1958–1991 the early years Steven Paul Lieberman was born on June 21, 1958, in Brooklyn, New York to a working-class Jewish family. He is the youngest son of Lester Lieberman (1928–2012), a quality control technician, and Ilene Lieberman (née Marcus) (1930–2014). At the time of his bar-mitzvah in 1971, Lieberman, already an observant Jew, acquired a
bass guitar to fill a vacancy in his junior high school jazz band. He picked up the instrument and started playing it upside-down and backwards. After passing the jazz band audition, he had developed a crude system of chords for the bass; when properly distorted, they mimicked the major chords of the 6 string guitar. Forgoing this method for more conventional bass playing, Lieberman became the bassist for hard rock as well as
jazz-rock fusion bands throughout high school, where he developed a lead bass style influenced by
John Entwistle . During this time, he suffered from
major depressive disorder and committed
parasuicide at age 17. Amidst episodes of depression and mania, Lieberman graduated from college in 1980 with a BBA in accounting, where he worked his way up to become town
comptroller by 1998, a position he held until his retirement in September 2014. He was on hiatus from music through much of the 1980s except for recording a vinyl single "Nuclear Blitz (Edits 96 and 85)" in 1984, playing all the chords and leads on the bass guitar. Lieberman was married four times and divorced three times by his 33rd birthday and widowed at age 60.
1991–1994 the underground cassette trade He planned to return to music briefly in the spring of 1991, to commemorate his 20th year of playing the bass, this time accompanying himself with a used
Yamaha DD-6 drum machine. By year's end he recorded a 13 track cassette called
Bang The Bass Bopmania.
Overdubbing tracks by using two portable cassette players, Lieberman started writing and recording bass-only crude punk/hardcore music. There was a free paper in the New York area at the time called ''The Musician's Exchange'' that would review Lieberman's cassettes and those of like-minded musicians in a column called "Independents' Day." This resulted in trading tapes amongst the musicians and circulating them throughout the underground. Lieberman recorded under the "Bop Bop Bigger Bab'el" moniker from 1991 to 2001.
1994–2001 enter The Gangsta Rabbi-stage left In 1994, Steve Lieberman began to study the Bible continually, as he did in the years following his bar-mitzvah. This time, he realized discrepancies between the Word in the Bible and the way modern Judaism is practiced. An example of this is that the modern Jewish calendar, besides having its months named after Babylonian gods violates a commandment given in Exodus 12:1, where the new year must be celebrated on the new moon directly preceding Passover, so why do 10 million Jews disobey God by celebrating "Rosh Hashannah" in the seventh month? After confronting a rabbi with this question after he performed a grave unveiling ceremony, and the rabbi was unable to answer, Lieberman recorded his 20th tape entitled
Gangsta Rabbi, the title track becoming his theme song and stage name – because "he likes to pick theological fights with actual rabbis". His biblical studies caused Lieberman to break off from existing Jewish sects to found the Badlan'im (Heb:"isolationists") sect in 1995 where precepts include
fasting, continual prayer, vegetarianism, and belief in only the Bible as the law, so that God's word is not superseded by that of the
Talmud and other rabbinical writings. Additionally, he replaced the calendar from the current system, in the 58th century, to a more appropriate system, being in the 35th century, commemorating
the Exodus from Egypt. Packaging a live cassette from a First Night festival on New Year's Eve 1994 as
Mission of Tolerance 5755-Live, the ''Musician's Exchange's''
head writer Paul Incinitti said of Lieberman's show, "based on the sound of the screaming crowd, Lieberman should tour and call (the tour) "No Sleep To Gaza". He is every skinhead's nightmare".
2001 ashes of Bad'lania After the release of his 36th cassette,
Diaspora Blaster 36 in the spring of 2001, Steve Lieberman's house and studio were completely destroyed by an electrical fire. Acquiring a used flute and a book on how to play it, he wanted to start a genre that would fuse the flute with punk rock, as
Jethro Tull did for
blues-rock three decades prior.
2002–2003 By the spring of 2002, the studio and house were rebuilt and Lieberman purchased a Korg D1600 16 track digital recorder. Deciding that the user's manual was too thick and a bit boring, he just plugged in and winged it and three months later, out comes his first CD ''Bad'lania Rising
, a "greatest hits" collection of the first 38 tapes. The title was the sequel of his last tape Ashes of Bad'lania'' where "Bad'lania" is the homeland of his Badlan'im sect.
''Bad'lania Rising'' By its August 27, 2002, release songs from ''Bad'lania Rising
were known through the use of on-line music distributors; the largest at the time was mp3.com. His song "Puppy" debuted at 719 in the Garage Chart and "Gangsta Rabbi" at 1229 on the Jewish/Israeli list on mp3.com on June 24, 2002, the first day after release. Looking for a genre that would best tolerate his new style, the progressive rock community showed least objection. In a review in their site progressiveworld.net which yielded Bad'lania'' 2 out of 5 stars said the record was "awful", but praised his newly learned flutework which was played over the racket of everything else and closed by saying "we are fascinated by the eccentric ... but... I just can't say I enjoy listening to it.".
Jewish Lightning Re-recording many of the post-1996 heavily Jewish-themed tunes with the exception of the new ''Astroland Spring-Green '415'', Lieberman's second CD
Jewish Lightning was released on September 16, 2003. This record, as ''Bad'lania'', received some poor grades for listenability because of Lieberman's overuse of ethnic instruments and non-conforming methods in the studio, but for the content, "identifying with Biblical ancestry and anger towards the Holocaust" he was dubbed "a proud Israelite poet" by Binyamin Bresky at Cleveland Jewish Radio. Additionally, in a tribute to Nazi-hunter
Simon Wiesenthal after his 2005 death, Jewish music journalist Baron Dave Romm said of Lieberman in a review of
Lightning, "his energy and attitude are infectious. He has something to say and by damn he's going to say it ... he's as fearless as Simon Wiesenthal and just as smolderingly angry."
Desert Fever Brigade The
Desert Fever Brigade sessions during the spring and summer of 2003 yielded 35 songs of which 21 of the most "commercial" were included on the CD. The album was released on December 29, 2003. Reviewers showed the work little respect, as Adam Mico of the
Daily Vault said in his review of DFB—Mr Lieberman has no control center in the brain, hence this CD sounds the way it does. After ''Desert Fever Brigade's'' release, Steve Lieberman held the No. 1 artist spot on mp3.com.au, the largest on-line distributor in Australia, for 6 weeks spanning December 2003 – January 2004.
2004–2005 skinheads in my yard oy vey Liquidatia-455 For the release of his 4th album
Liquidatia-455, he was invited to promote the album by Jill Morrison at
WUSB (FM) on June 9, 2004. "Liquidatia" charted on some college radio Top 30 charts at Harvard (#28), Montclair State (#6), Duke University (#30) and Stanford (#27).
Jewish Riot Oy! Oy! Oy! In September 2004, Lieberman traveled to Detroit, where he played, recorded and filmed a show and released the results as what would be his 6th CD and first live record called
Jewish Riot Oy! Oy! Oy!, released January 5, 2005, The small audience was evident by the limited applause on the recording. Journalist James McQuistion said that "Lieberman should seriously consider trying to create a more live-feeling studio experience, as this is the essence of eir music, free of all the unnecessary chaos that Lieberman likes to thread throughout eir music." Bill Cuevas, music director at KZSU Stanford University summed up Lieberman's attitude as a live performer in his review of
Jewish Riot which peaked at No. 41 on the station's chart:"I just love how its obvious theres like 5 people in the audience while this guy gives the performance of his life." After returning home from Detroit, Buttons, his beloved lab mix who had been the subject of quite a few of Lieberman's songs, had passed at 14 1/2 on September 22, 2004. He played some shows in New York City including
CBGB's and the Acme Underground. Author/promoter
Steven Blush was promoting a Thanksgiving Eve jam on November 24, 2004, at Don Hills and was the first to book Lieberman as "Gangsta Rabbi".
Arbeiter at the Gate After his attempt in New York City, Lieberman hooked up with the now defunct Long Island Music Coalition (LIMC) headed up by WUSB DJ Rich Hughes, who provided him with some work in clubs. When interviewed about Lieberman by
Newsday in the fall of 2004, he said he "first heard Lieberman on a local radio show in his car. 'I nearly drove into a tree,' he recalls. But something about the music stuck with him. I like the way he follows his own muse". Lieberman released his 5th album,
Arbeiter at the Gate, on October 18, 2004. When the
Allmusic guide received its copy, because Lieberman dedicated a song "The A.M.G." to them, critic Gregory McIntosh reviewed the CD, giving it a surprising 3 1/2 stars citing "Mostly, the appeal of
Arbeiter at the Gate, and indeed all of Lieberman's work, is the sheer and impressive fearlessness of it".
Arbeiter peaked at No. 42 on
WXDU-Duke University and on May 22, 2005, hit No. 87 at
KZSU, and two weeks later,
"Jewish Riot" re-entered at No. 360 one notch lower than
"Arbeiter" holding No. 359.
Jew in the Underground During the early part of 2005, Steve Lieberman frequented
open mic night at a club called Munchaba in Levittown, NY. It was hosted by comedian/musician Evan Wecksell who referred to Lieberman as an "anti-musician". Lieberman and Wecksell did a few shows together called the "Jews Who Rock" tour. At the same time, Rafer Guzman, the local music reporter at
Newsday, came to one of Lieberman's shows and interviewed him for the paper. The cover of the article, published on February 27, 2005, featured a full-page picture of Lieberman playing the bass and singing at the show. In the article, subtitled "A Crowd of Seven" referring to the generally consistent poor attendance at the show, Guzman, in detail, describes the dynamics of Lieberman's stage show: "Then he laid down a barrage of thunderous bass notes and snarled unintelligibly in a gravelly, slurred voice. Each song also featured a wild, high-pitched flute solo, with Lieberman occasionally slapping the bass to sustain the rumbling feedback." Concluding, Guzman states that Lieberman's music is all about his emotions and his message, not his talent. Shortly after, on June 7, 2005, Lieberman released his 7th CD,
Jew in the Underground.
Punkifier On Tuesday August 2, 2005, the host signing in the artists for the open mic at The Downtown recognized Lieberman from the
Newsday article six months prior. Opening with "Dogpark" from
Liquidatia-455 and closing with "Punkifier 76-FX" from his forthcoming album, the emcee booked Lieberman to open for the
Viva La Bam rock show featuring
Ryan Dunn and
Don Vito the next month.
Viva the Gangsta Rabbi At the "Viva La Bam" show at the Downtown, Lieberman had stationed a portable cassette stationed at the end of the stage. He had the results mastered onto a CD which was released as Lieberman's 9th CD (2nd Live), called
Viva the Gangsta Rabbi released January 6, 2006. A new local rock magazine was released by editor Tiffany Rizzano called
Perpetual Toxins. She stated in the review that "Lieberman is a true rocker through and through ... borrowing a bit from experimental rockers
Frank Zappa and
Captain Beefheart, British punk rock, such as the Sex Pistols and even '80s hair metal ... He opened up the tune 'Bonkey on the Donkey' playing the flute, giving the song a bit of a Jethro Tull sound" and said his voice was more punk styled than Billie Joe when doing his songs in the "Green Day Medley".
2006–2007 Melancholia Between the Pirates Within two weeks of the "Viva La Bam" show, The Downtown closed down, destroying Lieberman's hope to do another show there. The Munchaba, where he was a regular, closed down the week before. These events as well as the poor reception to his 8th CD
Punkifer (released October 25, 2005) caused Lieberman to sink into depression.
Punkifer has songs such as "4-Hour Stiffy", "Fall Out Boy Oy Oy Oy" and the title song, a tribute to the vintage DOD distortion petal Lieberman used to create the bass sound of the CD, "so poorly distorted that every single smack of a bass chord is heard."
Jewish Pirate By the fall of 2005, Lieberman began to spiral downward to his worst major depressive episode in over a decade. From this, he then suffered from writer's block, being totally unable to come up with a new song. He decided to record a CD of cover tunes and donate the gross proceeds to the North Shore Animal League, where he adopted his dogs, Buttons (1989–2004) in 1991 and Midnite Buttons (2004–2010) in 2004. Recorded December 2005,
Jewish Pirate included songs originally done by Bruce Springsteen, Green Day, Jethro Tull, The Butthole Surfers, the Dead Milkmen, and the Grateful Dead amongst others, and was released on May 30, 2006, as his 10th CD. It became his first record to chart on
WUSB FM where it hit No. 8 on October 27, 2006. James McQuiston at
NeuFutur Magazine said of
Pirate, "The results are strong for that of a cover CD, and hopes Lieberman's future recordings will continue in such a direction." In February 2006, Lieberman was featured on a 7-minute clip on Cablevision News 12. However it was only played between 11 am and 4 pm on a Wednesday, to a sparse audience.
Melancholia Falling Coming out from a 5-month major depressive episode in the spring of 2006, Lieberman documents it in his first "concept" CD
Melancholia Falling, his 11th CD released October 31, 2006. Syd Nathan of the
Good Times Magazine said of
Melancholia: "Perhaps the most bizarre recording ever to come across my desk... being an old fashioned concept album as it deals with the Rabbi's recent bout of depression and coming with an actual warning against suicide on the cd itself, as the main character takes his life, this is totally convoluted".
Last of the Jewish Pirates The follow-up to 2006's
Jewish Pirate, another covers CD for charity, his 12th, was released August 7, 2007.
Shake the Missile Base On
Shake The Missile Base, his 13th CD released November 6, 2007, the opening track "Public Suicide" exhibits Lieberman's failing mental health. As described by the chief editor of
Smother.net Magazine, "A heavily distorted album as is the usual Lieberman fare, he distances himself from sunshine-laden lyrics for angry words of rage, heartache, suicide and depression". Jimmy Alvarado of razorcake.org – Punk Reviews said of
Missile Base: "... some will undoubtedly see it as much ballyhooin’ and little talent, others will find a uniquely genius quality in the unpolished delivery of songs like 'Skinheads in My Yard Oy Vey,' 'Love @ Defcon 5,' and 'Rubbin’ One Out for My Baby.
2008–2009 In early 2008, complications from bipolar disorder got Steve Lieberman committed to the psychiatric ward in a local hospital. Being released in less than a week, in two months' time after that, he had returned to the stage, playing Farmingdale, New York's Crazy Donkey, where he cut himself on stage with a broken fiddle bow.
Psych Ward After the experience of his confinement, Lieberman recorded his second concept album, his 14th CD
Psych Ward, released June 8, 2008. Senior editor C.W. Ross at Indie Music Stop said "The songs' lyrics are a little tough to hear with talk of self-mutilation, cutting, death and suicide, but to get the point across, it's all necessary...Lieberman seems to exist to break the rules of writing, production and instrumentalization, playing a Jethro Tull-style flute and lead and rhythm bass with a vengeance".
Overthrow the Government When completing work on his 15th CD,
Overthrow the Government, released October 15, 2008, a commercial rock radio station was having a contest for players of miscellaneous instruments; the prize was to appear on stage at
Madison Square Garden with
Weezer. Lieberman submitted the flute intro to ''I'm Jethro Tull'' and took 60.4 percent of the vote and got to play the Garden on September 24, 2008. "Lieberman has really started to fall into a groove with these last few recordings ... The music that Lieberman creates may be a little hard to get into, but the honesty of this work here is something that should be lauded and commended", said
NeuFutur Magazine when reviewing the album. Three months after the Weezer show, Lieberman was asked to return to the Crazy Donkey, this time to open for
Andrew WK. Seven weeks later on April 20, 2010, JDub Records released the digital version of
DiKtatoR 17, being the 27th of only 35 albums released in the label's history. Lieberman visited the JDub offices in March 2011, when they planned to release Lieberman's CD's
Jewish Engineer 18 and
The Rabbi Is Dead during the summer of 2011 The video was released in 4 weekly segments starting on Lieberman's 53rd birthday June 21, 2011. On July 12, 2011, the night after the last installment, "The Gangsta Rabbi's Studio" was released. JDub artists received a personal email from the Chief Operating Officer stating that after the label's nine-year existence, JDub Records was forced to close down citing financial reasons alone. The news went public the next day.
Jewish Engineer 18 Following the formula of
DiKtatoR 17, Steve Lieberman produced and physically released his 18th CD
Jewish Engineer 18 (a reference to the accounting profession) on July 6, 2010. When presenting the 20-song CD to JDub for digital release, he was told the release must wait because
DiKtatoR was released less than three months before. The song "I'm Not A White Boy" hit No. 1 on SoundClick.com alternative chart in July 2010, and received an International Association of Independent Recording Artists IAIRA International Top 10 Award. On March 12, 2019, he finished his first epic project, "La Symphonie-Thrashe du Professeur-Juif Rebele" (the thrash symphony for the Gangsta Rabbi), where he arranged, orchestrated and recorded playing 18 different instruments over forty opuses, based on his punk catalog running over five hours long.
Commercial and College Radio reception Although Lieberman's music seemingly had little commercial success, unaudited download and stream sales of his first 40 records approached 20,000,000 in 22 years as of July 2023. In September 2018, Lieberman's single, "The Diarrhea Song" had briefly appeared on the Apple iTunes Top 100 UK Rock chart, peaking at No. 22 and "3 Little Puppies" peaked at No. 19 on the Apple iTunes Top 100 Other Territories Chart two years later. l.He received airplay on Rich Russo's free-form
Anything Anything with Rich Russo radio show On a site called the Jethro Tull Board which is actually endorsed by Ian Anderson, there is a thread called "Gangsta Rabbinian" saying "I love your innovative and original Jethro Tull-related songs, and your non-Tull songs are great too" and posted the lyrics to two of Lieberman's lyrics which express hope to find a peaceful end to the Arab-Israeli conflict, "Unholy War In The Holy Land" (2004) and "For The Children of the Gaza" (2009).{{Cite web ==Discography==