Has there ever been any difficulty between Aviv and Steve in agreeing what should be put into a track, musically or lyrically?
Chris. - Thaxted, Essex

AVIV: We never had any arguments about tracks for the album, because over the years we have learnt easily to tell in one hearing if the track is a "Blackfield" track or not.


Who, or what, is the inspiration behind the song 'Christenings'?
Norman - Belfast, Northern Ireland

STEVEN: There are many people in there - Syd Barrett, David Bowie, even Aviv!


Steven said during the Mean Fiddler gig that Blackfield has two homes - London and Tel Aviv. How does that influence the music?
Paul - London, UK

AVIV: I lived in London for a year around 1997 and my dad sent  me to London for two years to write for the Israeli paper so it became my second home and I'm there once a month. 5 years ago Steven fell in love with Tel Aviv after I showed him around, and since then he rented an apartment in Tel Aviv, so we are both splitting our time between London and Tel Aviv.

STEVEN: I’m not sure how it influences the music, but I guess it must – we both think of ourselves very much as international artists, but I suspect that still there are unmistakably English and Israeli elements in Blackfield.


Have ever had problems playing somewhere because of the Israeli position in the Muslim world? Aren't you worried when you're on stage?
Carlo - Rome, Italy

AVIV: Well people know that I am the most (or only) artist who speaks clear & loud against the occupation and my own government, so the Muslims should support me..because of my lyrics I’m always aware in the back of my mind that there is a small chance I will not be able to get off stage alive one night…there are some really crazy people out there…I get a lot of death threats, but it just make me stronger because if they are so mad at me I definitely must be doing something right.


Will there be a rarities Blackfield album, maybe including XM sessions, live tracks or even a bonus live DVD?
Julio  - Uruguay, South America

AVIV: We actually just filmed a DVD of our last show in New York at the "Bowery Ballroom" and we will release it either in late 2007 or early 2008.

STEVEN: There are no plans to release the XM sessions, and there aren’t really too many rarities or out-takes from the albums, although there are a lot of unrecorded songs.


Aviv, I know you have always been fairly to the left politically, given your songs like Profil Tish'im V'Shevah, Mered HaD'maot, Shalom Echad, and M'sibat Mitgaysim, as well as your comment on the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. However, I recently saw a clip at YouTube.com in which you supported the return of Jonathan Pollard (the Israeli spy caught in the U.S. State Department). I am simply curious how this sits with your other political opinions, how this and your other opinions have developed through time, and where you stand now?
Seth

AVIV: I belong to the left wing and as time goes by I just feel stronger and stronger. I give more value to human beings than to stones and holy walls, I believe in Life, the question is not if we believe in god the question should be "is God believes in us". Who knows?

Are you in control of which songs become singles? For example, did you control the choice that "Christenings" was going to be advertised and attempted to get some air time in the US?
Carah - Massapequa Park, New York

STEVEN: We can put pressure on the companies to release the singles we prefer, but in the end they do decide.  “Christenings” was only the single in the US, in most of Europe it was our own preferred choice “Once”.

AVIV: Personally, I think there are better choices for singles then "Christenings"…


Can we ever expect Hebrew from Blackfield? What is your favorite song from Blackfield II?
William - Baton Rouge, Louisiana

AVIV: there is no point in singing in Hebrew on Blackfield. My favorite track is "Someday"….

STEVEN: …which also happens to be my least favorite! (though I still like it) My favorite is “1,000 People”, one of Aviv’s most beautiful songs I think.


Steven, what words of wisdom would you have for the people out there trying to make a living off of music?
Wes - Southwick, MA

STEVEN: Do it because you love it, don’t try to make a living out of it.  If you do it for love you may one day find that you “accidentally” did make a living out of it!  (that’s what happened to me)


What is the chance of making Blackfield III, do you feel any pressure to top two stellar albums?
Tyler - Honolulu, Hawaii

AVIV: I have already started to write some new tracks for Blackfield 3….

STEVEN: Yes, there is always pressure for me, but it’s self--imposed, I don’t feel any pressure to please other people, only to better myself.


Steve and Aviv, you are both known musicians already, with Steve being in Porcupine Tree among other things and with Aviv's solo work.  How much do you think this has helped to promote Blackfield (although the music speaks for itself)?
Chris  - Thaxted Essex

AVIV: It helped a lot to start things moving, but now we need to give more time to Blackfield, it's a growing band and we both believe we can reach more people than we did with our other projects.


Steven, in all of your projects, the sound keeps evolving continually. Is this the approach for Blackfield as well or is Blackfield more of an outlet for making strong, melodic and emotional pop songs now that PT and No-Man have gone in other (more experimental) directions?
anonymous

STEVEN: Yes, very much so – I feel that in a way Blackfield have liberated Porcupine Tree to be more intense and experimental.  As to how Blackfield will evolve, I’m unsure - I think the band is very committed to continuing to create quality melodic, melancholic pop.


Aviv, do you feel that with Steven's success that you feel a bit of pressure when writing material and bringing it to the table for consideration?
anonymous

AVIV: Steven gives me a free hand and he trusts me. Blackfield was born because Steven thinks I am a gifted songwriter, that’s why I have more songs on Blackfield records than he does.  Blackfield was always planned around my songs and Steven’s sound / production.
 

Steven, how is the reception from Porcupine Tree fans who are not aware of Blackfield, that hear it for this first time?
anonymous

STEVEN: Well I’m not really sure to be honest!  But I’ve seen a lot of PT fans at the gigs, so I guess at least some of them have embraced Blackfield too.


Will there ever be 5.1 releases for both BF I and BF II and future releases? Or is that not important for the band? And does that have anything to do with the direction they're heading (trying to break into the mainstream or not)?
anonymous

AVIV: I think Steven want to mix BF in 5.1, I’m not really so interested in those things.

STEVEN: I’d like to mix the second record in 5.1 at some point for sure.


Why were “Christenings” and “Where is My Love?” included on the album?  Was it lack of material, or for some other reason?
anonymous

STEVEN: Where is My Love was always intended for the second album – an early demo was used as a bonus track on the European reissue of the first album, which I guess is why you might think we are recycling it (but that’s not the case, as it was written after the first album was finished). Christenings was a song that I had lying around for a couple of years now – our record label loved it, and wanted Blackfield to record it.  There were many other songs that we could have recorded for the record, so there certainly wasn’t a shortage of material!


Steven, do you think the Blackfield project will eventually "overcast" Porcupine Tree. Meaning that you will spend more time writing and touring for Blackfield than for Porcupine Tree?
anonymous

STEVEN: I’m not trying to evade the question, but I really don’t think about those things. I suppose anything is possible in this business, and it would only take one of the Blackfield songs to become a big hit (which I think is possible) and everything would change in terms of the demands made on my time by Blackfield. Let’s just say it would be a nice problem to have!