Gilad Kahana


Gilad Kahana is an Israeli singer, composer, writer and actor. He is the lead singer for the band Girafot.

Life and career

Kahana was born in Mexico to an Israeli Jewish family. His family moved back to Israel when he was nine years old and settled in Tel Aviv. He started the musical band Girafot in 1992 with Yair Kass. In 1999, the band released its first Hebrew album named Conversations with a Chair. In 2000, Kahana decided on a solo career with the issue of his first solo album I Forgot How to Eat, which he produced and recorded on his own.
In 2002, Girafot toured Israel, which garnered them much popularity and recognition. In 2004, he published his first English solo album, called The Promised Landing, and also published the instrumental album 360. In 2006, he co-released an album called Roof with Girafot that won positive reviews and commercial success.
In 2008, the band went on tour in India, and filmed a documentary. He was in Mumbai with Girafot during the 2008 Mumbai attacks and was able to capture the events on camera. The documentary film was published in 2009. He published a solo album that same year and the Girafot Hebrew album No Elephants Allowed in early 2010.
In September 2011, Kahana produced the album Bad Love in English, under the pseudonym The Walking Man. Its first release was free to readers of the Tel Aviv newspaper Akhbar Ha'ir in Ha'ir as a gift. Kahana composed the music and lyrics, and the performance was accompanied by Ninet Tayeb.
Kahana has also written several other songs for numerous famous Israeli singers, including Yoni Bloch, David Broza, Eviatar Banai, Hadag Nahash and Arkadi Duchin.
He published two books in Hebrew in 2003 and 2009.
In 2015, Kahana co-starred in the films A Tale of Love and Darkness, opposite Natalie Portman, who also directed, and in The Man in the Wall.