Robbie Schaefer, 45, has made a career of sharing music, from his day job as a deejay and director for Sirius XM Radio’s “Kids Place Live,” to a gig for the past 20 years as guitarist and vocalist for the folk rock band Eddie from Ohio. Six months ago, he started the nonprofit One Voice to take his passion around the world, connecting kids and cultures through the power and joy of creating music, while raising money for needy communities. Schaefer shared with The Washington Examiner his thoughts on the ineffability of God, music and the things we value most. Do you consider yourself to be of a specific faith?
I was born and raised Jewish, and though I don’t practice Judaism in any formal way anymore, there’s a lot from that tradition that I do carry with me. First and foremost is an insistence on asking why. There’s a deep and long tradition in Judaism of asking questions, and exploring them, and then once you have an answer, asking another question.
In my adult life, I don’t find that traditional religions serve me spiritually. What I find is that the God of my understanding is beyond my understanding.
People often feel moved by music spiritually and inexplicably. Do you have any insight as to why?
One thing that we know scientifically is that the world is made up of vibration — that’s all that sound is, that’s all that light is. Music seems to be this quality of vibration that’s more attuned to our truest selves. That’s why I think that when we hear something that moves us — not just something that makes us want to dance, but that really moves us — there’s something unspeakable about it.
About five days after 9/11, our band was scheduled to play in New York City. We played to a small but devoted crowd — 150 people at the most — and we played a song called “Oh My Brother.” We didn’t connect it then, but the firefighters, so many of whom lost their lives, referred to themselves as brothers. After we finished the song, nothing happened — no one clapped, and there was silence except for a few people crying. In my experience, only music could’ve created that space.
It seems somehow tougher today to grow up a healthy kid, free of negative influences. How do you combat that in your radio programming for kids?
What I see a craving for — not just in children, but certainly in children — is a sense of connectedness, and that’s what I try to foster. It’s so easily lost in a culture that’s increasingly fast-paced and instantaneously connected, but in a less meaningful way. And even though children might not necessarily be able to articulate that in words, they get it. There are plenty of songs we play because they’re fun or silly or gross or whatever, but we always try to feature independent artists. And we run our shows live, and play games, and interview the authors and artists they love, and kids call in. Hopefully, it gives them that sense of connectedness. I don’t know that there’s anything we can do for them that’s more valuable.
One Voice is one among many nonprofits working to bridge cultures and build lasting resources in places that need them. How do you know, though, that it’s more than just another drop in the ocean?
With our fall project to Tanzania, we’re using the power of music to raise money to build a secondary school, so that’ll certainly be a measure. But what I can already see, though it’s tougher to measure, is the experiences of the children. As you bring music into their lives, whether they’re in Uganda or Pennsylvania, you’re giving them an opportunity to create without any expectation. And that’s something we often lose as we grow up — that freedom to create without expectation. To watch that blossom — nothing feels more successful.
At your core, what is one of your defining beliefs?
My defining belief, today, is that I don’t believe in anything. To believe, for me, requires a concept for which I don’t have proof yet. It feels more like a wish. I find that the minute I form a concept of that ineffable mystery we call God, it begins to diminish the fullness, majesty and experience of truth.
– Leah Fabel
