Name: HYIM
City: Oakland
Position: Musician and therapist
J.: You put out a new album of ballads last year, and you’ll be performing at Yoshi’s in Oakland on Oct. 13. How did you become interested in music?
HYIM: I started playing piano before I could walk. My father was a piano player, and I would watch him play. I still play a little like him. I grew up on hip-hop music, which samples music from all over, and I grew up studying classical music.
Your music has influences from all around the world. How did you cultivate your style?
I traveled for a year when I was 27. I studied music in India; I studied piano in Cuba; I studied percussion in Germany and Brazil. I realized the Jewish diaspora is everywhere. In Cuba, I went to a Shabbat-Hanukkah service where they sang Sephardic hymns. Talk about a diverse Jewish community; there was a Jewish person there who was from China. I have family in Brazil, I have family in Israel, I have family in different parts of Europe. I’m actually really bad at languages, but traveling in Nepal or traveling in India, music was such a beautiful bridge.
You’ve lived in the Bay Area your whole life. What do you think of the way it has changed?
I was born in a commune in the Mission District. When I was 10, I moved to Oakland and went to Oakland public schools. Oakland is still my home. The diversity is definitely plummeting. You have a lot of affluent younger white folks moving in. It’s gentrification. There are benefits to gentrification, but most of those benefits are hugely outweighed because most of my friends who are artists are unable to afford to live in the city they are from.
If a teacher can’t afford to live in a city where they’re teaching, something’s wrong. It’s very upsetting and sad for me. You don’t see that money going to support the people who are in need. There’s a huge cultural shift happening. People want to be where it’s cool and it’s hip; then all of a sudden it’s not hip anymore. The question is what’s going to happen to the culture that made Oakland so special.
The East Bay should be known as the Athens of the West. There’s a reason why the Black Panthers came from the East Bay. There’s a profound sense of pride. [But nowadays] you don’t have people moving in who are interested in the history or environmental justice. I almost feel like anyone who moves to Oakland should get a fat education.
In addition to being a musician, you’re a licensed therapist and you counsel addicts. What drew you to that work?
I am not an addict personally. What I really like about addiction [therapy], because AA set the precedent, is there’s a very open dialogue that not just allows but is supported around a higher power. The dialogue and emphasis is submission and reference to a higher power. It really widens the scope of possibilities in terms of engaging the client. People come to me with a lot of questions about it. I pull from a lot of teachings, whether they be Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu or Christian. There’s often a sense of compliance, and there’s a desire for change.
What was your Jewish upbringing like?
We belonged to Kehilla Community Synagogue. Rabbi Burt Jacobson bar mitzvahed me, and we are still very close friends. My stepfather who raised me was very much a political activist. I think his sense of tikkun olam and the social justice angle of Judaism really influenced him, and he very much brought that to the house. He’s still doing a lot of amazing work in prison reform. He’s a psychiatrist. My mom became a spiritualist in a sense. She’s the one who brought me to Kehilla. We would celebrate Shabbat; for a long time we wouldn’t put on any lights in the house.
Your given name is Hyim Jacob Ross. What’s up with HYIM?
My stage name is HYIM, which is my first name. I was named after my mother’s father because he passed away while I was in my mother’s womb.
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