Balkan Beat Box.

When Ori Kaplan and Tamir Muskat first met each other in New York City at the turn of the millennium, they each carried considerable musical knowledge and experience. Individually, they both achieved some level of notoriety in their native Israel, Kaplan as a jazz saxophonist and klezmer clarinetist, and Muskat as a rock drummer and producer of some of the country’s first thrash metal bands. In New York, they found a vibrant scene that included the likes of Gogol Bordello, which tried to infuse the traditional music of Eastern Europe and the Middle East with contemporary rhythms.

After collaborating on a Bordello-related side project, Kaplan and Muskat struck out on their own with the goal of creating the sound that matched all the styles and influences they had collected over the years. They formed Balkan Beat Box as their vehicle, a group that is known for its energetic live show and infectious beats that draw from dub, dancehall and hip-hop.

“The mashups are not accidental,” Muskat said of the group’s sound during a recent interview with DCist. “They must live in harmony and they must make sense to us.”

Balkan Beat Box will perform on Friday at 9:30 Club in support of its latest album, this year’s Give. Though the recording’s sonic kaleidoscope is just as colorful as those of BBB’s previous studio releases, the band deliberately eschewed the latest and greatest in recording technology in order to encourage creativity. To that end, the group employed older electronics that allowed for fewer options, which give the grooves a stripped down feel.

“In terms of the palette of sound, in today’s studios there are unlimited possibilities,” he explained. This time we wanted to tie one hand to the back of the chair to see what we can do with the other hand.”

Through relentless touring, what started as a studio project has now given rise to a unified band aesthetic. The result is that the latest album is more than just the collection of musical juxtapositions that characterized Balkan Beat Box’s three prior releases. Now, the band has something to say, especially since the addition of vocalist Tomer Yosef as one of its principal members. The songs on Give are largely political, but they also have a personal quality about them because they are based on the members’ cultural experiences.

“Each one of them is telling a story, but in general, the inspiration is all of the revolutions happening in the last year,” said Muskat. “It was really amazing to see so many people going out and saying at the same time, enough is enough.”

The audience at Friday’s concert can expect a heavy dose of the new album, as well as new arrangements of older material. In addition to its three central members, Balkan Beat Box tours with a sizable ensemble that includes a full horn section, guest MCs and any friends of the group who happen to sit in on a given night. Of course, Muskat wants people to groove to the band’s music, but he also wants Balkan Beat Box’s cultural amalgam to reach further.

“It’s about the possibility of accepting the other cultures, religions, colors, opinions, anything,” he said. “The Indian guy in the supermarket, the Muslim guy at the corner store. I know from previous experiences of our shows, it does affect people in this way.”

Balkan Beat Box plays 9:30 Club on Friday, June 15, 2012 with opener Mucca Pazza. 8 p.m. doors. $20.