About a year ago, while on tour with Matisyahu, the group Distant Cousins had an idea for a new Hanukkah song
“We started writing it on the road and were inspired by his energy,” said guitarist, frontman and composer Duvid Swirsky, a Los Angeles resident first known for the band Moshav. “We had a part of it with almost a reggae style and wanted to make sure we released it for this Hanukkah.”
Ami Kozak wears different hats. Known first as a musician, he’s become known on the Jewish comedic scene as both a stand-up and online. There are different algorithms for comedy and music, he said, but there is some overlap. The trio said it is unlikely they would get political in a song, though a possible comedic one is not entirely out of the question. “You spend too much time online over the last two years and you get a warped sense of what the world looks like,” Kozak said. “When you get on the road with Matisyahu, who brings out Jew-loving audiences, it can fill your soul with what it’s really like out there. I’ve always loved performing and now, it’s a pleasure to show Jewish pride with no caveats and no debate.”
The band is known for soulful harmonies and infectiously catchy, pop-folk songs. Their music was featured in Netflix’s series “Dew Drop Diaries” and a number of movies, including “How to Train Your Dragon.”
Rosenblatt said the recording of “8 Nights” was especially meaningful to him because they recorded it at New Monkey Studio in Van Nuys, the studio built by the late Elliott Smith. “He was definitely a big influence on me as a singer and songwriter and I was a big fan of his,” Rosenblatt said. “It was humbling to have the opportunity to record a song in the studio he built.”
“8 Lights” features a duduk, a double-reed woodwind instrument from Armenia. The group decided to use when they met a musician who played it. The sound of it evokes a desert feel.
While they used to all live in Los Angeles, Kozak now lives in New Jersey, while Rosenblatt is in Tennessee. They said that since they spent years together, they built chemistry on stage and know each other’s tendencies. “I wouldn’t recommend it for bands just starting out,” Swirsky said. “We make it work because we love it.”
Speaking to The Journal before the recent terrorist attack on Bondi Beach in Australia, Swirsky said “8 Lights” is meant to evoke strength and light as Jewish history includes many examples of horrific persecution. It also includes a section that Rosenblatt said is a kind of homage to the song “One Is Hashem” or “Echad Mi Yodeya” from the Passover Seder.
Rosenblatt said music has been one of his great passions and he is excited to bring the new song to the world. Kozak said the group has always loved Hanukkah and performing on the holiday. No matter what happens, he said, it is important to bring positivity into the world. “There is a great satisfaction of simply celebrating being Jewish,” Kozak said.
Have they trained their children to want one big present or eight small ones for the holiday? “Whatever our wives decide,” Swirsky said.
