Brightest Young Things

all words: Zachary Goldbaum - we're rerunning this interview from 2010 so you can do your homework before Matisyahu's show @ 930 club tonight.

Jews have always straddled the threshold between the mainstream and marginalization, being both creators of popular culture while concurrently being excluded from it. Case in point: Matisyahu, the world’s most famous (and possibly only) Hasidic Jewish reggae singer/ rapper. A description like that might doom some to obscurity, but despite being a total anomaly, he’s found mutual success in alternative and mainstream circles. What some might consider a tired gimmick has proven sustainable, and helped land his eclectic sound on both the stages of Bonnaroo and Billboard’s Top 40.

In 2005, Matisyahu’s “Live at Stubbs” launched him to notoriety and just last week he returned to Austin’s most prolific venue to record a followup. Now, he’s in D.C. to bring his unique blend of reggae, rock, hip-hop, and spirituality to the 930 club. I caught up with Matis to talk about the new recording and his ability to transcend the boundaries of genres, audiences, and religions. I also invited him to Shabbat dinner. He neither scorned nor accepted my offer.

It's been five years since you recorded Live at Stubbs, which really launched your career. You're fresh off recording Live at Stubbs Vol. 2, which literally went down less than a week ago, if I'm not mistaken. Was there any pressure to recreate the magic of the first recording?

On the first tour, I had bought a van and we were traveling and playing shows every night. It was maybe halfway through a two or three month run and we just recorded a show one night. We had a record deal and a record company sent a sound truck to a show and just recorded it. There were better shows on that tour, there were shows where there had been more magic, or we had played tighter, or my voice had sounded better. It was what it was--a snapshot in time of what we were doing. This record I just tried to approach it in the same way. I just said, "My sound has evolved and things have changed." There's still a live energy you can't really capture in the studio so we worked hard up to that point to get the show to where I wanted it to be. I try not to compare it. Musically, we've come a long way and I'm proud of where we are and what we've made.

You mention that your sound has evolved. How do you feel your live show has evolved since that first recording?

I've played thousands of show since 2004, 2005. I've had five and a half years of playing shows. Every show I play I try to make better than the last one, and to create something new and something special. I've worked on myself as an artist. I haven't just sat back and said, "I'm just playing another show." It's a process for me.

So what is that process? Do you ever strictly set out to make a reggae or a dance hall album or is it all music and whatever comes out comes out?

The first record I ever made, "Shake Off the Dust…Arise," was the first record I made where I tried to follow the rules of the genre. I wanted to make a classic roots reggae record. Since then, I've never tried to follow the rules of the genre. I've just tried to create whatever mix of the different styles and sounds that I'm listening to and that are inspiring me. One thing that's happening now that's definitely a big part of the new record is the band I'm playing with, The Dub Trio. They're from Brooklyn and they've been around as long as I have, playing festivals like SXSW. There are three guys that started doing dub music and bringing it into different genres of music. They're a big part of how my sound has changed and evolved as well.

You've played a lot of alternative festivals like Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza, but you've also had songs in commercials and recorded songs with Akon. Why do you think you're able to bridge that gap between audiences so successfully? You play the festival circuit but you're also so commercially viable.

Some people have said that it's a negative thing but I can't really make up my mind on a genre and stick to it. For me, it's all about doing different things. For example, I really enjoy making really experimental, improvisational music. At the same time I like to go into the studio with a hip-hop/dance producer and make a really clean pop track. It will always be me. I'll never do anything that doesn't feel right, that doesn't feel like me. The people that are fans and have been fans for a while or have become fans appreciate that quality. A lot of people will listen to different styles of music depending on their mood or what stage they are in their life. Pop is about crossing over into different things and that's always the type of person I've been. I'm into all different things, and not just musically. In high school I was friends with people from different groups and I've always been into trying different things. I think that's part of what makes people from different walks of life like my music. There's always a certain common denominator. One of those things is the content of my music. No matter what I'm doing stylistically, the words will always have some meaning.

Faith has not necessarily foregrounded your music, but it's something people are very aware of when they are listening to you and watching you. Do you think the spiritual message you send is more universal so that it transcends Judaism? Does that relate to your style and genre-bending so that you appeal to a larger fan base?

Yeah, it relates. I didn't grow up religious and I didn't grow up Hasidic. I grew up just as exposed to the pop culture, secular worlds as any other kid in America. From the time I was a little kid, I wanted to make music and be a musician. I never, ever thought I would be making music for one group of people. My teachers and mentors along the way came from a very specific place, that being Rastafarianism. They're coming from a very specific place with a very specific culture and religion and yet their music always spoke to the masses. Bob Marley's music is timeless. A fourteen year old kid now can pick up a Bob Marley record and hear how is life is reflected in the music. That's where I learned how to do that and bring spirituality and religion into music. It wasn't from, say, listening to Christian rock, where there is a very specific message saying, you know, at the end of the day you either go to heaven or to hell. My music has nothing to do with that. It's based in the Old Testament and the Old Testament is the foundation for so much of the world's religions. Judaism is a transcendent religion. You could take any piece of it and relate it to the world at large. When I became religious, I didn't change my views, it's just that now I'm drawing from this well of knowledge.

As a father now, have you thought about what spiritual guidance you're going to impart on your kids, or how you will respond if their spiritual path leads them elsewhere?

Yeah. At the end of the day, every kid is a person with their own freedom to choose whatever they want to choose for themselves. As a parent, I try to give my kids everything that I can, everything I've learned, and everything that I've come to see as an important part of my life. My kids are named after Hasidic rabbis, we follow the Hebrew calendar and celebrate their Hebrew birthdays. They should know who they are, and that they are Jewish. Being Jewish is not just a byproduct or something that's irrelevant or cute. It's a spiritual heritage and an ancestry and lineage. It's something that people died for for thousands of years and it's important to us. We will try to instill that in them in a way that makes sense, not in a way that is forceful. At the same time, I have my kids on tour with me, and they're sleeping on the tour bus with these twelve other guys who aren't Jewish. These people are their friends and buddies, and almost like their uncles. They're learning from them as well. What I try to instill in them is that you don't have to be separate from the rest of the world and live in a Jewish enclave to feel that Judaism is important. The whole world is important and it's important to love and respect everyone.

Reggae of course has a rich pot-smoking culture. But it seems indulging in it could potentially go against your faith. Do you have any qualms with weed? Do you indulge?

I don't have any problems with it. Growing up, I started smoking at an early age and it became a real part of my life. I really struggled with it in my teens and early twenties. I became sort of a addicted to it. People say you can't be addicted but I think that's really not true. I became someone that needed smoke all the time in order to deal with life. I know that's not the majority of people. Personally, I feel I can't do it because it takes over. I think it's important to get to any spiritual place and reach that light without it. I've tried to expand my mind and draw that light without having to smoke or consume a substance.

With Drake being Jewish, do you feel you've been dethroned as the world's preeminent Jewish rapper?

I did hear that, but I don't feel that way. There have been a lot of prominent Jewish musicians and the difference between them and me is that their Judaism is a part of who they are but it's not quite the same. I'm not going to make a judgment on how important Judaism is to someone like Drake or Bob Dylan but to me, it's been the foundation. It's been a really fundamental part of my identity and my music. I don't think you could say that about Drake's music.

What sort of music are you listening to right now?

I haven't been listening to much music, to be honest with you. I haven't been listening to much music at all. I go out to perform at night, and in the daytime I don't find time to listen to music. I'm sorry, I can't help you with that one.

Do listening and creating music go hand in hand for you or are those separate parts of your life?

The two have been very influential on each other. In my twenties I was listening to certain music and that music became the foundation for what I do. That's where I learned to do what I do. All the music, for example, leading up to "Light," created the sounds on "Light." The band that I play with really understands the music I like and has the same musical tastes. When we create music together it just fits and happens because of the music we've been listening to for the last several years.

Want more:

Follow Matis on twitter/facebook and catch him live @ 930 Club tonight

Previously in BYT interviews:

• 5/18: INTERVIEW: Jasmine Solano
• 5/18: Interview: Richard Linklater
• 5/17: Interview: Penguin Prison
• 5/16: Interview: Brian Regan
• 5/15: Richard Davies (Cardinal) Interviewed by Archie Moore
• 5/11: Interview: Horse Feathers' Justin Ringle
• 5/10: Reflections on a Conversation with Mickey Avalon
• 5/9: Inside the STYLELINER
• 5/8: The Politics of Mastodon
• 5/4: Preview: Mucca Pazza @ The Kennedy Center's "Look Both Ways" Festival