ritish
Aigjes ation
IIMPFlare
balances
Orthodox
observance
with a burgeoning
music career.
I
Suzanne Chessler
Contributing Writer
O
rthodox Judaism enters every
aspect of Alex Clare's life — on the
pop-music stage, in the recording
studio and at home.
It wasn't always that way.
Raised in a secular household in England,
Clare was into music before deciding that
the Orthodox life was the one for him. While
establishing himself as a composer and
singer-guitarist, he gradually made the deci-
sion to study and celebrate the rituals of his
religion.
Three Hearts, his latest album, has a track
called "Sparks," based on an idea presented
in Kabbalah. A number of songs from that
album will be heard as he performs Monday
evening, Nov. 17, at Saint Andrews Hall in
Detroit.
Last year, Clare made an appearance at
the Crofoot Ballroom in Pontiac and learned
that, if he had the time, Michigan would be
the right place to pursue his favorite pastime
for relaxing: fishing.
This year, in the midst of planning for his
second visit to Metro Detroit, Clare talked
with the Jewish News from his home in
London about his upcoming show, career,
family and religious outlook
"We start off our show pretty mellow, and
by the end of the set, we're crazy, noise-mak-
ing people running around:' explains Clare,
who will appear with a keyboardist, bassist
and drummer.
"It's a lot of fun and very eclectic as I try to
create music for music's sake.
"There are maybe two songs that are cov-
ers, depending on the night and how we're
feeling. We vary it off a bit. Usually, those
are Prince's 'When Doves Cry' and Robert
Palmer's 'Addicted to Love:
"The show represents who I am in terms
of what I do musically and creatively. As a
performer and musician, I have an extrovert
side. If you meet me, you would know I
am not that extroverted. I just like to make
music and get people excited:'
Clare, on tour to introduce the new music
on Three Hearts, explains that the numbers
come together as a big departure from his
first album, which had a big nod to elec-
tronic music. The second
is much more eclectic and
more classic-sounding.
"I wrote the title
track when my wife was
pregnant:' recalls Clare,
29, an award-winning,
platinum-selling recording
artist. "We had gone to the
doctor's, and [our fam-
ily's] third heartbeat could be heard. My wife
had two heartbeats, which was an incredible
thing.
"I wrote about the amazing feeling of
becoming a husband and in the stage of
about to become a daddy. My daughter,
Avira, is 15 months, and her name means
illumination in Hebrew. The name Clare has
a similar meaning in Yiddish; it has to do
with making something clear:'
"Never Let You Go" was written just after
his daughter was born. It expresses how pre-
cious the father-daughter relationship is to
him.
Clare can't remember not being interested
in playing music. He grew up surrounded by
musicians and instruments. He learned how
to play various instruments from people he
knew.
"When I was 16 and playing with different
bands, my father said that it was great want-
ing to be a musician, but it was important
to get another skill or qualification so that
I would have something as a contingency if
music didn't work out:' the singer-guitarist-
composer explains.
"I studied to be a chef, and while I was in
chef school, I also played in bands around
London. At 21, I got a job as a songwriter for
a publishing company, and in 2008, I started
to work with Island Records:'
A YouTube video shows him teaching a
reporter how to make cholent and explaining
why he wears a hat and
ritual items.
The Lateness of the Hour
became his first album.
A song from that album,
"Too Close" connected
him with American audi-
ences, and the press began
to notice.
"Ever since Adele set
fire to some rain, the Brits have really upped
their game in the music department:' reads
a 2012 review in Wave Maker Magazine. "It's
produced [a] top-notch singer-songwriter in
Alex Clare. The Lateness of the Hour is a hit
from start to finish.
"The first single, 'Too Close: is an upbeat
stuck-in-your-head kind of song that show-
cases a driving, electronic base line that mar-
ries dubstep with sophisticated soul:'
Clare is very open about his composing
process.
"I'm very impulsive when I compose
says the musician, who works out of a studio
near his apartment. "It has to come from a
very natural place. There is no such thing as
writer's block.
"If I'm not feeling creative, I push myself
to create something to start, just to keep
the brain active and the muscle memory of
writing. I usually compose with a guitar but
sometimes with piano:'
Clare, who recalls wanting to read and
Alex Clare:
"I learn Torah
every day."
understand Hebrew as a child, soon became
interested in learning about commentaries
on the Torah and Jewish text.
"Before long, I was observing Shabbat
and keeping kosher; he says. "It all grew and
grew and is still growing. I learn Torah every
day:"
As he travels America, he finds no prob-
lem observing the Sabbath and keeping
kosher. Whole Foods stores offer plenty
of choices. He finds it a little bit trickier in
Germany and Russia.
"Shabbos should never be seen as a bur-
den:' he says. "It is the reason that we're here.
We work hard so we can enjoy this one day
of rest
"When Friday afternoon comes, I start
shutting everything down, unwinding and
taking my head out of myself and putting it
into a different space. Ifs the biggest blessing
and a tremendously positive experience:'
As Clare pursues music, his wife, Toby,
is studying for a master's degree in medical
ethics.
"I go to Midrash [study] in London, and it
makes me understand a little bit better why
we're here in the world and why the world
exists around us:' he says.
"I think the world is an incredible place
full of opportunity and goodness. The trick
is to use our bodies and brains to facilitate
whatever our portion is in that goodness. I'm
incredibly hopeful:"
❑
Alex Clare's "Three Hearts Tour"
comes to Saint Andrews Hall, 431
E. Congress, in Detroit, on Monday,
Nov. 17. All ages welcome. Doors at 7
p.m. $20 advance/$23 day of. (313)
961-8961; livenation.com .
November 13 • 2014
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