Israeli DJ ‘U-Recken’ flees expensive, exclusive trance scene in Israel; starts festival in Turkey

You haven't really done Israel if you haven't raged for 24-plus hours at one of the country's famous “nature parties,” or giant trance festivals held out in the deserts of the south and forests of the north. They're kind of like mini Burning Mans, with less art and more beat. And, as this type of event goes, the majority of the nature-party crowd is widely understood to be on hard drugs — but they'll tell you they're more just high off the energy of the people, the music and the land.

Whatever the source of the vibe, it's quite a spiritual experience, and only adds to the lure and mysticism of the Holy Land for the under-30 Diaspora.

However, Israeli psy-trance DJ ” target=”_blank”>Tree of Life Festival,” which turned two years old this year, grew from a crowd of 2,700 in its first year to 3,500 in its second. And according to Turkish friends that attended the event, it's already one of the most well-oiled, well-vibed events in the country.

So I sat down with Ben-Ari at a cafe in northern Tel Aviv — just a few weeks after this year's “Tree of Life” — to talk to him about the international trance scene, its ability to unite people from different cultures and how that led to his own decision to set up camp in Turkey.

SW: Can you start by telling me a little bit about your career so far, and how you got started with the “Tree of Life” festival?

YBA: Around 19 years old, I started to get into the world of psychedelic music, trance. In 2006, I released my first album — and after that, this is all I do. I travel around the world, I play festivals, I pretty much know everybody everywhere in this scene. Three years ago, I started to work on my own festival in Turkey. Actually I did it because I have an Internet project I work on, and I thought to myself, 'How can I attract people?' In all the aspects of the scene — not only music, but also stage artists, graphic designers, clothing designers, photographers. I understood that as only an artist, even as a famous artist, I cannot attract all these people to me. So I was thinking the best way to do it is to make a festival.

And then a week after, I went to play in Turkey — I have a friend that invites me every year for five years, his name is Tim. He's my partner. And we looked at the pictures, and we saw the place. He knew this area — he did like small local parties there, 200 to 300 people. He's also an amazing artist: He's a painter, and he did the decorations this year. I run the festival, he's working with me, and we have a lot of good people working with us from all over the world. People from Australia, from South Africa, local people from Turkey, Israeli people.

SW: Do you think there's something about Turkey that makes the festival so successful?

YBA: First of all, it's much more easy to access from pretty much everywhere — it's the gateway to Europe. Even from South Africa — it's really the gateway to everywhere. The weather is good; the food is great and cheap. They are very welcoming — the hospitality is very good. If you show them tourist money, they will love you forever. And pretty much everywhere else is too difficult. They go against you. Five years ago in Israel, it was really hard [to get the permits] — and today it's very expensive. I know the organizers here, I work with them, and I know the cost is simply not worth the effort.