as1one on How They 'Lift Each Other Up' as World's First Israeli-Palestinian Boy Band with Debut Single (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

When night falls in sunny Los Angeles, so do the harmonicas. At least, for one house that is.

The “no harmonicas after 11 p.m. policy” might be easy for most households to follow. But for six young men living under one roof, bursting with talent as musicians? It’s a whole lot harder when they’re ready to debut and share their collective voice with the world as a history-making male pop group. The piano stationed in the living room certainly doesn’t make things any easier.

“We are very, very nice. But there’s always music,” 22-year-oldNeta Rozenblatjokes to PEOPLE as he explains the rule.

“I had to get used to not singing after midnight,“Nadav Philips, 23, adds.

“The neighbors hate us,“Ohad Attia, 22, quips with a laugh as the rest of the group bursts into smiles.

“At least we can say that we bless everyone with our music, no matter how thick the walls are,” Rozenblat says.

Musical skills, dashing looks and a sense of humor. Though the group has all the makings of a budding boy band, there’s another distinctive aspect that sets them apart.

The six vocalists and multi-instrumentalists are about to make history underas1one— the world’s first mixed Israeli Jewish and Palestinian Arab pop group. With a debut single about to be released and an exclusive teaser premiering on PEOPLE, the boys — Rozenblat, Philips and Attia, in addition toNiv Lin, 23,Aseel Farah, 22, andSadik Abu Dogosh, 21, — make themselves comfortable on a couch as they reflect on what it takes to push ahead in uncharted territory.

as1one.Ross Halfin

Ross Halfin

To say that pivoting is an asset would be an understatement.

Before as1one arrived in LA late last year, the boys had already been rehearsing together for a year in preparation for their first album. When they later hopped off the plane at LAX after a 16-hour journey fromTel Aviv, Israel, they had a simple plan ahead for the one-month long trip — to be part of a lighthearted story that would see themselves accomplishing their dreams. Fate, however, would have a different idea.

Just one day later on Oct. 7, 2023, their phones buzzed with the first few emergency alerts. Then came frantic texts from their loved ones and news that some of their friends had been killed back home. Soon, the situation crystallized into focus: The outbreak of theIsrael-Hamas warhad begun.

As news about the coordinated attacks of Hamas across southern Israel continued to reverberate, the boys were given the option to fly back home. But after much deliberation, they made the hard decision to stay. They knew that violence and division were at an all-time high, but so was the potential for a rare moment of hope and unity — something they believed the world needed more than ever.

Music would be their tool of choice. While writing and recording with some of the industry’s most sought-after hitmakers, the boys channeled their heavy emotions into their voices and lyrics.

“We have to understand these shoes that we have to fill,” Rozenblat says. “It was probably the biggest rollercoaster of all our lives — some of the best times, and for sure some of the worst times. But we had each other here, to have each other’s back and to lift each other up.”

The seeds of their debut single,“All Eyes On Us” featuring Nile Rodgers, would then be sown across three countries.

In Israel, as1one stepped into the studios with songwriter-producers like Jenna Andrews and Stephen Kirk, who have been credited on hits likeBTS’“Butter”and“Permission to Dance.”They flew to London afterward, where they made their way into Abbey Road Studios to record with Rodgers before wrapping up the process in LA. Now, huddled together in their loose button-ups and T-shirts, they anxiously await the single’s upcoming release on Sept. 13.

“The meaning of it, for us at least, is like ‘OK, we’re ready,'” Rozenblat explains to PEOPLE. “This is our time to make it, to show everybody and it’s time for all eyes to be on us.”

However, they weren’t exactly ready for the surprise that would enfold in the next few minutes during the interview. That’s when Rodgers, the 71-year-old multi-platinum musician and six-time Grammy Award winner featured on the track, pops into the Zoom with a casual “What’s up, guys?”

The guys are all smiles and surprise mixed into one as they watch the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee greet them while on break in his recording studio. As the legendary guitarist gives them words of encouragement in the weeks leading up to their debut, the boys listen with bright eyes.

“I just gotta say it — they sing their asses off,” Rodgers, 71, says as the boys laugh, reflecting on their collaboration in London. “When I met them and heard them sing, I was going, ‘Oh OK, so you guys are real musicians” and not just cute guys who could dance or something like that.”

as1one and Nile Rodgers.Andrew Berkowitz

Andrew Berkowitz

In a similar vein to as1one’s journey, Rodgers is no stranger to the unexpectedness of the music industry. He detailed how some of his biggest records would arise after back-to-back failures, and one of those was getting to work withDavid Bowieon his mega-hitLet’s Dancealbum after they were both dropped.

“We both had no record labels and we had to rescue each other,” Rodgers says of the late musician’s best-selling album.

“It was amazing to be in that situation, and it just feels like these guys,” Rodgers then says of as1one. “You just have faith. You just do it. You just do it because you feel like it’s the right thing to do and it’s the right time to do it and you just plow forward.”

Throughout as1one’s entire journey, the boys indeed have taken a leap of faith. They not only plowed forward despite the tensions of war or the nature of being in a mixed group, but also in leaving their own personal lives behind.

Rozenblat, for instance, was a computer science major all throughout college and participated in robotics. Being a self-professed “technical and logical” person was his modus operandi, and a passion for music didn’t enter his life until senior year. Yet, when the opportunity to join as1one arose, he says he didn’t hesitate. Within the group, he got hard to work on learning the guitar, the keyboard, being a better songwriter and most recently, the violin.

Lin also never grew up knowing he wanted to pursue music, much less make history in a mixed group.

“Basketball is my second love, and I grew up holding the ball in my hand,” the sports lover says.

Lin spent many of his days in the gym, where he’d often practice with his dad, who was a basketball coach. His skills on the court would eventually land him a scholarship in Kentucky during high school, and later on, two college offers. At that point, he no longer wanted that path, and music then “popped out of nowhere.”

Eventually, he and all the other members would find themselves in an extensive audition process for what would become as1one — the brainchild of an industry veteran duo.

Hitmakers and music executives Ken Levitan and James Diener — who developed acts likeKings of LeonandMaroon 5— initially teamed up to conduct a two-year search and audition process for the most talented Israeli and Palestinian musicians in Israel, envisioning a Middle Eastern version of BTS.

Being amongst some of Israel’s most talented young prospects was something Nadav didn’t take for granted. The chance to take his life-long dream as a musician to new heights with as1one would immensely build on his former gigs as a wedding singer. Vocal endurance is only one of the skills his former side hustle helped him develop.

“It’s so hard, especially when it’s Jewish weddings,” he jokingly adds. “They don’t stop, no breaks — it’s just always sing, sing, sing.”

A camera crew captured all the blood, sweat and tears from the humble beginnings, revving up to produce a docu-series of as1one’s journey. With all the aspects of a coming-of-age story, the four-part Paramount+ series, slated to air later this year, doesn’t shy away from the darkest moments the boys have faced. Tough conversations between them as the Israel-Hamas war continued to claim thousands of lives on both sides were almost inevitable.

“It’s like sometimes with family, you have the worst fights and it gets so heated and it becomes the most annoying and uncomfortable conversations,” Philips says. “But then because you really love and care about each other, it all calms down after five minutes. And sometimes you take more time, but at the end of the day, we really love each other and care about each other’s feelings, so we can’t fight for too long.”

“It’s not our part to be politicians,” the 23-year-old continued. “It’s not our part to decide whatever is right or wrong. We are here to play a small part in uniting people.”

Attia mentions how they encompass a plethora of identities on the surface, like being Israeli, Jewish, Palestinian, Muslim and Christian. But underneath those layers, they are undeniably human, and that is a part of what empowers their brotherhood.

“We’ve just been through a situation that I think no one else in the world has ever been through,” Attia says. “Being Israeli and Palestinians during a time of war between Israelis and Palestinians is just crazy. And it made us so much stronger than what we were before.”

Naturally, the similarities of being in such a situation don’t stray away for too long. For one, they all know what it’s like to be nearly 7,600 miles away from home together. What’s more is how some of them have never been to the U.S. before, much less stepped onto a plane.

Food has been a complement to music as a way for the boys to stay connected to family and their homes. Lin not only cooks homemade food from his mom’s recipes, but also finds himself lucky to be living with Dogosh, the “amazing cook” who’s made Arab foods like lamb and rice for the boys.

Besides being a whiz in the kitchen, Dogosh found music through musical theater and a love of acting. Now in a group as multi-instrumental as as1one, he’s been challenging himself to learn the piano.

Some other members have been practicing instruments for a lot longer.

Take Attia, for instance, who picked up the guitar for the first time when he was around 9 years old. He easily admits that his initial motivation was to impress girls in his class. But rather than fall in love with a girl, perhaps he fell even harder for the guitar.

“Since the moment I held it, I was like ‘Oh s–, there’s something beyond it,'” he says with a smile.

From that turning point in his life, he went on to add more musical talents in his arsenal, like the drums, the bass and music production. But the guitar was his first love without a doubt — and Farah’s passion for poetry came out of similar origins.

“What got me into poetry? Honestly, it was love,” the group’s rapper and percussionist candidly says, much to the delight of his bandmates sitting around him. “I was a high school student, exploring, falling in love every five seconds.”

He also began dancing, and listening to BTS’s music gave him an avenue to try the K-pop group’s “really really hard” dances.

Although as1one won’t officially be doing any choreography, the boys assure fans that there’ll be plenty of spontaneous dancing behind the scenes and on social media. For now, as they gear up for their debut, they’re hoping that the unifying power of music will transcend the conflict that has become linked with their story.

“Music is what connects everyone,” Attia reinforces. “We all love music. It doesn’t matter where you come from — if you listen to a good song, you love the song and it doesn’t matter who you are. That is what we are here to show.”

“All Eyes On Us”ft. Nile Rodgers will be available to stream on Sept. 13.

source: people.com