V eteran producer Yochi Briskman has an eye for talent and his latest discovery, UZI BODNER, is quite aware that Yochi producing his debut album, Hey-ha, is a real feather in his cap. “I was only six or seven when Yochi brought out Yaakov Shwekey’s Shomati album, but that CD grew to represent my pipe-dream,” Uzi says. “A year ago, I started to work with Yochi, and I can’t express enough how grateful I am to Hashem that my dream came true.”

Always imaginative and musical, Uzi’s talents really began to develop when he spent his beis medrash years out of town. “There was nothing to do besides learn, which of course I did, but outlet-wise, I had nothing besides music. I breathed music.”

Following years of voice training, singing at simchahs, and a couple of successful singles, he was ready to release a full album.

The first song he purchased was the album’s title track, “Hey-ha,” by Elie Schwab. “It was a Motzaei Shabbos over a year ago, when I went over to Elie’s house to work with him on a song. I stood outside and heard Elie banging away so hard on his piano that he couldn’t hear me knock. All I could hear from outside was this powerful, rhythmic, ‘Hey-ha…’ The major chords were amazing. I had to call his phone a few times till Elie heard it through his music, and when he did, I said to him ‘Whatever you were playing now, I want it.’ ”

With Miriam Israeli’s terse but bouncy lyrics, “Hey-ha” evolved into a song about finding one’s own path and expressing individual talent, without looking over one’s shoulder and comparing to others. For Uzi, it’s an important message. “Sometimes it feels like you have two choices — you’re either in the box, or you’re out. But that’s not how it should be. As the song says, the only real path you choose is between Hashem and you.”

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 755)