Shoham Simchi “Rains of Light” (Gishmei Orah)

27 Dec, 2009 by yossi

Print this article Font size -16+

Shoham Simchi, 39 year old father of eight, lives in Kochav Yaakov in the Binyamin region.  Aside from his music, he makes silver judaica in a style which blends Yemenite and modern motifs “just like my music which is a blend of old and new, joining two worlds”, Simchi explains.

And if the name is somewhat familiar, “Hakotel” will remind you just who this is.  Many of you will remember Shoham Simchi from ten years back, when the song that he wrote took all the radio stations in the country by storm.  “Hakotel” swept everyone up with its words of tremendous longing for the beit hamikdash.  The song caused a stir, attracted much media attention, culminating in a successful duet version with Simchi and Shimi Tavori.

Actually, he hasn’t always been a prolific songwriter, “I need a catalyst for my songs”, he says.  Simchi sees his musical ability as a great gift, “It is so moving to hear people say that your song affected them, then you really know that you have scored.”

The music in album slated to appear soon iy”H, was written as a family project, most of the songs were written by his talented daughter – Aviyah. Shoham consults her whenever he writes a song.  “My daughter is extremely talented, she helps me blend the original music that I create with the younger world.  She is studying Modern western music whilst I base myself more on tunes from my father’s house, together we represent who we are today.”

Simchi makes his living as a silversmith.  His work (like his music) has an oriental style with contemporary modern touches.  “Music burns in me, that’s why I started recording and why I continue writing, singing and playing” says Shoham.

His debut single “Rains of Light” was written by Aviyah Simchi, produced and arranged by Nadav Biton.  The complete album is set to be released by the spring.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.