In a conflicted world that constantly aims to break our spirit, there are sometimes elements which remind us that there is always something more than what we are. The idea that we all yearn for something in our lives to transcend us into broader understanding of ourselves, thankfully music can be a formidable outlet to enriching our desires.
Doing just that for over 20 years now, the artist known as Matisyahu has used music as a platform for expanding his horizons and finding purpose. Highly successful and building a loyal following, his style has often been a lush hybrid of everything from Hip Hop and Reggae to Pop and Alternative Rock. Truly an entity unto himself, what remains constant is his sense of hope, faith, and quest toward enlightenment.
Cryptic Rock – You have had quite an interesting artistic journey over the past two decades now. Experimenting musically and trying different things, you have certainly fused several genres together. Tell us, how would you describe your musical journey to this point?
Matisyahu – It’s been a central component of my life. It’s been the most central force for ups and downs and understanding myself and the world around me. I grew up listening to all styles of music. I always loved everything that I heard in terms of styles; from the singer-songwriter, Pop or Rock, to Reggae and Hip Hop.
As I’ve moved along in my life and had different opportunities to work with different people, I would say I’ve really learned in all these different directions. With that I have tried to make some type of collage of music by joining these different styles that have influenced me along the way. I’m definitely not a purist in the sense that, musically, I’ve never just stuck to the rules of a genre and stayed with that. I have had records that lean in certain directions more, but I feel it’s always been a real mixture of sounds and styles.
Cryptic Rock – Most certainly. Your style has certainly been very eclectic through the years. You could say it is about whatever moves you at the moment and what you give the music what you think it needs, right?
Matisyahu – Yeah, and whatever the music needs for myself. There’s been times where I spent a lot of time, for example, on the road touring. At that time, I needed to improvise more in order to reconnect with that love of the experimental nature of music. Then there’s been times when I’ve really wanted to try to write Pop songs and everything in between. This new EP, and this next group of songs I have coming out over the next year, is very much that case.
There’ll be some songs that will feel more like Hip Hop and some that are more like Reggae. Then some songs that will just feel like you’re not really sure what genre it is, but you know that it reminds you of stuff that you’ve heard before.
Cryptic Rock – Yes, the new EP, Hold The Fire, definitely does have a unique mix amidst the five songs included. One thing that has always been part of your music as well is the thoughtful, hopeful, and introspectiveness in the lyrics about life. How important is that to you as someone where the words mean everything?
Matisyahu – It’s hugely important. The words have to really resonate strongly with you because you’re going to be seeing them forever. With all the changes, phases, it’s like a tattoo. It’s something that doesn’t go away. It’s not something that you want to look back on and say, “Why did I write that?” I can honestly say that I have no songs that I look back on and say, “Oh, those words don’t make sense.” On the contrary, a lot of the words that I wrote earlier and some of my earlier albums make tremendous sense right now in the climate of what’s happening.
It’s a realization for me in terms of where I drew my lyrics from, that they come from, a lot of times, Tehillim (the Psalms), the Old Testament or ideas that are sort of somehow bigger than a phase or period of time; it is something that’s more ancient. Later on in my lyrics, maybe it is a little bit more personal and more about my experiences, but my lyrics always have to be about my experience. They have to be real to me.
Cryptic Rock – Most certainly. As you said, it is something that you want transcends time and not just caught in a snapshot moment.
Matisyahu – Correct. It might be specific to the time period that I’m in, but it always deals with some kind of bigger issue or idea that’s beyond that experience.
Cryptic Rock – Absolutely. Hold The Fire has an uplifting sound to it musically. So, what was it like writing and recording these songs?
Matisyahu – These particular songs on the EP were really fun to make. I did them in a collaborative experience where I worked with sometimes six, seven other writers in a room. We would be all singing on the same beat and then throwing ideas back and forth. It was a very positive experience for me.
Not all the songs were made that way, but a lot of them, especially on the EP, were. I’ve been listening to a lot of Afro-Pop, and this kind of music moves. It’s rhythmic and uplifting. It can have sadness or sweetness to it, but it’s always with a current or the rhythm of a movement. I think that we captured some of that on the EP for sure.
Cryptic Rock – Absolutely. As you said, the music is uplifting, but perhaps the lyrical content goes deeper. It could be sad, but it’s all combined together into something very interesting. You mentioned about how a lot of the music that you wrote years back is still very relevant today to yourself, as well as to the world. You mentioned the state of the world, and it certainly is a crazy time. In our lifetimes, this is probably the craziest period we have ever seen. Here is a loaded question, but what are your thoughts about everything going on right now in the world?
Matisyahu – Well, I would start from personal. I’ve had in my last twenty years of this career a lot of ups and downs and some intense moments myself; personally, with my fans, with my music. I feel that being now 44, going on 45 and in the situation that I’m in, I have a little more ability to deal with it. That’s just on a personal level.
What’s happening on a global level is just horrific. It made me feel a similar kind of feeling that I had early on in my career when I was in my late teens, early 20s. I felt this despair about the world, this feeling of being misunderstood and not really knowing how to maneuver through the world.
What I realized is that a lot of that had to do with my becoming religious, my becoming Hasidic, going into this very intense Hasidic sect, and kind of turning my back on the world. A lot of what I was taught and what I was going through was that – basically the world, at any point, will turn on us and we have to preserve our people, ourselves, our spirituality, all of that.
That was a major thing for me. Then going out as a Hasidic artist, that was a big part of it. There were a lot of different levels to that of being disconnected from the world around me. Whether it was not being able to shake hands with women or not being able to eat at dinners with the band and the crew; because it wasn’t Kosher. These kinds of things are set up in order to kind of keep you a little bit distant.
As time has gone on, and if you go to my music itself, you’ll see I started to be like – the world is not such an evil place. With that I had more understanding of the world around me, of myself, and became more connected to just being a normal human being in society and not necessarily a Hasidic, kabbalistic monk.
Since this has happened, I feel this whole desire again to go back, not necessarily to being religious, but to sort of turning my back on the rest of the world and just focusing again on being Jewish. To just be honest, and what that means.
I feel a certain fire burning inside of me as I’m getting ready for this tour. Going out there, feeling that I’m not just an American musician performing Reggae music or songs for people, but that I’m again sort of back on a mission of, but not convincing people of anything; because that’s not what I do. I’m not a person that’s out there explaining things to people so they can understand. I’m coming from a place of my heart and creating music that touches people and creates a certain understanding. That’s come alive for me again.
I also just got back from Israel. I was there for a week and came back recently. I’m fresh from hearing the stories of people who’ve had their families massacred or who have themselves been attacked, abused, shot multiple times, and escaped. The most beautiful people in the world. That’s kind of been the main focus for me.
Now that I’m going back out into the world, especially the fact that there’s so few Jews that are musicians or artists that either have the knowledge, understanding, or desire to speak out about what’s happening. I feel, even more so now, that I have responsibility for that.
Cryptic Rock – Wow. It is very interesting to hear how you combined the learnings of your younger years when you became more spiritual and religious with a steady path of life experience. It comes full circle to now, twenty something years later, and you are finding new inspiration. However, in the process, you are taking what you learned then, and in-between, and using it altogether. Is that a fair assessment?
Matisyahu – Absolutely. Even from a lyrical perspective, as I’m singing these songs and performing them, I’m talking about a lot of metaphors about the soul, God, the physical world and all of these struggles. However, I’m using terminology that’s talking about being a warrior or aish tamid (eternal fire), the destruction of the temple, or the history of the Jewish people and the destruction that we’ve been through.
As I’m singing the songs now, it’s more than just the spiritual meaning. It actually feels like the literal meaning is resonating. This is actually what’s happening. You’re a warrior fighting for your soul, but I’m actually meeting warriors that are fighting for the continuation not only of Israel, but of the Jewish people. When I’m singing those songs, and I’m down singing them, that’s a powerful experience.
If I’m singing about – Lord raised me up from the ground; I’m thinking of hostages in tunnels… young girls who are 18-19 years old and what they’re going through. I’m thinking of the Jewish people as a whole, but also specific things that are happening.
Cryptic Rock – Right, there is a lot of intensity within these topics that you are speaking of. As you said, you are not going out there as someone trying to teach people or lead them a certain way. Hopefully, these things can bring some enlightenment; because there are a lot of falsities out there and a lot of misconceptions about things. It is part of the problem.
Matisyahu – Yeah. Absolutely. It’s like a re-education process that needs to happen on a whole for a lot of people. There’s an aspect of it that is for the brain, but there’s a part of it that’s for the heart as well. I hope to play some kind of role in that affecting some of the people that I see out there in that way.
Cryptic Rock – Right. Now, you mentioned this tour. This is going to be a rather lengthy tour. You have 34 dates coming up starting at the end of January and going through basically the end of March. There are a lot of shows. You said you are pretty excited about it all, yes?
Matisyahu – I am, yeah. I’ve been doing quite a bit of touring, but this is the first time that I’m going back to a lot of these cities since COVID. I’m excited to be out on the road and doing what I do. For a long period of time, I was performing 200 shows a year, on the road for 250-300 days a year, and immersed in making live music.
It’s a big part of what I love to do in life. I’m just thrilled to be able to jump back into it to see the fans, connect with people, be out in the world and be connected. I have my family with me and good people around me. I feel like it’s going to be a strong tour.
Cryptic Rock – Absolutely. It is a great time for it as well because you released a record last year, and you have this new EP. You allude to more music. Do you have more music coming down the pike?
Matisyahu – That’s correct. When I recorded these songs, I recorded them as a group of about 35-40 songs that I’m planning to release most of them over the next year; starting with the EP.
Cryptic Rock – Wow. That is a lot of music! But as you said, it may go in different directions with each passing release.
Matisyahu – Absolutely. On this record in particular, these songs, you’ll find some songs where I’m just rapping over a Hip Hop beat, and then you’ll have some songs that are a real combination of things, or almost Pop songs. It’s a mixture of things. I think it’ll be interesting for people.
It’s nice. I think the music industry has changed in a way that kind of supports that type of thing and allows for it. There was a time when people really wanted you to be one thing. It doesn’t seem so much that way anymore.
Cryptic Rock – Right. It was similar to that in the ’60s with Rock-n-Roll where free-form music was more prevalent with bands like The Grateful Dead; it was just letting the music go wherever it went.
Matisyahu – For sure. That aspect of it, but also the genre blending. There are pure genres, but most of the music that we listen to today is really like a cross-combination of so many different styles. People’s ears are just now attuned to hearing certain things.
For example, with Hip Hop and drums, Hip Hop music is the first music to probably turn the drums up and use 50 to 60 percent of the possible sound. That was unheard of in Rock music. Before that, it was a way smaller percentage. Now people are used to hearing loud drums. If you hear Pop chords being played with some kind of Reggae undertones, but with really loud drums, it won’t sound weird to you. It will just sound normal in a way.
Cryptic Rock – Right. It is just the progression of music in general. Last question. As mentioned, you are someone who has been on this artistic journey for twenty years now. Here is yet another heavy question, but what do you think the key is to finding enlightenment? We are living in a time where many people have lost their way. Explaining this more, they have lost their way not necessarily from even a religious or spiritual standpoint, but just from a grounded standpoint in life.
Matisyahu – Yeah. I hear you. It’s all about connecting to old school things like taking a walk; you know turning off your phone and your internet, breathing, listening to music, meeting people, talking to people; this old way of doing things. I think people are so disconnected from reality right now.
I think that’s a big part of what people need. Young people need to just go out and take their shoes off and run in a field, literally, and meet people. (Laughs) In terms of being able to hold the fire, if I may, and have the stamina to continue; balance is huge.
Having someone in your life who supports you, loves you, and knows how to protect you to some extent. I don’t think I could have done this alone. I think I would have gotten swallowed up in my own fire or drowned in my own river. It comes back to this idea of hold the fire, the burning bush, Moshe talking to God through the burning bush, and Moshe being drawn from the water and having the humility to be able to be a leader. That’s the idea.
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