Knesiyat Hasekhel (Church of Reason) is an israeli rock band from Sderot, Israel.|Their name is a translation into Hebrew of Church of Reason, from Robert Pirsig’s book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.|The band has existed since the early 1990s (1989), and has been one of Sderot’s many musical messengers (along with Teapacks (טיפקס) and Sfatayim).|One of its best-publicized efforts was a collaboration with Zehava Ben (זהבה בן).
The band was founded in the early ’90s in the western part of Israel’s Negev Desert. Blending new wave influences (particularly Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) and Mediterranean and Middle Eastern ethnic rock, the band soon realized they had outgrown the rural desert, and by 1992 the band had moved to Israel’s cultural center Tel Aviv to establish themselves as a national touring act, and begin production on their first studio album “whispered words” (nanadisk).
Their second full length and self-titled album “Knesiyat Hasekhel” was released in 1999 to great critical acclaim, and commercial success. The band was named “best rock group of 1999” by Israel’s national radio station, and is invited to play all the major rock festivals and events around the country.|In 2001 Mashina’s (משינה) Shlomi Bracha helped produce the band’s third album “Rutz Yeled” (Run, Kid!), a studio album that was recorded live. Following the release of the album, the band joined Ehud Banai on the road, for a collaboration that continues to this day.
Their fourth album “Yadaiim Lemalah” (Put Your Hands Up in the Air) was released in 2004, and was produced for the first time by the band themselves.|In 2007 the band teamed up with a young new label to produce an ambitious project dubbed “Autobiography”: re-recording their classic hits from the last two decades accompanied by a 40-piece orchestra composed of ethnic and traditional classical instruments. The live show that followed was produced specially for the prestigious national Israel Festival of 2007, and due to great popular demand the band then took the entire production, along with their orchestra, on tour. |
