8th Day is an American

Hasidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

band based in

Los Alamitos, California is a city in Orange County, California. The city was incorporated in March 1960. The population was 11,780 at the 2020 census, up from 11,449 at the 2010 census. The USA Water Polo National Aquatic Center is located on the Joint Forces Tr ...

. Formed in 2004 by brothers Shmuel and Bentzion Marcus, the group gained popularity in the

Jewish music Jewish music is the music and melodies of the Jewish people. There exist both traditions of religious music, as sung at the synagogue and in domestic prayers, and of secular music, such as klezmer. While some elements of Jewish music may origina ...

scene with their album ''Chasing Prophecy'' (2011) and its

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

, "Ya'alili", whose video became a minor viral hit on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. As of 2021, the group has released nine

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

s and one

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

. They have performed at venues throughout the country and abroad including

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

, American Airlines Arena, and Universal CityWalk.

Name

The band chose its name with an eye to being "abstract" and "cool". The name evokes the holiday of Shemini Atzeret (the "8th day of assembly") and the idea of the number 8 evoking "transcendence". Shemini Atzeret is also singer Shmuel Marcus' birthday.

History

Brothers Shmuel and Bentzion Marcus, both nephews of singer

Avraham Fried Avraham Shabsi Hakohen Friedman (; born March 22, 1959) better known by his stage name, Avraham Fried, is an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish American singer. Career Fried was encouraged towards a music career by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneers ...

and cousins of singers Benny Friedman and Simche Friedman, grew up in a musically-inclined family and began collaborating in 2004, with Bentzi, a professional

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

, putting music to lyrics Shmuel had written. That same year, the pair recorded a four-song demo with their brother Chaim Marcus producing. Their debut

, ''Tracht Gut'' (

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

for "think positive") was released on April 1, 2005 and featured Zalman, Chaim, Yossi, and Eli Marcus on

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

. Their second album, ''Brooklyn'', was mixed by Andy Haller and released in 2007, followed by a

in 2008. Eli Marcus later went on to become a solo artist, with a debut

, ''Dovid HaMelech'', released in 2015. In 2011, the group released ''Chasing Prophecy''. The first single for the album, "Ya'alili", became a hit on the strength of its

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

, which received over 6 million views on

, and gained the group many followers. They re-teamed with Haller in 2012 for their fourth album, ''All You Got''.

Musical style

8th Day's sound, though primarily inspired by traditional

, also contains influences from secular styles such as

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a subgenre of rock music and form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, and

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

. Guitarist Bentzion Marcus has described the group as a "very eclectic,

klezmer Klezmer ( or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for listening; these wou ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

- rock band", noting that on ''Chasing Prophecy'', "each song stands on its own. The style of songs range from

Middle Eastern The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, rock,

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

/blues. It’s got everything."

Members

* Shmuel Marcus —

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...

* Bentzion Marcus —

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

* Jason "Rosy" Rosenquist —

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

* Philip Bynoe —

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Leo Chelyapov — keys, horns

Discography

;Studio albums * ''Tracht Gut ''(April 1, 2005; 14th Terrace) * ''Brooklyn'' (August 8, 2007; 14th Terrace) * ''Chasing Prophecy'' (February 3, 2011; 14th Terrace) * ''All You Got'' (June 7, 2012; Aderet) * ''Hooleh!'' (January 2, 2014; Aderet) * ''Inner Flame'' (June 10, 2015; Aderet) * ''Slow Down'' (March 6, 2017; Bruce Witkin) * ''Stronger Closer'' (2018) * ''Lucky'' (2021) ;Live albums * ''8th Day Live'' (July 3, 2008; 14th Terrace) ;Singles and music videos *"Ya'alili" (March 23, 2011; ''Chasing Prophecy'') *"Shabbos Now" (April 5, 2011; ''Chasing Prophecy'') *"Cheery Bim" (ft. Kids of Courage) (November 19, 2012; ''All You Got'') *"All You Got" (December 19, 2012; ''All You Got'') *"Hooleh!" (March 9, 2014; ''Hooleh!'') *"Gam Zu" (January 1, 2015; ''Shmorg Tunes'' - a compilation of songs by Oorah) *"Celebrate" (May 6, 2015; ''Inner Flame'') *"Why Wait" ("Celebrate" Hebrew Version) (2016; non-album single) *"Hakhel" (2016; non-album single - collaboration with

Chabad.org Chabad.org is the flagship website of the Chabad, Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic Judaism, Hasidic movement. It was one of the first Jewish internet sites. History In 1988, Yosef Yitzchak Kazen, a Chabad rabbi, began creating a Chabad-Lubavitch prese ...

) *"Torah" (March 14, 2017; "Slow Down") *"Kapayim" (April 1, 2017; "Slow Down") *"Moses In Me" (June 11, 2017; "Slow Down") *"Miracle of Light" (December 9, 2017) *”We All Belong” (May 22, 2019) *"Rollin" ( January 23, 2021) *"Wake Up Yidden" (March 13, 2021) *"4:59" (October 22, 2023) *"We Want" (January 24, 2024)

References

External links

* http://forward.com/articles/11463/yeshiva-of-rock-/ {{Authority control Jewish musical groups Musical groups from Los Angeles Folk rock groups from California American funk rock musical groups Hasidic entertainers Musical groups established in 2004 People from Los Alamitos, California Jewish rock groups Hasidic music Jewish folk rock groups