Kobi Farhi

Kobi Farhi (Born September 8, 1975) is an Israeli musician, lead singer and founder of Oriental Metal band Orphaned Land.

Kobi Farhi
Background information
Born (1975-09-08) September 8, 1975
Jaffa, Israel
GenresMetal, Oriental Metal, Folk Metal, Progressive Rock
Occupation(s)Musician
InstrumentsVocals
Years active1991–present
LabelsCentury Media Records
Associated actsOrphaned Land
Steven Wilson
Erkin Koray
Amaseffer
Yehuda Poliker
Subterranean Masquerade
Arkan
WebsiteOrphaned Land Official web site

Biography

Farhi was born in Jaffa, the southern, oldest part of Tel Aviv - Jaffa, an ancient port city in Israel. Modern Jaffa has a heterogeneous population of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. At a young age Farhi discovered oriental and world music through his family, which was mixed with his rebellious love for Heavy metal music. He created ‘Orphaned Land’[1] in 1991 with his then High School friends. Since then, Farhi dedicated his life to the band, writing and singing songs. His main mission is to bring people and hearts together,[2] from all countries and sectors of "the bleeding middle east".[3]

Apart from ‘Orphaned Land’, Farhi founded a record label called ‘MDMA’, which distributed heavy metal and electronic music records to stores in Israel. In 2001 he left the Label, as Orphaned Land was growing bigger, playing its first show overseas, in Turkey. Until now, the band has played more than 45 countries worldwide,[4] earning the title ‘Oriental Metal Pioneers’.[5] Today, Farhi is considered one of the most beloved Israeli artists in Arab countries.[6]

Farhi received three honorary awards for peace. From the Istanbul Commerce University, from the Mayor of Çankaya in Ankara, Turkey, and from the Turkish government’s official advisor, after a show the band played in the country, donating all incomes for the people affected by the 2011 Van earthquake.[7] In 2014, Farhi won the 'Global Metal Award' for Orphaned Land, given by Metal Hammer Magazine at the Golden Gods awards.[8] In September 2018, Orphaned Land won the 'Video Of The Year’ award At the Progressive Music Awards 2018 in London, for their video, “Like Orpheus". Farhi went on stage to receive the award. [9]

After being asked by couples to conduct their wedding ceremony, Farhi sometimes takes the role of an official wedding Officiant.

Kobi Farhi and Steven Wilson

Besides his work with ‘Orphaned Land’, Farhi functioned as a musical editor at ‘Century Media Records’, the label where Orphaned Land is signed, editing a compilation titled 'Oriental Metal'. He also made guest vocal appearances on albums of similar bands like ‘Arkan’ (France), ‘Amaseffer’ (Israel), Magor (Israel), Subterranean Masquerade, Melted Space (France), musician Enzo Donnarumma (Italy) and singer Moran Magal (Israel). Along with 'Orphaned Land', Farhi collaborated with Steven Wilson, Erkin Koray and Yehuda Poliker. Farhi participated in the highly acclaimed 'Rise Up (Colors of Peace)' musical project. He also recorded a cover of 'Jeremy' by 'Pearl Jam' with fellow musicians, as a part of a campaign to get the band to perform in Israel.[10]

In 2017, former Genesis’ Guitarist, Steve Hackett called Kobi Farhi. He was looking for artists that work for peace between people, and unsurprisingly, he chose ‘Orphaned Land’. The two sides immediately clicked and started collaborating. Together with highly acclaimed Israeli-Arab singer, Mira Awad, Farhi sings on Hackett’s album, “The Night Siren” and on the song, “West to East”. Later on, Hackett continued to work with Orphaned Land and recorded a guitar solo on "Chains Fall To Gravity", a song from Orphaned Land's 2018 album "Unsung Prophets and Dead Messiahs".[11]

Discography (With Orphaned Land)

1. Sahara (1994)

2. El Norra Alila (1996)

3. Mabool (2004)

4. The Never Ending Way of ORWarriOR (2010)

5. The Road to OR-Shalem

6. All Is One (2013)

7. KNA'AN (Orphaned Land side project with Amaseffer, 2016)

8. Unsung Prophets and Dead Messiahs (2018)

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See also

References
  1. A heavy metal, Middle Eastern band of brothers, by Debra Kamin (The Times Of Israel, July 2013)
  2. Orphaned Land: Bitter but hopeful in Gaza warzone by Martin Kielty (Team Rock, Aug 2014)
  3. Israeli Rock Music’s Spiritual New Sound, By Yossi Klein Halevi (The Wall Street Journal, June 2015)
  4. Israeli And Palestinian Metal Bands Join Forces For European Tour (Blabbermouth, July 2013)
  5. LEBANON, ISRAEL: Belly dancer and metal band rock the boat, By Alexandra Sandels (LA Times, July 2011)
  6. In-depth Interview With Orphaned Land Vocalist Kobi Farhi, By Andrew Bansal (Metal Assault, June 2013)
  7. The Stories of Orphaned Land Archived 2013-10-23 at the Wayback Machine (Radio Metal, September 2013)
  8. Orphaned Land Win Metal Hammer Golden Gods Global Metal Award (Team Rock, June 2011)
  9. "ORPHANED LAND: Win 'Video Of The Year' At Progressive Music Awards 2018". Metal Shock Finland. September 14, 2018. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  10. Orphaned Land interview with Kobi Farhi by Alkis Korovesis (ROCKING.gr, June 2013)
  11. Orphaned Land Collaborates With Genesis' Guitar Legend, Steve Hackett (Playbuzz, April 2017)
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