My next destination's the holy land - Israel. A country that for many the only real image that we have of this historic nation is one that we see on our TV screens via news feeds. But the truth is that there is so so so much more to the historic nation than just it's political situation. Israel is one of the most culturally vibrant nations in the world, and I was here to uncover the thriving underground music community that is fast putting Israel on the world map for a different reason. Tel Aviv is where I spent the majority of my time in Israel, and on landing immediately I fell in love with this place. It's incredible to think that for a city of only 400,000 it's got a dynamic varied music scene of a city 5 times it's size. What's not to love about Tel-Aviv, great food, great architecture, great beaches, and without sounding too cheeky, it's Israel's best-kept secret that they have some of the most beautiful girls in the world. Sorry, had to be honest. My first night out in Tel-Aviv was with a funk band called The Apples, the band originated from Haifa in the north, but have members from all over Israel. They are a band that in the last couple of years have been taking their own unique funk sound to the world, with maximum rotation from more discerning record spinners like Giles Peterson and Mr Scruff, most notable for their insane funk injected cover of Rage Against The Machine's classic 'Killing In The Name Of'. The Apples have built a reputation as being one of the best live acts you'll see in Israel and inside club Comfort 13 in the south of Tel-Aviv it's absolute pandemonium inside, the band rip through a two hour set of action packed funk-explosions, and I tell ya what, it's always a great thing seeing a band having just as much fun as the heaving crowd before them. Definitely gotta recommend Comfort 13 as a club to anyone who happens to be in Tel-Aviv on the weekend, not only does it provide a great dancefloor for late-night shuffle antics, it also has an indoor pool. Love that in a club. The next morning and our merry band of three was heading just out of Tel-Aviv to a tow called Lod, notoriously one of the most dangerous places you'll find in Israel, and the biggest drug market in the middle east - you'll notice a lot of sneakers hanging from telephone wires that's for sure. We were here meeting up with the first Palestinian rap group - Dam, who were going to be performing one of our first kiwi covers. I'd sent them the beat for one of the most legendary hip-hop tunes of all - Scribes 'Not Many', and we were here on the streets of Lod to shoot a music video. One things for sure the boys have talent as rappers, and their version was incredible, with the translated "How many dudes you know roll like this?" hook even when translated into Arabic showcasing just what a powerful original it was. The results were fantastic.

After that we headed up to Akko, about two hours drive from Lod and if you ever get the chance to do that drive, do it. To be honest, even though I was stuck in a tiny car on a hot day, it was one of the highlights of the trip. The natural beauty of the landscape here in Israel is phenomenal, and we arrived in Akko just as the sun was setting. One of the oldest cities in the world, it was a shame we didn't time it so good and couldn't enjoy Akko by day (it gut's pretty dark up there), but was still worth the road trip.

The next day and we headed to Jerusalem, and again just driving anywhere in Israel is an experience (note to self - have to return here when I'm not all consumed by work!). Jerusalem is amazing, one of the most incredible cities I've ever been to in my life, and just walking around you can instantly feel the energy here. Didn't have too much time in Jerusalem sadly, but what little time I did spend there was a trip, every second. Spent a lot of time wandering round the Old City trying not to get bowled over by people, and just soaking up the sights and sounds. If you make it here, I strongly suggest climbing to the roof of the Christian Quarter. The view looking out over the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Mount Of Olives is spectacular. And hearing the Muslim call to prayer battling it out with the Christian Bells and the faint cries from worshippers at the Wailing Wall is a haunting soundclash like no other.

Being so close to one the greatest bodies of water mankind has ever known, you'd be a fool not to come all this way and not have a float in the Dead Sea. This is seriously an experience like no other! What do you mean I'm floating?!

That night it was off to get a taste of Tel-Aviv's legendary nightlife, including a couple of kiwi lads manning the decks. I'd invited Shapeshifter's Devin Abrahms to join me in Israel and he for the last few days had been recording with local musicians, but tonight we were both playing at local club Sheshek, and keeping it strictly NZ flavours. The tunes were going down nicely, seems we made some more NZ music fans tonight!

So our final day in Israel was upon us, and for our last kiwi cover on the show we headed to a proper Tel-Aviv rooftop party for a date with Israel's cheeriest of ska bands - The Hoodska Explosive. And the task for them was to perform a cover of Straitjackets Fits - 'She Speeds'. Ska has traditionally been a form of music that has enjoyed great success here in Israel, some of it down to it's close sound to klezmer which is a Yiddish form of music, and also one of the leading Israeli groups 'Machina' were heavily influenced by the 2 Tone era of English Ska. The boys performed a ripping version of the song, and about 60 of us danced the night away on a beautiful rooftop in Florentine, one of the best nights (and one of the drunkenest) on the trip so far. Mazel Tov!