Since playing the strings of an egg cutter as a young boy, professional musician Johnny Sklar, in an exclusive interview with Voices In Israel, explained how he picked up one of his dad’s old guitars and began teaching himself how to play his first few chords.
“Around BarMitzvah age I went for a couple of lessons. A cousin of mine lent me a Jimmy Hendrix CD. It was all I wanted to do all day. Throughout high school I always had a guitar with me. Any moment that we weren’t in class we’d sit and play.” Johnny reminisced with a smile on his face.
Originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, Johnny moved to Israel with his wife and three daughters at the end of 2018. Making Aliyah was something that the family had always dreamed of doing, so moving to Israel really was a dream come true. The family had a little over a year to get climatized to a new country, a new language, new schools, and a new way of life before the Covid pandemic kicked in.
Coming from a musical background, Johnny’s parents readily encouraged his pursuit of music. It was clear to them that he had a natural inclination to music. Johnny began playing school events, summer camps and was also asked to play at Smachot. His first professional gig was with a teacher who had a ‘rock blues’ band. After finishing school he was introduced to an Israeli percussionist. This led to the creation of a new band which encompassed many of the musical sounds of South Africa. The band, working alongside South African musicians, created an infusion of Middle Eastern and South African music. “The universal language of music is one of the most powerful ways to bring people together and to create something really unique”.
After a number of years working with many other musicians and bands, and playing at numerous private and communal events, Johhny was finally influenced to create the Johnny Sklar Band. This became the ‘go to’ band for most of the big communal events and also the main opening band for visiting overseas musicians.
The Covid pandemic led Johnny to uncharted territory and he added ‘guitar teacher’ to his list of talents. During that time Johnny also received requests to perform ‘online’ at people’s events. Whether it was pre-recording a song or attending an event via zoom, Johnny was there, guitar in hand, for all of his audience. When events opened up again with restrictions, and the number of live musicians was limited, Johnny became a favorite choice and often played to small crowds of just thirty to forty people.
Doing gigs in Israel brings a melting pot of people together at large events. Working off the energy of the crowd, Johnny keeps things exciting and fresh by catering to the diverse musical desires of the audience.
Looking to the future, Johnny can’t imagine himself living anywhere else, having made Israel home for him and his growing family. But he would like to travel and bring his original music to Jewish communities around the world.
To see the full interview, please click below:
To catch a glimpse of Johnny performing ‘Have I Told You Lately’, click here.