Coffee Break with Hard To Tell

Tel Aviv DJs & producers Roy Leibovitz and Roi Zarhi - aka Hard To Tell - quickly became the two you need to notice. With quality releases on Innervisions, Adriatique’s Siamese and more labels we love, we were curious to exchange a few words with them and learn about their history, current projects and plans for the future.

Hey guys, thanks for taking the time to chat with us.

First of all, because we had to ask: how did you guys meet and when did you decide to start working together as a duo?

First we would like to start this Coffee Break interview by saying hello to all of this community. We are happy to be here with you!

The first time we met was seven years ago in the nightlife scene of Tel Aviv. We saw each other at the same events and clubs in TLV, and then we started talking more. We understood that we liked the same kind of music and things in life, and maybe it could be a good idea to try playing together B2B. After not a long time of doing it, we started to make our own parties. Then we just said it's a good time to open our electronic music project together and make our own music in the studio.

Why the name 'Hard To Tell'?

It's a funny story! After working together for three years with our last names "Leibovitz & Zarhi," we realized that it might be difficult for the whole world to pronounce them. That's when we came up with the name "Hard To Tell."

Originating from Tel Aviv, how would you describe the scene there and how much impact would you say the city had on your sound?

The scene in Tel Aviv these days is at its peak. A lot of big festivals and open-air events take place in beautiful locations, and the small clubs are often full. All the big artists come here every week, and the crowd here really loves to party. To be honest, we don't have an impact from the city on our sound. That's why our sound is different from what happens in Tel Aviv. At the moment, we have a lot of influence on our sound from Berlin.

What does a classic day in the studio with Hard To Tell look like?

For us, studio time is the most important thing to do every day. We meet there from 11 am until the night, and sometimes we even sleep there if we want to finish a project. We try to listen to a lot of old and new music almost every day, taking inspiration from the artists we admire. We are constantly thinking about the next track we want to create.

What gear or VSTs do you like using lately?

At the moment we like to use Plasma Pedal by Gamechanger Audio and Trilian by Spectrasonics.

You recently released the track 'Aera 88' as part of the latest Secret Weapons compilation on Innervisions. We are curious about the story behind this track, and the production process in the studio.

The story behind "Aria88" is that we constantly challenge ourselves and learn new genres and sound design to improve our products and create music that is distinct from the scene or our usual style. Before this track, we extensively studied and worked on distortion and overdrive, and we are extremely pleased with the outcome.

We recently premiered your upcoming release on Frankey & Sandrino's label Sum Over Histories: “overdose”. What a track! Could you tell us a bit about it?

For now, we can tell you that we are really looking forward to this release, and we are happy to work with such nice people and talented artists like Frankey & Sandrino. It's a pure dance floor tune that we have enjoyed playing in our sets for the last few months.

You are making noise as producers, but also as DJs. Something notable is the 10-hour all night long set you are playing every 2 months. It is quite rare these days to get the opportunity to play such long sets. How would you describe this experience?

For us, it's incredible and one of the best experiences as DJs. We learn a lot each time we perform. It allows us to explore and play various genres of music that we don't typically get to play in a two-hour set. It's truly remarkable to witness the club start empty and gradually fill up from the early night until the early morning. We also immensely enjoy playing all-nighters with our best friend Tal Fussman, and you can expect to hear us perform all-night sets together in several locations around the world this year.

You recently played at legendary clubs such as Sisyphos in Berlin or Phönix Klein in Istanbul. How was it?

Both gigs were amazing! At Sisyphos, we really enjoyed the energy of the club and the vibrant vibes of the people. They truly came to dance, and Berlin is one of our favorite cities in the world. As for Phönix Klein, it felt like a rave with a fantastic sound system, and the crowd was fully engaged, allowing us to play at a high level for them. The hospitality was also excellent, and we certainly plan to visit Istanbul again soon.

Back to your city: you also organise your own events in Tel Aviv (not sure so please confirm or edit), for which you invited a few international acts. What is the intention behind this events series?

The intention is to host our own events with our dedicated crowd, occasionally even throwing intimate parties showcasing our music and energy. It's of utmost importance for us to curate lineups with artists whose music we truly admire. During these events, we place great emphasis on the quality of sound and lighting, aiming to create a unique and unforgettable party experience.

You recently recorded a mix for our Soundcloud channel. If you had to describe it in 3 words, what would they be?

Energetic, Dark, Emotional.

We know you are working on exciting collabs with other producers... Is it too soon to reveal a bit of information about them? This is your opportunity to start teasing us :)

Yes, you're absolutely right. We have a few exciting collaborations in progress that we are eagerly looking forward to sharing with all of you. At the moment, we have been working on some new music with Tal Fussman, as well as the talented and dear friend, Yet More.

Other exciting plans for this year?

Our exciting plans for this year include, as we mentioned, releasing much more music on different labels and playing in more places around the world. We will also be organizing a few more interesting summer events in Tel Aviv!

And last but not least: coffee or tea?

Coffee :)

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