Antithesis
was born in South London, on 28th March 1983. Music was in the
family, his father had been a songwriter in his youth and his mother
was a keen folk dancer. At a young age, he took an interest in the new
music phenomenon that was penetrating the pop charts - rap.By the time he was 15 Antithesis had
started writing short raps of his own. He began to receive some
positive feedback and this spurred him on. When he was 18 Antithesis decided to enter
a song contest. The song performed
had to be original lyrics and music, and had to be on a theme related
to Judaism or Israel. Antithesis spent many hours with his producer 'Tha Baron' (aka Wolllace)
and came up with 'Just Peace'. He came third in the competition
but feedback from the judges told him that although they felt he
had deserved to win on merit they wanted something that sounded
a bit more commercial. Therefore despite the knock-back he was encouraged
and more positive feedback from the audience at what was his first
live performance made him
realise that it was worth continuing.
After school Antithesis took a gap year in
Israel, taking part in the
Machon L'Madrichei Chul programme. In
the summer before going, he had heard Chaim Avraham, father of one
of Israel's Missing in Action soldiers, speak in London, and had
been very moved. In Israel he heard him speak again and resolved
to write a song about the soldiers' situation in an attempt to raise
the profile of the cause. The excuse to write it came when there
was a talent show at the Machon and Antithesis wrote and performed
'Ima Mechaka Babayit'. The response was extremely positive and he
was persuaded to take part in a larger talent contest the following week. Antithesis won the competition
and one of the members in the audience introduced him to Chaim Avraham
as a result.
When Mr Avraham heard about the song, he instructed
Antithesis to record it so it could be released and sold for
charity, and as a result Antithesis paid his first visit to the studio. Accompanied
by musicians Neil and Teddy, he recorded
Ima Mechaka Babayit
in one of Jerusalem's top studios. The song was a hit and saw radio
play in Israel and England, in addition to exposure in the British
and Israeli press. It was distributed independently on a small scale
in England and sold very well.
Back in England, Antithesis took up his place
to read Oriental Studies at the
University of Cambridge. He continued
writing, and in his first term wrote 'Take a Minute', amongst
other tracks. He tried to get funding to go back to the studio but
found it difficult to secure support due to the unusual nature of
the project. As a result in June of 2003 he decided to take things
into his own hands and record the 'The Israel Question' EP, which
went on sale at the end of the year with all profits going to
charity. As of mid-2007 over 1200 copies had been sold with over
£3000 going to charity.
Antithesis continued to write while
at university but time for music was limited because of the demands
of his course and other commitments; he was president of the Jewish
Society and later the Israel Society, was heavily involved in the
Federation of Zionist Youth (FZY) and founded the UK's first Israeli
music radio programme, Kol Cambridge, which was nominated for a BBC Student
Radio Award. Of all the songs written during his time at university
only 'Ivrit, Daber Ivrit' was recorded (in late 2004). However
during this time Antithesis gigged all over the UK, as well as in
Israel and the US, and was featured on the radio in Germany, Canada
and France in addition to the aforementioned countries.
On
graduating from Cambridge with a 1st Class degree Antithesis
assumed the position of Mazkir (Executive Director) of the
Federation of Zionist Youth, a full-time elected paid position. Just
before starting the role the Second Lebanon
War began and in response he recorded Ima Mechaka BaBayit Part II'
and 'Yes to Peace, No to Terror'. However it was not until finishing
his term as mazkir that Antithesis managed to return to the studio to
complete his second EP, 'United Kingdom of Racism'. Due for release at the end
of 2007, it is hoped that this new record will equal if not better the
money that 'The Israel Question' has raised for charity.
|