Hasidic Jewish reggae star finds his fans

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AP: How do you feel about the secular music community embracing your albums?

Matisyahu: It was never a question ... I grew up listening to secular music, going to see concerts and shows. My first concert was the Grateful Dead. I was about 3 years old. I went with my parents, in Northern California ... The first concert I went to on my own was Bruce Springsteen, the “Tunnel of Love” tour, in the ’80s ... I guess growing up, I knew I was a Jewish person, but I didn’t relate to my experience. My experience isn’t what you would call a Jewish experience. But from the time I was little, I imagined myself making music, playing music. The fact that the audience that likes the music is not necessarily Jewish does not come as a surprise.

AP: There are Orthodox tenets you’re supposed to follow, like not performing with nonreligious women in public. Does that apply today, performing on the same stage as female-fronted bands such the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Sleater-Kinney?

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Matisyahu: I probably wouldn’t go see them. Unfortunately, there are some really wonderful female singers I wouldn’t see ... The law is that a man is only supposed to hear his wife singing. The idea being that the female voice is a very holy thing ... I adhere by that pretty much.

AP: But do you fully agree with that law?

Matisyahu: No, I don’t necessarily agree with it. To me, I don’t consider the female voice to be that sexual. It can be, but in a lot of cases I don’t think it is. For example, I was on an airplane watching TV, and Natasha Bedingfeld was on. I watched it, and I was intrigued by it, from a professional standpoint. She was performing her hit song, but with an acoustic guitar player and three back-up gospel singers. It was amazing. The thought of sexuality didn’t cross my mind at all. So I don’t necessarily agree with it all the time.

I guess part of the law is creating a fence. It doesn’t always make that much sense in the moment, but it might protect you from falling into the wrong places. In general, that’s part of the Jewish religion, or adhering to any religion, in an Orthodox way. You adapt yourself to it, and you take it into yourself as well. Mostly when people go through the world they adapt everything to themselves instead of submitting to the greater thing.

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