Given your belief system, did you have any reservations about performing in a Las Vegas casino?
It’s not really an issue. We’ve been playing in venues around the world that, if religion had played any part, it would have had something to say about those other places. I’ve seen religious Jews in casinos, so I don’t know if it’s necessarily a law that’s so black and white.
Your Jewishness is a focal point of seemingly everything that gets written about you. Do you ever wish it wasn’t, or are you just glad you’ve got a hook that leads people to your music?
It all depends on what’s being said. It’s part of who I am, and musicians who represent themselves in a real way get a lot of press as to who they are and why. So I don’t mind talking about it. [But] there’s been people whose opinion about me is that it’s a novelty thing. I read something last night where someone wrote, “Do you think a white boy with a ponytail from Westchester [New York] named Matthew Miller would have blown up in the reggae scene?” But I just don’t pay it much mind. I try to keep my focus on the positivity and the people whose lives it’s affecting and who are benefiting from it.
Are you surprised that your conviction about not being able to interact with female fans has drawn so much attention since you broke onto the scene?
I’m signing women’s autographs all the time; it’s just shaking hands [that I can’t do]. I meet a lot of women out here, and I try to interact with them. I find that the women that are really secure with themselves understand it, and they can appreciate it. Whereas the women that seem very insecure about their own sexuality or have had too much to drink ... that’s when it gets ugly [laughs]. It all goes back to the person.
With Blue Scholars. August 23, 7 p.m., $37-$45. House of Blues, 632-7600.