Ike Moriz (En)

After his Dragons album tour last year, Hout Bay singer Eike “Ike” Moriz is on the road again, performing at concerts in Hamburg, Germany this month. The singer, songwriter, producer has lived in Hout Bay since 2007 when he moved from Johannesburg. Besides his concerts and album releases, the 51-year-old offers guitar, piano and singing lessons as well as studio recordings and productions. Growing up near Hamburg, Germany, there was always music in the family home. Ike’s parents, Kai and Waltraud Moriz, were jewellers, but his mother played piano, sang and composed songs for friends and family. His grandmother was a concert pianist and his grandfather was an opera singer, among other professions. Early in life, Ike started playing the piano and joined in the singing or made up his own songs. Even after studying music and doing music degrees in Dresden, Rotterdam and Cape Town, his routine has not changed, except that now his two children are playing and singing along too. Ike ...

Barney Simon, Radio 2000, SA, 13.11.2007 Barney Simon presented the new album ALL AROUND THE WORLD as 'featured album of the week' in his Tuesday night show. He played all tracks saying:  "Fantastic album! I love it! The song 'Peace Dream' reminds me of David Bowie's Space Oddity "

Cosmopolitan Magazine, South Africa, August 2006, page 32, Hot Talent: "Ike Moriz, 31, Singer and Songwriter” Multitalented Moriz is an international recording artist who has been performing in England for the past five years. His single ‘You Could’ was voted ‘Song of the week’ on David Bowie’s official website in 2004. Now back in South Africa, he’s released his second album, called 'Play Me’. His rock/indie sound is acoustic and edgy but still made for easy listening. Moriz studied in SA, Germany and Holland and, after spending time on the SA rock scene, decided to seek his fortune in the UK. Now he’s back in Cape Town and eager to connect with local fans, saying, ‘Countries, borders and flags build walls between all of us. Music can break them down and unite us.’ When he’s not playing music, Moriz does a little acting and has made appearances in hit movies such as Alfie, Love Actually and Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason. Ike Moriz,    “ His rock/indie sound...

Evan Milton, Cape Argus, Cape Town, SA, 10.11.2005: "Moriz back in SA after rocking the UK" "Ike Moriz is something of a paradox: he's part German and part South African, and the unsentimental precision of the one surfaces as often as the slightly self-deprecating, yet easy-going nature of the other. Then there's this business of making it overseas in less than six years to garner interest from George Michael's recording studio, earn a nod of approval from David Bowie, boast respectable European live-gig and radio impact and then decide to head home to the Cape.  After graduating from our College of Music, Moriz relocated to London in 1999, fronting bands there and in Rotterdam and Hamburg before going solo and recording his debut EP,  Fall Into the Sun  (2002). Back home, its title track hit Stellenbosch's MFM No1 spot. A second EP,  You Could , followed, reaching No.1 on the UK's Matchbox Radio, and the To...

Kim Wild, ZAzone.com , Cape Town, SA, 2.3.2005, Ike Moriz live at the Acoustic Café, Muizenberg Can one refer to a gig as being romantic? Well, I just did! It was initially the setting with the low lighting and candles ... and then it was the presence of Ike, a single person that held his own on stage. I must be honest and say that I hadn't heard of Ike until that evening, which is pretty embarrassing considering that I pride myself in knowing what I consider to be a lot of South African bands and artists, especially the very talented, so I don't know how he slipped by me. I'm going to try using the excuse that he has been overseas for the past few years! He does however still say 'Ja' a fair bit which is fantastic to hear and at least we know that he hasn't forgotten his roots; an accent comes across more in his singing than his speech. I have read in numerous places that he sounds like David Bowie and it must be quite annoying to be compared to someo...

  Zazone,com , proudly South African Music, Cape Town, SA, June 2004 "Capetownian Ike Moriz moved to London in 1999 and has been building up his musical talent until now with the release of his debut album `Mirrors and Shade`.  Ike's style is unique , but extremely familiar, sounding like a cross between David Bowie and Suede. His band consists of several musicians who've worked with Ike for a while, including Jim Barnes on guitars..." "...What's very pleasing about the album as a whole is that, although similar to David Bowie, Ike does not attempt to mimic his work (or cover it), but rather release  a pleasing sound unique to Ike . `Mirrors and Shade`, the title track, for some reason did not move me as much as I expected it would. I find that `Another Day`, `Fall Into The Sun` and `Flame Blue` are better tracks. `Still` is a laid-back emotive ballad while `Visionary` has a very good rock riff running through the track. `...

David Bowie , New York, USA, June 2004 ,  review of Ike Moriz's debut album 'Mirrors And Shade' (2004) Click here and listen to the official  "MIRRORS & SHADE - June 2004ALBUM MEDLEY"  (2.8Mb), that has just been voted  " Featured Original Music of the Week "   at davidbowie.com (every week since 7.6.04)!  https://web.archive.org/web/20040808025437/http://ikemoriz.com/featuredoriginalmusicoftheweekbowie.gif  

Indiepop  Spinzone , Pennsylvania, USA, May 2004 , review of Ike Moriz's debut album ' Mirrors And Shade' (2004) Hip-ometer Rating ~ 9.4 Ike Moriz - "Mirrors & Shade"  Ike, if you didn't know,  could best be described as  South Africa's answer to David Bowie  and this is his debut LP. At first I thought he committed a faux pas by putting all the songs from his first 2 EP's on this album. Because who will buy them when they can get everything here? However, by and large they are all mixed differently and not just the music, as the vocal tracks are redone as well. That essentially makes them all new versions, so it's interesting for people who were aware and it still leaves reason to get the original ep's if you like it. This was particularly clear on the track  Fall Into The Sun  which I always liked, but I think  I prefer this new version even more . That pretty much is the feeling for most of ...

  Tony Bates, 3WBC 94.1 FM, Victoria, Australia, May 2003,  review of Ike Moriz's 'You Could' (EP/single, Mosquito Records London, London, UK) "Ike Moriz, fresh from South Africa, based in London now, has a great debut album out. Top-notch songs, without being either retro or pretentious; instantly memorable leaving you wanting more.  So now we know where David Bowie gained his influence from !"

David Bowie , New York, USA, March 2003,  review of Ike Moriz's 'You Could' (EP/single, Mosquito Records London, London, UK) David Bowie voted  YOU COULD  "SONG OF THE WEEK"  at  www.davidbowie.com !! (18.3.03).  He also made the live-version of Ike's  STILL   "SONG OF THE WEEK"   (11.3.03)!!

Matchbox Recordings , London, UK, March 2003 ,  review of Ike Moriz's 'You Could' (EP/single, Mosquito Records London, London, UK) "You Could" is the second single from  number 1 Matchbox artist IKE MORIZ . This catchy and dreamy pop gem has already been played on 50 radio stations worldwide and has charted in South Africa, Holland and the UK . This single features a new track "Visionary" and a Radio edit of "Drowning". Ike was also recently  voted for 'best song'  by Davidbowie.com. He delivers a poppy, radio friendly song with lots of Suede/Bowie esq.  glamour and hit potential . "You Could" is an infectious, melodic and melancholy Indie-pop classic." (MR)

Spinzone , John Kruscek, Pennsylvania, USA, February 2003, r eview of 'You Could' Hip-ometer Rating ~ 9.8 Ike Moriz - "You Could EP"  This is the second release by my friend Ike Moriz, a now London based South African. This takes right from where the last single left off (same cover too) but I think he really finds himself on this new single. The title track is a dreamy Bowie-like soundscape meets Oasis and it melds all the hooks of those two genres to perfection. It really ought to be climbing charts someplace. The second track,  Visionary  is actually a grungy outing, coming close to being like Nine Inch Nails with better vocals. (I would say he reminds me of a cross between Bowie and Peter Murphy of Bauhaus fame). It's got chirping, edgy guitar and a very black but sexy feel to it. The last track is a remix of the song  Drowning  from his last single, and I don't have the time or inclination to see how different they are. It sounds a ...

  Magic Mushroom Records , Holland, January 2003 This month on Magic Mushroom Records Review: IKE MORIZ   You Could | Visionary | Drowning (radio edit) Written by Ike Moriz, Recorded at Tin Pan Alley Studios & Motion Studios, London A while ago we came in contact with Ike Moriz, a London based singer/songwriter. He sent us his latest CD-single called  YOU COULD , recorded at Tin Pan Alley Studios, and released by Mosquito Records & Matchbox Recordings London. With this new release Ike shows that he' s very capable of writing catchy pop tunes. The title song YOU COULD is a relaxed pop song with a nice melody to it. Ike's vocals on this song are very strong. We think this song has hit potential !!! The second song  VISIONARY  starts of with strong guitar chords and an aggressive drum pattern. Again the vocals are spot on! When you play this song, please turn up the volume, it really kicks ... Our favourite song on th...

Mike Williams, Vanguard Online, Sheffield, UK, January 2003 ,  review of Ike Moriz's 'You Could' (EP/single, London, UK): " You Could  is the second single in recent times from Ike Moriz. It's a gently strummed indie track, something between Pulp and David Bowie. The power of Moriz's voice and his ability to hit just the right notes are the outstanding features (...)."