8th Day? Before interviewing the band for this article, I thought they were all about Chanukah. It turns out that the name of the band is actually based on Shemini Atzeret. The brothers behind 8th Day are not just talented musicians – they are also very nice people, and I enjoyed talking to them about their story and about music in general.
Shemini Atzeret is singer Shmuel Marcus’s birthday, so first, I want to wish him a happy birthday and many more years of continuing to make music and bringing happiness to people.
Most of you have probably heard about the 8th Day band. How could you not? The band has been active since 2004. In the music business, that’s considered a very long time for a band. So actually, this was my first question when I interviewed the two brothers: How have you kept the band going for so long?
“It’s a big beracha,” they both answer.
The 8th Day band, for those who still haven’t heard of them, is an American chasidic pop-rock band based in Los Alamitos, California. Formed by Shmuel and Bentzion Marcus, they have many popular songs that already have millions of views on YouTube, such as “Ya’alili” with 7.5 million views, “My Shtetl’s Calling” with 5.3 million, and the cool clarinet intro, “Hooleh!” with 4.2 million. The name Marcus perhaps does not reveal much – but their uncle is Avraham Fried and their cousin is Benny Friedman. Now you understand.
8th Day’s music has been featured on rock radio stations all over the United States, and they have been top sellers on the alternative rock, world music, reggae, and Jewish music charts for the last decade.
For those of you who are hearing about them for the first time, run to YouTube or Spotify right after Havdalah. Your Chol HaMoed travels are going to be a lot of fun – their music and rhythm are very upbeat.
The next question I asked them is the obvious one – about their famous uncle, who is considered one of the giants in chasidic music. They told me that thanks to Avraham Fried, they had good connections when they were starting out.
Several things along the way gave them a lot of chizuk. When they started the band, they didn’t even have a dream or idea of becoming music stars. They only wanted to bring simcha to others and share chasidut.
They started to sing and play at their father’s Chabad house. They tried to bring positivity and inspire others with music. If people liked it (they did!), that was a bonus.
Bentzi and Shmuel grew up in a very musical family. Their grandparents used to sing and play instruments. Their grandmother played piano by ear. She could pick up things in recordings that others did not hear. Their grandfather loved to sing. Their mother played guitar.
Bentzi began to play guitar when he was twelve. They had an old acoustic guitar at home that belonged to their mother. He just started playing on the guitar and got into it. He never took formal classes – he learned to play on his own. He would always ask his friends to teach him more, and he also learned from guitar books.
As kids, Bentzi and Shmuel used to listen to Mordechai Ben-David, Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, (obviously) Avraham Fried, Miami Boys Choir, and Piamenta. They grew up on classical chasidic music.
Once, they performed at a Chanukah party, and Benny Friedman, who was then a student in yeshiva, came to help. As he was helping them to arrange the party, he also started to sing. Bentzi then said, “This boy has talent! He has the potential to one day become a singer!”
Occasionally, the cousins perform together. Recently 8th Day performed together with Benny Friedman at the RCCS benefit concert.
In the beginning, they did pop music, blues, reggae, Yiddish, and country. “We were pioneers,” says Shmuel. They started with cover songs, especially Chanukah songs. Then, over the years, they began to write their own songs.
When the band started, Jewish music consisted mostly of chazzanim who sang texts from the mekorot (classical Jewish texts). Suddenly, the 8th Day band started to do something new: write their own lyrics. Shmuel is the one who writes the lyrics. Even back in high school, he used to write poems.
One day, Bentzi asked Shmuel to take his words, compose them, and make them into songs. Then they recorded them, and began to perform. They started at Chabad events.
Their older sibling, Chaim, who was a very experienced advertising professional – he made TV and radio commercials – suggested that they start doing music professionally. He took them to a studio, hired a technician, studio engineer, and musicians, and they started to record.
Their first song was “Tracht Gut,” which resembles a reggae style. The engineer told them it sounded like Bob Marley.
Despite their breaking with tradition by writing their own lyrics, a producer agreed to work with them because they were the nephews of Avraham Fried. Fried guided them in the beginning, as did others in the industry: “Oh, these are Avraham Fried’s nephews – let’s give them a chance.” It helped them make connections.
They started to work with professional musicians, not necessarily Jews. These experts gave them ideas, and this is how they were exposed to more styles and eventually created the signature sound of 8th Day.
8th Day does not copy anybody – they have their own unique style. (There’s even a non-Jewish Spanish singer who has copied them.)
They were hired last year by Disney to perform at their theme park in California. The director told them that usually they ask musicians to just do covers of popular songs. Usually, the crowd gets bored by original songs of non-popular bands. With 8th Day, however, she let them do their original songs. The producer was shocked – she said she had never seen a crowd so engaged with a band that did only original music. (And the crowd was mostly non-Jews!) It was a special Chanukah event, advertised in the park. 8th Day was perhaps the first chasidic band hired to perform for Disney.
As I mentioned earlier, one of their most famous songs is “Ya’alili.” It sounds more like an Israeli, Mizrahi-style song, with a chorus that sounds like one of the songs of their famous uncle. The song started more as a joke, they say – a funny song – but it became a hit. One of their biggest influencers was Yossi Piamenta, z”l. The first version of “Ya’alili” was very similar to the Piamenta hit “Kol Hamesame’ach.” The brothers met a big producer in L.A. who produced famous albums (not in Jewish music), and he produced “Ya’alili” and made it a hit. And indeed, there are many Middle Eastern influences in this song.
Other 8th Day songs I like are “Elika D’Meir,” which is very upbeat, “Lama Lechakot,” and also “My Shtetl’s Calling.” I’m a big fan of Klezmer music, so I really like the cool clarinet intro of that one. “My Shtetl Crown Heights is calling…” The song mixes English and Yiddish, and the video clip, which looks like it was filmed in Crown Heights, is also cool. Check out who’s dancing at 3:46 (hint: it looks like their famous uncle).
They also do pop, blues, and reggae. And as I mentioned, they not only compose songs to pesukim, they also write lyrics. And when they quote pesukim, they don’t just repeat the words, but explain what they mean to them. One of their songs is a quote from the Lubavitcher Rebbe. They try to bring their own interpretation and make the words more meaningful, something that a lot of people can connect to.
I ask them where they get their inspiration.
Chasidut, the Rebbe, their family, growing up on shlichut, they tell me.
Is their writing hits-oriented or does it come from their heart?
You can never predict what is going to be a hit, they say. Many songs they thought would be a hit didn’t become hits, and many which they didn’t think would become hits, did.
What’s next for 8th Day?
The brothers are working now on a new album which is going to be released in a few months. They’re also working on a new video. So, stay tuned!