MARCH 7 • 2024 | 39

Matisyahu talks his new EP, his upcoming visit to Detroit —
and how he’ll continue to be a voice for the Oct. 7 hostages.

atisyahu has a bit of magic to him.
His music has a way of filling you
and lifting you up, even more so
when watching him perform live. But he
also is a real person. Like the rest of us, he
is angry and struggling. So, he’s doing what
he’s always done: touring, despite attempts
to stop him, inspiring crowds at his shows
with his calls for peace and love — while
also using his voice to shut down hate.
With a new aptly titled EP, Hold the Fire,
just released, Matisyahu will be performing
at Detroit’s El Club on March 9.
Born Matthew Paul Miller in White
Plains, New York, he was raised a
Reconstructionist Jew, but his quest for
meaning and purpose was already burning
in him as a teen. Rebellion, drugs, rehab,
time spent following jam-bands Phish and
the Grateful Dead on tour (which undoubt-
edly inspires his own electric live perfor-
mances) led to a spiritual journey landing
in Orthodox Judaism.
He studied Torah with the Chabad-
Lubavitch in Crown Heights, Brooklyn,
grew a beard and followed halachah.
Taking on his Hebrew name, Matisyahu
(a transliteration of Matthew meaning
“gift of God”), he was suddenly a Chasidic
Grammy-nominated beatboxing reggae
star, gaining massive popularity with songs
“King Without a Crown” and the anti-war
anthemic “One Day.”
Eventually feeling “locked in to that
vision of the world,” he evolved toward
a more personalized understanding of
Judaism. In recent years, he’s again more
outwardly expressing his Judaism, and his
music acts as a road map for his spiritual
journey. His newest EP, Hold the Fire, is a
collection of five songs, the beginning of a
gradual release of 40 new songs recorded in
the last year, all written at the same time.

THE NEW EP
“It’s about endurance and it’s about stami-
na as an artist — and now, after Oct. 7, it’s
about stamina as a people,” Matisyahu says.
“In my lyrics, I’m often talking about spir-
itual struggle, taken from my canon of the
Old Testament and Jewish philosophy that
I’ve had over the years.”
His new album, however, is even more of
a calling, particularly the song “Fireproof.”

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