missFlag

missFlag's members have known each other years before forming the band. The group first started working together as a one time Tribute act for the British Rock band Coldplay. Up until lately the band consisted of five members, including the musician and songwriter Ohad Eilam (guitar and vocals). Later on the band continued working as a four piece band.

The band met via Jerusalem's rather small music scene and bonded over a mutual love for Coldplay, an influence that is easy to identify in their music. Loving Coldplay is one thing, but there is a sincerity in their original songs that makes them stand out.

— missFlag, interviewed by Nic Harcourt on KCRW's morning edition Morning Becomes Eclectic - September 7, 2007[3]

Shortly after the Coldplay tribute, the group started to perform, write and record their own music, which led to the creation of their first release - a self produced EP of 5 songs which was printed in only 1,000 copies. The EP caught the ear of music producer and songwriter from Los Angeles, California Guy Erez (Jennifer Love Hewitt, Gipsy Kings, Adam Cohen, Sarah Bettens)[4] who later produced missFlag's first studio album.

missFlag, a year-old indie-rock band from Jerusalem that will release its debut collection of gorgeous pop-rockers in October. Comparisons to Coldplay are unavoidable. Of course the timing is good: now that Keane's lead singer is in rehab we need a new New Coldplay. But missFlag brings a beautifully shambling sensibility to the epic chord changes and winsome melodies.

— Joan Anderman, The Boston Globe, September 10, 2006.[5]

In early 2007, the group finished writing a lot of new material, from which 10 songs were chosen for the purpose of recording their debut studio album. "To Infinity" was produced by Los Angeles based producer Guy Erez and came to light later that year. The Album was a mile stone for the band in the crowded US market. Later that year, the group released a single from the album, called "Hidden Thieves" a rock ballad that caught the ear of the renowned radio D.J. and "taste-maker" Nic Harcourt from KCRW, the California-based public radio station. (Credited for discovering Travis, Dido, Coldplay, Norah Jones, Pete Yorn, and David Gray). The Jerusalem Post reviewed the album.[6]

Hidden Thieves is probably the group's flag song. The single hit KCRW's top 20 charts,[7] was praised in two different reviews by The Los Angeles Times,[8] was downloaded digitally over 10,000 times and was nominated by the indie music website GarageBand as song of the week several times.[9] Furthermore, The Spanish/American based radio station Fame Games Radio chose Hidden Thieves to be song of the week four times in a row, leading to a "Track of the Month" title.

Hidden Thieves is a gentler track, and is one of the songs that first brought missFlag to a larger audience. A soft, hypnotic piece that subtly gains pace throughout, it’s another pertinent example as to why this four piece are currently attracting interest from major labels.

— Danny Brown, suite101.com, February 20, 2007

In 2009, the group covered the Israeli classic "Uf Gozal" (Hebrew: עוף גוזל‎) by Arik Einstein and Miki Gavrielov, featuring Gavrielov himself in both the song and the video clip.[10] Whilst the song was originally written in Hebrew, the band rewrote the lyrics in English and renamed the it Dreams of Flying but maintained the general concept of the song. The melody was kept but the arrangement was changed to fit missFlag's style.

Along the years, missFlag has cooperated with many artists and musicians, both in the studio and live on stage including; Jamie Muhoberac, (from the Hebrew Wiki→) Yirmi Kaplan, Miki Gavrielov, Sharon Moldavi, Lee Biran (Libi), Ohad Eilam, Michael Greilsammer, Mai Lev, Miki Geva, Rebbe-Che and many others.

Front cover

"You're Not Easy To Love" Single cover

"Still Alive" is a song by Jonathan Coulton, originally written as the ending credits theme for the PC game "Portal" by Valve. On November 10, 2007 missFlag uploaded to YouTube a cover version of the song,[11] played at a rehearsal. The cover caught the ears of thousands of Portal fans, who urged the band to do a high-quality studio recording of their version. missFlag listened and recorded the song,[12] released on March 16, 2008 as a free download from their website.[13] The song was downloaded over 25,000 times and featured in numerous leading gaming sites.

• Hidden Thieves - Released in 20.4.2007
• You're Not Easy To Love - Released in 18.6.2008[19]
• Dreams of Flying - Released in 2009.