Matisyahu Says He's Finding 'Energy and Light' at His Concerts

Last year, reggae singer-songwriter Matisyahu wrote some 40 songs over a six month time period between winter and summer. The songs on his new EP, Hold the Fire, an album about holding out hope during times of violence, come from that time period. And while they might speak to the recent escalation of conflict in the Middle East, the tunes emerged prior to the events of Oct. 7.

“When I’m singing the [new] songs, they seem 110 percent relevant to exactly what is going on,” says Matisyahu via phone from Lubbock, TX as he was on a travel day after a stop in Austin, TX. Matisyahu performs at 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 10, at House of Blues. “There are times when writing songs this theme of overcoming and conquering comes into play. A lot of times, I’m referring to conquering your own inner demons and that kind of thing.”

Matisyahu, who’s Jewish, says the meaning of his older songs has changed as well as he’s sensed the significance of touring during a time when a crisis has emerged in Israel.

“It’s a difficult time and a hard time, but there is a ton of energy and light and hope at my concerts,” he says. After this interview took place, concerts in Santa Fe and Tucson were cancelled due to reported security concerns. “That’s between me and the fans, and it’s been really special. It’s a very special tour. Now, all of a sudden, the metaphor becomes literal when I sing all of my songs. In songs like ‘Lord, Raise Me Up,’ I’m thinking of hostages underground. That’s the thread. When I sing ‘Surrender,’ I’m singing that Hamas should surrender. It’s not a spiritual surrender about myself but about how there are evil people in the world who need to lay down their weapons. The plight of the Jewish people over thousands of years has to do with antisemitism, and the canon that I write from comes from that place of ancient Jewish spirituality, so it becomes extremely relevant.”

Matisyahu adds that he wrote another new song, “Ascent,” after “all the Kanye [West] stuff.” That song will come out in early March, but he's included it in the live show.

“It comes from the Hebrew prayer ‘Song of Ascents,’” he says. “It has some Hebrew in it, but mainly it’s about antisemitism and is an empowering song for all the young Jews out there.”

This past summer, Matisyahu released Live in Brooklyn, an album he recorded at the Brooklyn Bowl in New York during his annual Festival of Light concert. Last year, Matisyahu also made a surprise appearance at the March for Israel in Washington, D.C. in November and performed “One Day” with the Maccabeats.

Like the other studio albums in his back catalog, Hold the Fire features a good number of inspiring tunes, including “Fireproof,” a tune with echoing vocals and layers of mid-tempo percussion and synths.

“It’s a concept that comes from the Burning Bush in the Bible,” says Matisyahu when asked about the track. “It’s a fire that doesn’t consume itself, and the song and entire EP is based on a dream where I was praying in an ancient Middle Eastern synagogue and was playing with a baby tiger. The momma tiger was shooting flames out of her eyes at me, and I was engulfed in flames, but I realized I wasn’t burning up, and when I looked at my hand I realized it was made out of water. When I woke up, I was immediately struck by the dream. As an artist moving forward throughout time and getting older, it’s like, ‘How do you keep that fire burning and not get consumed by it?’ You have to keep throwing wood on the fire to keep it from going out. There’s this play between fire and water which is a real thing in all of us, especially as artists."

In “Fool’s Gold,” a poppy song with a thick bass riff and percolating synths, Matisyahu addresses our current obsession with celebrities.

“It’s about not paying attention to what people who are not important people in your life think about you,” he says of the song. “I remember in the old days of Twitter, I would come back to the bus after my show and open up my phone and start reading the comments just to see what everybody thinks. You’re looking for constructive feedback, but it’s often fool’s gold. If you’re like me, you skip past the positive stuff and focus on the negative stuff. I stopped reading comments altogether. My wife reads them now and looks to see if there is a fan who needs special attention or something along those lines.”

“Love Supplier” has an uplifting reggae lilt and includes nods to a few different styles of music.

“The song is pretty Afropop, but when the chorus kicks in, it’s more of a reggaeton thing,” he says of the track. “It even has a bit of a dancehall beat. It’s like most of the music I’ve listened to for the last couple of years. I wanted to bring that kind of rhythm to the song. The kick in the drums and the high hat are hitting in different places, which I really like.”

Twenty years into his career, Matisyahu says he continues to find inspiration by listening to other artists whose music has a powerful message.

“I’ve always had a deep love of music and still do,” he says. “In these days of Spotify playlists, it’s very easy to discover new music and go exploring without having to physically walk into a record shop. There is so much music out there now, and for me, it’s all about finding music from those artists who are inspiring. Listening to music still moves me.”

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