: Meet Rockstar Niro Knox, and be inspired by his music story! Recently many rockstars have been joining the boycott movement against Israel, and refuse to bring their concerts to Israel. Here is a refreshing story of a rockstar who is bringing both his music and his Jewish pride out to the world.
“I guess I’ll start by telling you that I was born in the year 1980, in Haifa, Israel. At the age of 24 I decided to quit my promising IT Career and move to London to pursue the career I have longed for since I was 12 years old. In September 2004 I arrived in London with my Gibson Les Paul, a suitcase, and a fist full of dreams.
The first years were very hard – I was working in bars, temping in offices, and there were times when I had 3 jobs and it was still very hard support myself, to a point where I had no money for food. But I never gave up and kept on going.
Today I am the Lead Guitarist in a world wide known Rock Band called ‘KING LIZARD’, signed to a record company in Paris and about to release our second full-length album, produced by Pedro Fierrera (the man behind ‘The Darkness’).
I try to be very active in the Israeli and Jewish community, although I never really was a great Zionist or even a patriot kind of person and definitely not religious. I find that being close to people in the Jewish/Israeli community helps a lot when you are abroad. I guess that its pretty much the same for others that arrive here from other places on the planet and spend a long time away from their home and family… I think I’ll use a quote from an ‘Iron Maiden’ song: “Ain’t it funny how it is – You never miss it ‘till its gone away…”.
So now I find myself playing in Israeli parties (Independence Day, Purim etc.) and even Orthodox events (Chabad) and it makes me feel like I actually belong here, and that is something that is more important to have as a state of mind especially when you are in a foreign city and trying to do business in an industry that is not only considered to be one of the toughest in the world, but also mostly controlled and run by people who are locals.
Everywhere I go the star of David hangs on my neck. I am not trying to tease people but I am definitely against hiding it, even when I was playing in Dallas, TX in a bar where some of the scary bikers there were tattooed with swastikas… (I just thought it was interesting…)
I think that being an Israeli musician in London is a great thing. I certainly noticed how in the eyes of most people from around the world, Israelis are the people to do business with. Most people find it absolutely fascinating that I am an Israeli, some of them ask in disbelief, “Really? I would have never thought by the way you play guitar… I mean – I never imagined Jews to be so cool…” I imagine this sounds far-fetched but I do get that a lot…
A few years ago I rearranged and recorded the TIKVA anthem in the way I always thought it should be played – ROCK! I always used to amuse myself with the thought “If THIS was our national anthem… NOBODY would mess with Israel…”. It picked up quite good in the community, and I played it at event openings and even just parties. I was even asked to come and play it on National Television in Israel on a Prime-Time show.
I’m just glad to be alive and kickin’ in this world, in this day and age, and can’t wait to become a massive Rockstar Icon and make Israel Proud!”
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