main idea but this was a hard work of all the members. Adam (Nishma) from Israel is the talented guy that had designed the cover with my help (I'm a graphics designer myself) and I designed the booklet.

Sam: What is the general feeling towards metal in Israel? How is it perceived among the masses and what kind of music is the most popular there?

Miri: I think that the last year for OL and Betzefer was really a great success and it really promoted the Israel metal scene in a good way. I think that till then people all over the world didn't know that Israel even had a metal scene or metal listeners, and thanks to OL and Betzefer's success it is more easy for people to open their mind to other Israeli musicians. There is a greater enthusiasm to know more bands from Israel. As far as I have seen so far people here like mostly death metal but also like other genres such as: thrash, old school, gothic, doom and bands like Distorted that combines all genres.

Sam: Tell us more about you as a person – from what age have you been interested in singing and what made you interested in metal in the first place?

Miri: Ok then, I am almost 24 years old. I'm a musician since I was 5 years old - I started as a pianist. Then 9 years later I started playing the guitar as well. That time I was more and more into singing as well, it goes along pretty good with playing the guitar, so I started to sing more often. In a high school bands, and in different ceremonies until I met the Distorted brothers in High school. Back in 1998, Raffael Mor (vocals, Guitars) had asked me to come to audition as a keyboard player for his band, back then Raffael and Ori Eshel (our former drummer) had established the band. I auditioned as a keyboard player but became a singer because they really liked my voice and they thought that a female vocalist would add something special to the band and to the music… My love for metal is far too deep since I was a child… my father was a guitar player so I grew up listening to rock and started to listen to metal at the age of 11. It is actually a bit weird that in the beginning of all this I didn't like female-fronted metal bands at all, but later on I got familiar with style and fell in love. I usually listen to all kinds of music but in the last three years I listen mostly to death metal bands, depends on my mood.

Sam: I see you are from the town of Bat-Yam. Not having been to Israel itself, tell us more about your hometown. Is there anything there that inspires you to write music and what other inspirations do you have?

Miri: Bat-yam is located 10 kilometers south to Tel Aviv. It is a small city and not that interesting except for the beautiful beach strip. The Hebrew translation for the name Bat-Yam is actually "daughter of the sea" or a mermaid. We all live 5 minutes from each other (except our new drummer Matan that lives in the north of Israel). I guess that in some way our city did influenced our music, perhaps in a more oriental way or maybe it is responsible for our need to play extreme music, but it ends there. There is nothing inspiring in this city except the beach.

Sam: What else are you doing with your time at the moment apart from being in a band? What other interests do you hold?

Miri: Besides doing the Distorted singer role I have also a day time job as a graphics designer. I love to listen to music, to write new lyrics, to hang out with friends on the weekends, to watch TV and to cook. After work I'm doing a lot of vocal training and I'm also doing all the band's management for now, besides that I'm trying all the time to answer all the mails we get from fans, because this is the one of the most important things for us - to be in contact with our fans and these things takes lots of time so my weeks are very busy.

Sam: I’ve heard that you are already writing material for your next album. Is this material in the same vein as Memorial and what other developments can we expect to hear?

Miri: Yes, we already started to write some new materials for our next album that will be a concept album again. I can't talk about the concept yet but I promise to inform you when I can. We will try to do some things that we haven't tried before like adding more of Raffael's clean vocals, I will try some new vocals techniques, and start recording with our new drummer so things definitely will sound different. We will just continue writing music that can really express how we truly feel and what is really comes out of us.

Sam: Before you go, what further message do you have for the knowledgeable and fanatical readers of Sonic Cathedral?

Miri: First of all I would like to thank everyone for their patience and for reading this article. I hope that people will be able to feel that they got to know me better and the band after reading this article. I truly hope that people will listen to our music and find the album as exciting as other people have found. Also would like to offer you an invitation to Israel, it's an amazing place! Sam, thank you for a great interview! And for your support!