1. How did you get started in music?

When I was a little girl, my Mom, who was a professional singer at the time, used to sing on ships & at nursing homes. One day my Mom decided to take me with her to the nursing home as a “featured act.” I was eight years old & very ostentatious at that time so naturally, I loved it when my Mom would have me sing and dance in front of all the people. I prayed that I could be a star one-day & because of my Mother’s encouragement, I felt some kind of “knowing” that I would be everything I wanted to be.

When I sang, the elderly people would cry & afterward, they would besiege me with lots of wet mooshy kisses on my cheeks & on my face. I was humbled & shocked. It was during some of those shocking moments that I realized the power of music to stir up hope, healing and love into people’s hearts.

Another pivotal moment in my life that got me started in music is not at all a fairy tale. One day, I was sitting in my yellow canopy bed where I felt a sense of safety from the outside world. Torn apart by my family’s lack of ability to get along & by all the fighting I would hear, for a second, I contemplated ending my life. Then a thought came to me & it said, “No, Michelle, you cannot end your life because one day these songs you are writing are going to heal the world!”

Well, my songs didn’t exactly heal “the world” but having had a spiritual awakening eight years later, I did end up singing songs about the God of this universe who loves and cares for me and who heals every wounded heart.

My entire family (aka, The Gold’s) also sang & played instruments at every family gathering & it kept our family together through out the years.

2. Who are your musical and songwriting influences?

Ok, I’ll divide this up into three categories. My Performance influences: Liza Manelli, Barbara Streisand, Celine & though I totally disagree with everything she does and believes in, I love how Madona’s shows have tons of lights, dancers & include little vignettes. All these artists put 110% into their performing plus, they emote & express each note and each word of the song another 100%. I admire that.

Singing influences? That’s easy: Mahelia Jackson, Dorethy Norwood, Aretha, *Ce Ce Winans, *Whitney, Mariah, Celine, & Christina Aguilera

Songwriting influences? Since my parents are huge patrons of the arts (not in a snotty way LOL) I was “raised” on Broadway musicals. I love the luscious melodies & relatable lyrics of Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Rodgers & Hart, Gilbert & Sullivan, Andrew Lloyd Webber, & Frank Loesser. On the other side of the spectrum, I LOVE the writing of many artists from Babyface & Beyonce, to Stevie Wonder & Barry Manilow! That’s quite a mix, isn’t it?

3. When did you decide to start doing music full-time and why?

I wasn’t always a Gospel Singer. After all, I was raised to be a good little Jewish girl & Jesus was not an option. That’s because as I had learned, Hitler and many other evil people in history killed millions of Jews “in the name of Jesus” & blamed the Jews for His death. Many Jews do not understand that these evil men were not REAL followers of Jesus anyway.

For the longest time, until I was about 15 years old, I always had a huge void in my heart. My music career had allowed me many honors including going to the “Fame school” in NYC (LaGuardia HS of Performing Arts) opening up for Gladys Knight, & winning the coveted Lena Horne Scholarship but all of this success still did not take away the burning desire I had to be filled up inside.

I was a deeply wounded young lady because someone close to me had been sexually inappropriate with me and crossed major lines. Also, though my parents loved me very much, my family just couldn’t get along and there was a lot of yelling & harsh words flying thru the air most the time, which left me feeling lonely & confused. I sought through relationships with boys to heal that wound but that made it worse & left more of a void.

I had to lose three things before I could consider finding help. First I lost my sense of self and self worth. Then I lost my alcoholic boyfriend at the time who broke up with me. And lastly, I lost my voice and had to stop singing for about 9 months! I realized that I needed God, whoever He was & that it was too dangerous to put my hopes in anything or anyone else.

Finally, when I was 15 years old, My Jewish Cousin in Florida told me about a Jewish Rabbi named Jesus. This Jewish Rabbi came & brought healing to the world & to individuals by making the blind see, the deaf to hear, the lame to leap & and the dead to live again. Stephen told me that it wasn’t enough to believe that this Jesus was a “good man” or a “prophet” because He himself claimed to be the Messiah. I asked why most Jews don’t believe in Jesus and he didn’t have an answer to that question so with child like faith I said, “ I believe!”

Wondering around a bit in my beliefs for many years, I finally got on fire for Jesus & came to understand (mostly by reading Isaiah 53 & the book of John) why I believe in Him and stood firm in my faith. I began writing a new brand of music, praising and lifting up His name. I couldn’t help writing songs about the One who came and healed my wounded heart, restored my relationship with my family which is now incredible & sweet, & healed my voice allowing me to sing! Not only that, but I met a wonderful passionate and God-fearing man who treasures me & treats me like gold! No pun intended. Hee hee.

I have spent the last eight years traveling around NYC, Tennessee and Denmark sharing the hope I have found in Yeshua & the promise of heaven for those who believe! From nursing homes & churches, to the United Nations & St Patrick’s Cathedral- I want to go wherever God calls.

4. How has God been working in your life lately?

As the song says, “More love, more power, more of you in my life.’ It’s time to ask God to remove the religious spirit in us & let’s get radical, ridiculous & revolutionary for Him. I want a Shalom Revolution (I want a peaceful Revolution) against the devil & against the complacency that sometimes sneaks up on me! How can I be satisfied with the great love & power I have received from God when there is so much more? I want more of Him.

5. Describe one or two of your songs and how they came about.

Jesus is The Way came about from the story I just shared. All my friends were saying that there are many roads to God, to heaven and to peace in life. After checking out Buddhism and even Bahaism, I read in John 14:16 where Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life” and I thought, Wow! I have to look no further for my answers in life! The search is over!

Don’t Miss Me Too Much is a song about the assurance we have as believers that if we were to die today, we know Yeshua promised us a mansion in heaven that He is preparing for us where we will be happier than words can say. My Mother in law passed away recently & Momma Millie is the person I now dedicate this song to when I sing it.

One day, before Mom went to be with Jesus in heaven, I visited her in the hospital and noticed that she had been sitting up with no music playing, no radio talk shows or Television on in the room. I said “Hey Mah! Dontcha want some music or TV on?” (I couldn’t imagine the pain she felt or even the awkwardness of the silence.)

I’ll never forget her words that day when she said something like this “Michelle, I don’t need anything on, I’m sitting here “singing to my Jesus.” She was sad to leave us behind however, as far as her life was concerned, she had no regrets & couldn’t wait to be with Jesus. She only cried because she felt at that moment that she would be temporarily leaving us. But Mom always reminded us in her own words not to miss her too much, because she was going to a better place & we would see her again.

6. Who have you worked with on your albums?

I have had the most incredible privilege of working with top producers, Chris Omartian, Dan Needham & Rick Elias. There are also many people working behind the scenes to get the album out who I must thank & there are too many to name.

My vocal & performance coaches who I have worked with in the past get all the credit for bringing out the best in me vocally: Anat Keidar, Hilda Harris, Joan Barber, Lorraine Ferro & Tom Cleveland, I love you guys! Also, producers Keith Kemper, Dennis Blishack, & Scott Holley produced all the songs on my demo to get me where I am today.

Lastly, I can’t forget the work of my warrior pastors (Especially, Pastor Alex & Lori Rivera, NYC) and friends who have prayed for God to use me in a great way. Prayer takes discipline & working energy and they have taught me the willingness to get down on my knees whether I feel it or not! It always feels wonderful once I am there.

7. Do you think being outspoken about your faith in music is important, why or why not?

Absolutely, in my music and in my life! Many Messianic Jews like myself hold back and keep their faith in Jesus a secret. I guess they plan to share it later on after they have become friends with a non-believer. The only thing is, keeping our faith a secret can be deceiving and may rob us the opportunity of sharing the hope we have in the chance that we never see that person again. It’s taking a gamble.

The Bible says in Romans 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the Gospel…” What I feel I have learned and am still learning is that it is wrong to lie about my faith or deliberately shy away from sharing about what I believe when asked by another Jewish person who does not believe in Jesus. On the other hand, I believe in being sensitive to the Spirit of God who will give us perfect timing in sharing our faith.

The idea for me is to know how to share about my faith in Jesus. I like to be gentle and bold at the same time. The key is keeping the focus on my own experience (using terms like “for me…” and “in my experience…” ) and asking challenging questions rather than being pushy or rude. There’s no excuse for a rude pushy believer in Jesus who does not make a non-believer feel loved and accepted whether they agree or disagree.

8. Do you think worship music is becoming too much of a fad?

I have no problem with any kind of good Godly music becoming popular & well received as long as the message continues to be powerful and keeps moving God’s people to want to draw more closely to Him. As long as the writers keep it real & the singers believe what they are singing, I believe God is pleased with the praises on our lips. Let’s be careful, as a church however, to not just sing these songs at service because it’s fun to sing and because the songs are beautiful.

Personally, I challenge myself every time I participate in singing at a service. I ask God to help me to mean what I am singing, to truly worship, and to sing it with all of my heart. If I feel like I am just singing words & that my heart is not connecting with the heart of God, I stop, get on my knees by the pew and start speaking the song to God in prayer conversationally. I try to remember all that He has done for me & I don’t get up until God has stirred my heart.

It’s ok if music becomes popular and if worship itself becomes popular but it must be real so that non-believers can see the hope that we have is in a real and true God- not in a song.

Regarding the style of worship music: I’m probably shaking things up by adding that I think we need not limit “worship” to a particular style of music. All musical styles with lyrics that lift up the name of Jesus need to be called “worship” since that is the intent of the writer- to worship God. I think you can take any style of music and praise God if the lyrics glorify God. My church in Brooklyn, NY praises God with a Salsa Beat, which in the past perhaps that beat, was only heard in the clubs!

I like to remember that in the book of Exodus, Miriam praised God with a tambourine, which was originally used to exalt false gods. She used that same instrument to praise the Lord, the King of the universe, the Father of Abraham Isaac and Jacob. In the same way, we can take any type of music and use it to praise God if the lyrical content exalts Jesus.

9. What plans do you have for your music in the next one-year and the next five years?

You know, I am just really excited about what God is doing in and through me and I feel humbled to have the opportunity to work with Tovah Music, Crowne and Word Distribution. They are all amazing people & we are quickly becoming like a family. My debut album entitled “You Know Me,” is coming out in the early fall or possibly much sooner. I’m very excited & have waited all my life for this!

My vision is to re-awaken a contagious passion for Yeshua (Jesus, in Hebrew) in the hearts of people from every nation through music and through the preached Word of God. My husband Joe who has been a youth Pastor for many years also has the same vision. We want to make salvation through Jesus an unavoidable issue for Jewish people worldwide. Whatever it takes to accomplish this vision will be in our plans for years to come.

If that means going to Israel, Africa or the slums of India, so be it. If it means making lots of records and singing at Madison Square Garden in NYC, great! And if it means that no one except for ChristRock.com ever knows who Michelle Gold is, God has shown me, that is great too, as long as I touch one life at a time. Jesus touched one life at a time.

10. Can you share some fun trivia facts with us?

Michelle's Fun Facts:

Full Name:
Michelle Mae Gold

Hometown:
Brooklyn, NY

Family Members:
Husband, Joe Franco
Mom, Ruth; Dad; Hy; Brother, Ira
Mother & Father-in-law, Millie & Anthony Franco

Hobbies/Favorite Past times:
Laughing as hard as I can until I can barely breathe, spending time with a good friend, horseback riding, eating sushi, swimming - I am a born fish And dancing around my living room to really awesome Christian music

Most Embarrassing Moment:
Once, our bus was about to leave for a youth retreat and while in the bathroom of the bus, I saw what appeared to be an entire crowd of church people looking at me as they waved goodbye to their children. I panicked and hurried out laughing and crying at the same time. Found out moments later that it was a tinted window so I was able to see them but in reality, they could NOT see me!

Most Unusual job:
mopping floors for my very first vocal teacher in exchange for a lesson

Favorite vacation spot:
Aruba - it is just the perfect temperature and the people are so so friendly and sincere

Favorite Meal:
Mama Millie Franco's Crab Sauce with Linguini

Favorite Restaurant:
Joey's Kitchen - a home-cooked meal by my husband Joe. After that, The Garden Tea Room on McDonald Ave in Bklyn

[The preceeding interview appeared on the website, www.christrock.com]