45: The Soul of Acapella (feat. Ari Goldwag)

[Music] hi this is Deborah Orlowski and welcome to the Rabbi Orlovsky show and whether you're listening on tour anytime or wherever you listen or watch your podcasts we are happy to have you aboard I have to tell you I got something that I have not gotten in many years a letter you know I got a piece of paper with writing and an envelope that was sent to me by a teenager who was going through a very difficult time somebody important in their life died and they were going through a very rough time and they said that this podcast really gave them the strength to be able to go on so what can I tell you we continue to do important things and we're happy to have you on board and we're happy those people who sponsored and we are have a special sponsor for this week and it is in memory of Ben Tzion been more - hi dr. Birds a dura is for thew earth site is huftalin Thomas which is Chavez Pincus in America the chambray and Zara families now I didn't make the connection immediately but this is Flo meets father obviously who was a Tommy day of mine some years ago I don't think it will benefit either one of us to say how long ago but suffice it to say it was some time ago and the summer should have an Aliya and you know the tremendous course and Wow you got a real special episode because you know occasionally we have guests and a very limited range of guests that I'm prepared to have one because mostly people love hearing me but there are exceptional individuals in this world who I feel it's important for clients not to be able to say now in this case it's it's almost silly because this person is maybe more famous than me let me take a moment there's like it could be anyway but we are have this course this week to be with Rabbi Ari Gold wag thank you very much thank you for having me thank you very much now I have to tell you that this is for the for the viewers out there me and I we go back a long time stems that we go back stems to help form another well I lived across the street from your brother yeah well it has nothing to do with me but it is a hey but that's right actually how long have we been so I live least 30 years now that long I don't know if it's that long but I moved on to Agassi yeah onto this very Street yeah 17 years ago and I was here for three years but you tell me it may man know you longer than that well it's it certainly made a deep impression on your preaching there in any event but we've had discussions for years yeah about Jewish music but Jewish music different kind of Shias that you touch and I'll tell you why um what my thinking was now there's a lot of things that we want to talk about because there are certain people who are music personalities this this is fine those people should stick to what they do I'm always surprised when there are musicians in in the Jewish world or outside of the Jewish world who feel that they have opinions that make any difference to anybody moreso than somebody else who's just sitting you know and the checkout line and the supermarket yeah so I've seen there are Jewish publications where they interview certain singers ke Liu they're desperate and I've never really felt very comfortable with that however and one of the reasons I wanted to have Ariane I'm speaking to the wider audience is because Ari is not just a music personality he is a tour personality how many years you're doing your Torah blog so I've been doing actually I have a blog which I kind of shied away from which was about Messiah but I've been doing my podcasts my partial podcasts consistently now twelve years this is my twelve right I'm almost a year not not quite but almost a year I'm doing this and you can do it well yeah well listen you know I I say this all the time it's only because of my producer who comes into my home sets this up tells me to sit here and talk and that's basically why this exists and if he was to go away I would just sit here and talk to myself like I did for 20 years before the buck and it reaches a much more limited audience but so that's amazing so the tour podcast that means that the reason that this was important to me is because he's not just a music personalities at our personality and that changes the nature dramatically that's one reason I'm putting everything up in the front for the listening audience the other thing is that already has a gift that not everybody can do I don't have you know this yo you sure you know this cuz you're a music person there are certain people who when they tour they are basically lifting sinking because you can't sing their songs it's so highly Tecna technologically techno what does it go techno something like good game often mess around with those kind of fancy stuff that by the time you get there it's it's impossible to really do it and and Ari has a gift that his voice which is something that's that's membership not Tony from a coach bar who he is able to do a cappella music and that's why now that this is the first podcast of the three weeks when any number of people from my children's generation go through three weeks of withdrawal because they don't have their music yeah now as far as I'm concerned music Jewish music diagonally years ago when you we've discussed this thanks a lot I you're the exception that's why you're here anyway but but I could record you on my next album yeah in any event so to do acapella means that you are its music and now you got you actually started III think I know if this is really correct I was gonna say you started with Miami pure okay but I think you'd actually we started before that because didn't you have a song were you sang it do it with yourself when you were a child so so I started I did start like professionally with Miami I I think I started making up songs I'm not sure if it was right before or right after it was definitely around the same time but yes there's a Lena Lena Lena when did you compose that hold me I was probably 9 or 10 years old around around there so Wow wait now I mean that's just a gift I mean that coach Bronco just gives music to certain people I I don't have that gift I can do lyrics to words because I can rhyme all the time and sublime and you know you know I made that whole thing up on this by certain people can just you know Grauman's the the Turner it exists in the words of the you just have to be able to come up with the rhymes fast enough like that so that I was able to do but music is a mystery to me you know you know remember smoke under I do he was actually in my father's class really yes say he I mentioned him once when I used to write a kind of column in AHA Medea and and I mentioned you know how impressed I was with many of the things that he did and he told me he says he his early tapes he borrowed music from other people and he just wrote the lyrics and then after a while he says coach borrow who knew I needed the and he gave them to me I find a police that I do I know I can definitely relate to I mean I've always been making up songs that I'm as far as I can remember I tan I think it was making up even stuff before but but definitely a lot of a lot of times the good songs like the powerful songs come because I needed that song like a sham loves you you're his greatest prize and soshim loves you he's always by your side so I was working on an album I needed a really good song that's really good ya know who's nervous for the video how did you film that because you're five different people five different times in the green screen I get sometimes what be five different people at the same time but that's because I have a condition but anyway but the songs came because I needed them those songs came because I needed them so I can't I can really relate to that actually you know some of your best songs you gave away some of these I mean this is what the the Tibor says alright so me his name is Hashem all right her and he's in charge of like we're like distributing the songs not exactly sure why I'm not complaining tikva right I'm really good with words so Sean had that song you know picked up for Benny and he also kind of sent it through me so that's okay I'm pretty cool with that the mice said that also kind of spawned I'm akkad and a few other Israeli style hits so yeah I don't know exactly why Shum does that but I'm um I accept end and I well the rapper or somebody sent that to me is it as a gift so I always do what I can but so give us an insight because I've always wondered about I never asked you about this what's it what was it like being part of the Miami boys play I mean now you oughta be alone is what almost 80 someone don't know I don't think so I think sorry 60s no way I think so listen he wrote a song about more like on mr. Kotter right that was 1976 no I was that's when I know I think it was in Slate 7 because he's talking about you're moving out in 1980 mr. Carter okay so I think you know you're I think he was probably about 20 so let's make a cut right okay whatever what uh but gives him about sixty cuz NBD is like 70 so he's getting of the whole thing so I was there I was in Miami I came in 1988 and my mother had a dream that her little boy should be a star this little boy from West thanks Ted and and how many kids were in the choir with you there there was probably about 40 40 kids in the choir so I'm like you stood at you you were so so at the beginning I was just I stood back I was just one of the kids in the choir and so like the first year I didn't get any solos we want to be like wow you're good and then and then about a year in I started to you noticed mean he started to give me solos I say my first solo was hiromi hara hashem and okay you know so my show my the array yeah uh I wish you sheer panic labor would sin but that was one of the most beautiful songs he ever heard I was it's also one of my it's it's my favorite songs so I do have an idea cuz it was my first solo but yeah that's not he do the high point I concur so on because you can call me tiling sky sunny me Cooper supper sir [Music] [Applause] mr. hey very nice we can make a whole pillow so so that was beautiful yeah this is the point I'm trying to make I their acapella albums where there is not just voices in fact I heard this I don't know if it's true on that pace of crow and I never check out what I say but I heard the shame Reb leadership that he didn't like some of the a cappella music Chris it sounded example like music was they adding enough up whatever it is so it sounds like music but you're and again I'm not this is not my field yeah but you have a musical sound that when you sing without anything it sounds like music yes gift yes and I try with my I could make it all boom boo-boom boo-boom boo-boom ching ching but I try I try to actually the first I've done six acapella albums I'm just about to put out or buds on you guys watch it probably the Mele a new one let's try me the most at capella albums earnest but yeah I don't know coming and the first one I did I did have boxing that's the most occupied albums in that what person who keeps correcting me is gonna write me back no there was a teenager couple of bums by the in 1816 I'm not sure it could be somebody always corrects me like you know and I said Cracker Jacks instead of Cracker Jack you know like is that people always they keep me to make sure that it you know anyways the first one I did yeah I did beatbox and I must say I must admit that it's not so great beatboxing like it doesn't actually sound like real drums so that's kind of like I felt like it was okay but afterwards I didn't feel comfortable listening to myself okay so like I left it out after that so I just like felt like it should sound like voices it's that's a gift that's like there's certain voices that if you don't amplify them we'll play with them or do some of them they can't carry you know okay so that's it always noticed about you know now you your music has an agenda I do that's been as healthy as charged for example right you were very upset about a particular song and you wrote a response to it that's true I don't think that has ever happened in the history of music where somebody is writing a response to a negative message in somebody else's song yeah I was inspired that inspired that was extreme anger I was living here on a gauzy and I was I was sitting on the bus listening to the song and I was getting I was fuming I was turning red how could they write this song and I should I found it after was that the song was written for battle of the bands and in that context I felt like okay it was cutesy but like once it was put out I don't know if we're gonna say it was a theme song yeah rally yeah so we we had to I felt like there's nobody else who could respond to that except for me for those not familiar it's called the flipping in yes flipping in to a world into a lifetime full of meaning of dependent and behind me all the emptiness some leave in keep your televisions your big money and fast food I'm gonna spend my life as a full time Jew now did you get any reaction to this negative reaction I did get a response from the people who I was responding to they were in South Africa but but but been there but you know but I mean you didn't but I got a lot I mean bonefishing with people that was I feel like I got responses from McLeod come people who were in teaching here inerrancy spell and and people were people were happy that there was a response have the trolls like beating up on people in the internet then they'd a mmm no I got I got plenty of email I got it still got an email in those you know by mail that was one step above carrier pigeon huh I'm talking about like we they go on these blogs and like fresh over the place that you don't be often but not really but in fact I know somebody is a very good person I'm debating if I should do this on my podcast one time but it's very good person who is was really attacked viciously for no good reason and beaten up on the internet and I called them up and thinking from physic and I said listen you can only you know you think they can only do this to you if you if you let it hurt you and if it doesn't bother you then you just ignore so you have as one of your agendas to bring Michelle I do what's what's wrong with you and I also like sneak in like mushiya um ideas like without you realizing that I got a song you save me I save one day the world will know your dreams will be fulfilled and your heart will overflow you know you say PA say you'll teach all of mankind reveal that secret line let it shine for all times so that's secret light which was mentioned there and the dream about I have a whole shell which if I saw it somewhere in the 12 years of podcasts but I don't think about my shifting asa finish FMW then it's not like in that song I slipped in really so yours up witness night so something that's it Oh oh yeah Mary's ro pound faith our pride where's the desire than love deep inside when we say we want bend of it to come we can't pull ourselves or the Holy One when did that come out oh that came out it's what to stop this one good way yeah I know I know me too I think 2008 or 2009 had to be 2008 because we went that summer to America and everybody made a mix you know you remember when people make mixes you know that's you know after after everyone bored albums you ready back then so then you could take the difference so you put it on that's not how I made a mix when I was growing up we had a dual tape record like those funny big CDs they were like black the tape none of those big big CDs are you were doing elby's record oh yeah you how could you record from an LP you hooked it up with from the RCA plug into your into your into your tape deck I would copy tape tape that was about as high-tech as I was I was lucky I could do that and and so everybody made a mix and everybody's mix at that song on it so as we were driving along and everybody just it's did something contagious that I hold that they had a tremendous sea at the dish mire with their tune because the message was you know and and the message for those who have not heard the song is everyone's too busy for Michelle Michelle friend of it comes and this one's doing this and this one's doing that and everybody's been they're not and they don't even notice that the Schieffer is blowing they don't even hear it they don't even hear it because they're just too busy you know I heard from her my super ones he says since was shot with a bus Cole he says it's not that there was this big voice that comes out in the sky yeah if you were Roy for Novoa but now there was no navour anymore you heard a bicycle so you had to be on a level to be able to hear he once brought down Ashla that said you needed neva to see Moshe I mean he was so cutter so out of this world that you couldn't see him with normal eyes and so you couldn't you couldn't hear a bicycle so I mean that's really the message the message is when Michelle comes who's gonna hear it the cuts go they said when's Michelle can I come and he says whenever we want him and that's really what I think with that song captures in such a powerful way I mean the the the so long in the words are so what this new album and you're working on a new album right now you're trying to do something for it because so everybody steals out so if you order to talk about this I don't want to be negative by no but I will be positive because Bronco Shem I just raised over six thousand dollars to help produce the album and to produce a video with the album and yes making music does cost money it's not free you can stream it we get paid about a third of a penny for every stream so an album like Ilona clear code which smoothly when you download it like 490 no no when you stream it when you play this song on like Spotify or any of these streaming services we get paid about a third of a penny so if you I don't remember the exact numbers but like about three and three quarters of a million streams 3/4 of a million streams on my album alone of sticker code besides they're a million and a half streams on YouTube doesn't really make enough money to pay for the you know 70 to 80 thousand dollars to produce that kind of album but anyway so I didn't want to go there but I am excited that that we have this new acapella album I was I was like miss topic I wasn't sure if I should do and now I'm just for the three weeks like do people only know people like upbeat songs and just slow songs and kind of a little bit not I don't see sacrifice well you got you have this fear right here for three weeks and there were those of us who actually enjoy the UH cappella music I think I don't know if this is what the general audience is but yeah my my daughter actually tried to put on a lot cappella CD I think yesterday in the car I was like what are you doing I'm like I'm listening it's coming out of my ears it's all I'm doing all day a guy who said it's regular means somebody said if they had invented television first before radio they said people would have said thank goodness they finally figured out some way to get rid of that picture in other words because radio allowed you use your imagination your mind and I think the reason that most people can't do a cappella is simply because they don't have the voice to be able to carry it you know and thank you but thank you a barrel off ski I appreciate it no I'm tellin ya hey you know this and certainly the people at the end of this I really I don't go out of my way to say anything nice am i saying you know it's sincere you know my first got married you know somebody my wife would say how does this look I said I don't know I don't like it so much cuz why can't you just say it's nice I said cuz then when I really like it you won't know so if I say something nice you know that I really mean it you know so it's a it's a gift so then after that you started saying it's nice to everything no no no no if I thought it was nice yeah I totally different topic but you know there's a big problem she dug him those of us who have children and she does I mean you go through this you know there's certain people who will everybody's wonderful and everything's to read forget everything about me does and everybody's the best by initiative and everybody's over that and and nobody knows and then you can end up in a bad situation because people didn't decide to be honest then tell you the truth yeah I always used to say it's your best friend who will tell you that you have a piece of toilet paper stuck to your shoe there's then and people who don't tell you it's not because they're so nice because they don't care enough about you so if I tell you that I think that it's it's a gift that I obviously mean it so so what's the hit what's gonna be the hit of this album in your opinion well although sometimes we're surprised right did you have a song that you didn't think would be a hit yeah there's a hole I just tell you this that back when they had those black discs so you were talking about the big blast this the LPS long playing they step 45 and the hit would be on site a and B would be another store they stuck on it and sometimes the side B song turned out to be a bigger hit than the side a so this has happened a number of times with certain groups like a race the Beatles certain groups like that so did you have a song that you thought was like a filler that suddenly became a hit I can't think of any all right oh so what do you thinks gonna be the hit on his own well so I'm not like like when I look for example middle of Sigler core album running up here and change ago or the avocado albums so I was like you know I Mikado's good but I know what I felt it yeah I felt it and a lot of simpler code I also I was like I was strong and beat Oakland I was like I really haven't been talking around that song and really I really did and I felt that song also those albums like I felt like I had a tremendous investment like on that lunatic White Album I spent the eighty thousand dollars so a tremendous investment in it and it needed to have you know I needed to have that level it'll be tough on really with this album that's not really my focus like trying to create an album you know it's gonna have a hit many of the songs are old songs someday we will all be together someday we'll be sheltered and warm never will we have to express anything here scars and our wounds will disappear so it sounds like that so other souls are like kind of classic songs and then there's a few new songs there's a few songs that I put out and people didn't really notice that I wanted people to hear there's a really nice song with my son Moshe douve who I haven't recorded from a few years ago and his voice has changed now so he's his voice doesn't completely change but it's like a nice kind of blend between his newer voice and his young voice and then like you did yes exactly and then I have a there's a new song which I literally made up in the process of the crowdfunding somebody who's participated in the crowdfunding sent me this beautiful poem which is about which is about kind of gulleson gula like it goes it kind of it says it's like a muscle going through through history Jewish history and tongue tied here and and I was so touched by the song by the by the lyrics that I just spontaneously may have to solve around it and it's really special it's really beautiful and so that's gonna be I think the hit what's the most meaningful song you ever composed to you most meaningful song to me gonna say something the most meaningful song I wrote a song for my wife when we got engaged Wow I'm not gonna sing it though I'm gonna you know I can sing part is it on an album it's not on any of them it's just I did it there's like a part of the song that goes nah nah no no no no no no no no no no no no no no don't get me upset or you'll be sorry [Laughter] it's getting at them is go away anyway so I actually include that little part that's like a three part song but I include that little thing in it that hasn't um no it's private Wow I wouldn't sing any of the words it was like me asking her to marry me like huh like it's not but that part so I actually included this huh she did she did she said yes at the end I said will you marry me and she said yes Wow we know what a guy this part of the song I do in our Friday night if I don't know what I do ha ha ha oh goody na by Myra I'm taking leave of him like I kind of stick it into the missile so you do has honestly knows what that is you you're about to feel I do lead services yeah I mean often for money oh I also do it on the shops before my father's yard sign I know his father made him a awesome but he didn't make him a thousand you go will you go with me I'm in Seattle I don't see how I've been there for 15 or 15 years only about you know the place did you think of the stellar you know that's a give a desire to do that kind of thing like what to be a cousin [Laughter] but I have done I have them should like been places for Shabbos I was recently in Bergenfield New Jersey I did in Los Angeles I've been West Hempstead I've gone back to us they've had me for Shabbos with the Stars crazy did you have a person hotel I have which one I was I was in Huntington Hilton it's not called that anymore is where I got married in the Huntington Elton I was just there for you just saved me I killed paisa we were we were joking bean paste up that we might do a pacer program and then somebody contacted me and said here and there it's so that we might actually do a facelift program so if it does come to fruition so maybe you'll come and join us and I'm open to it it'll be a Wow it'll be star-studded so so what do you want what do you want to tell everybody this is I mean you have your own podcast you talk to other people but there are I know for sure over 10,000 people I don't know how many people watch this and listen to this I don't have the exact numbers but a lot of people and I felt that you know you are one of the gems of Cayuse Olivette people don't really get a chance to to see as a person so if you have a message for Claudia so as we go into the three weeks as we go into these you make Orban and you can find the music in the sadness which is a gift the the issue of music is because it leads to celebration but there's there's a music of the soul that's is sublime sublime sound so so that's why I wanna do want to have you as we go into these three weeks what's the message for climbing so yeah so I always think about there's a de cámara rosh hashanah they talked about the chauffeur as the that which brings we do Mathias apprentice in Cyprus and the shaper is that which brings up our toilet in front of the keys are coming and and I see the the Schieffer as it's not literally a musical instrument but it has its a has that power to move us just like music moves us and I feel like music has ability to bring us like much higher like like to it too if it's used correctly and you know the lyrics are bringing us wherever the music moves us and then the lyrics bring us somewhere and and I think it's it's interesting on tissue but we we single digit above mmm right even though we're sitting on the floor but we're still singing and because it moves us and it helps us it helps us be misawa why I there's a song and I have on one of my couple albums Donna bhatia boots you miss baby we shall I'm sure I'm seeing signify mister shoreline oh it's Sarah came through pain c.join missive Nicole a moyes yerushalayim oh yeah I came tada came see I'm see him neck huh he - He Who Shall for me so when I sing that I sing that song and it moves me it's like it's not so easy for me for a lot of people on Tisch about to get emotional - and to feel the hormone but but that song does it definitely helped me and and I think that you know music is very powerful and there's lots of music out there that can be destructive the secular music and stuff with a negative message and so it's very important to use music in a positive way and to be listening to the songs that move us into the right place and music can do that and and being in a time of three weeks certainly you know we need the right songs to put us in that mood and I'm glad that the crowdfunding worked out because it I wasn't sure people would be interested in that everyone just wants to be happy which is important you know you know we can't serve a shuttle bus we're happy but there's also a time and a place for being somber that I get depressed not depressed but but to be more serious perhaps we could say and there's a time for everything and music can express that exactly yeah now if somebody wants to listen to your podcast where do they go so the podcasts are also on tour any time they're also on my website yeah Wow when everybody told me there's 400 people on a waiting list to get on okay well my started well I started there like seven or eight years ago I was I guess before oh it's like clamoring to get it so you can see me there until or any time you can see my website I am on iTunes what's your website Ari Gold Wacom and got any music theater we got some music there too even some music okay well that's it for this week there's so much more to say and like I say for me this is a special privilege because like I say Ari is one of those exceptional people in class I saw that I've had this quiz to have a catch with so that's it if you want to find out more about this show go to reverie Alaska dot-com where you can add comments see my upcoming event schedule contact me directly if you would like to sponsor an episode you go to every Alaska comm slash podcast and click on the sponsor an episode button and that's it I'm Deborah hausky and this is rabri Alaska show [Music] you