Every once in a while, someone you’ve never met comes to your show, and while you’re painfully rocking out or soulfully showing off, he or she takes some lovely pictures of you. I had this experience during my gig at Arlene’s Grocery on the night of Friday, February 26. She calls herself Quirky NY Chick and she took these pictures of my solo set. Thanks Quirky NY Chick, L.R. Adams.
Ari Hest has been playing his songs for over a decade now. He’s been signed to a one of the biggest record labels in history, only to opt out of the deal in order to pursue his own creative destiny. His songs range from slow brooding ballads to lighthearted grooves. What captures the listener’s ear, however, is his voice. It’s dark and powerful, and though he employs mostly his baritone range in many of his songs, he is not shy to rock the falsetto. His latest album release, Twelve Mondays, is by far his most creative effort to date with songs like “Dead End Driving” and “Broken Voices.”
I had the chance to catch a solo show of Ari’s at the Watercolor Cafe in Larchmont, New York and he took the time to give a brief interview before his performance.
WW: So where are you coming from?
AH: Brooklyn. Home.
WW: I spoke to Shannon on the phone. She mentioned you were at some rehearsal.
AH: It was more of a get-together to try out some new things. It wasn’t really a rehearsal.
WW: So you’re pretty busy.
AH: I try to keep busy. I’m not touring that much these days. I do a lot of songwriting; not just for myself, but with other people, for their records. Sometimes I sing on other people’s gigs to get the hang of doing that kind of thing too. I like to be a sideman every once in a while, try and help somebody out.
WW: Who are you helping out these days?
AH: Just friends of mine. Friends in the city. There’s a singer/songwriter named Colin Smith who I play with sometimes. Basically, if they play in the city, I’m either watching them or playing with them.
WW: As you know, I like to interview Do-It-Yourself musicians and I know that you are very much a DIY musician with Garageband.
AH: Well I have switched to Logic at this point, but I still use Garageband for demoing purposes. I do a lot more recording of myself than I used to so I guess I am more of a Do-It-Yourself person than I have been in the past. When I did the “Song a Week” project in 2008, that was mostly Logic and essentially I’ve been using it for less than half of its capability, but it did help a little bit with different kinds of plug-ins and reverbs and all sorts of stuff that I could mess around with that you can’t really do in Garageband.
WW: What other gear are you using?
AH: Just a laptop and an Apogee Duet, which is the link from my computer to the microphone. People nowadays consider that a studio and I guess I recorded at the studio, which is my apartment. [laughs]
WW: Are you using a special kind of mic?
AH: A Mojave MA-200 is the mic that I use for most of the recordings. It’s a mic somebody recommended to me a while back and that’s what I use at home.
WW: When you play out, what’s your rig?
AH: If I’m playing by myself, it’s pretty simple. I have three different guitars that I usually bring to shows and if they have a piano in the house, then I use the piano. But I do the solo shows just with the guitar and myself and a 12-string that I use on some things and a classical guitar that I use on some other things depending on the song. But half the shows I do by myself and then for the other ones I usually bring a guitar player along with me, or the band, which is technically a four-piece band. It’s just drums, bass and two guitars, but my lead guitar player can play a lot of different string instruments and occasionally some keyboard related instruments like glockenspiel and piano.
WW: I know that Project Four was your record label. Are you still operating under that title?
AH: Technically, I guess I am. That’s a funny thing to think about as an independent musician. It’s very strange to think of myself as having a label, but I guess I do. I set it up a long time ago. Most of the records I put out have not been with a label, so I guess it’s been my own label that has been putting them out.
WW: I know that you were on Columbia for a couple of records, and I’m sure you’re tired of this question, but what went down? What made you want to go? Were you upset with the job they were doing?
AH: I think it was a mutual thing. They wanted me to be a little more cookie-cutter, I think. You know, a more straight-ahead songwriter. Write more radio songs. And I also thought from my end that they weren’t doing that much to push the music that I had given them. So, it was a mutual decision and one that the majority of people who get signed have to deal with. But I got some of the music back that I made for them. They gave me the rights to it so I didn’t come out completely empty-handed and it turned out to be a very good move for probably both parties.
WW: Now that you’ve had that experience with Columbia, what do you think the pros and cons are of being on a big label?
AH: Pros: If you get a push, there’s still plenty of money that they can put behind your record and that can come in the form of radio promotion and advertising. And those things still do make a difference sometimes. It’s few and far between these days but it still does help. And it’s nice also, because they can offer tour support so I can bring a band on the road if I want to. But on the negative side, any decision that I made that was of any gravity I had to pass through a million ears and they had to know what I was doing and agree with it in order for it to happen, whether it be a creative thing, musically, or just something with my website. Anything I wanted to do to change things up was met with a lot of opinions, and now I don’t have to deal with opinions. I can do what I want to do. I’m lucky that I can do that, but at the same time, would I like some money to be behind my record? Yes. That’d be great.
WW: It doesn’t seem like you had trouble from the get-go, getting people to buy your records even when you put them out independently.
AH: At the beginning, when I started out, we’re talking about ’99 and 2000. The illegal downloading of music was not quite in full gear so people were buying my independent records back then and I toured my ass off. I did build something which I probably wouldn’t be able to build quite the same way anymore just because of the way the industry is, the fact that less and less records are sold. And my years at Columbia, I felt like it was a bit of a plateau in my career. Nothing really got worse, but nothing really changed. And to not have the kind of growth was difficult. But, like any other independent musician, I’m thinking about what I can do next, and to try and figure out what’s the best move and how I stay going in a positive direction. It’s really difficult if you don’t have some really interesting idea for a project or a producer to work with that can take you in a new direction. It’s kind of a daunting task to figure out what to do.
WW: What can you do? Don’t you just have to keep creating and writing?
AH: Yeah. I’m working on one album right now. Basically for the last couple of months, I haven’t been on tour so I’ve been writing a bunch and trying to see what I can record out of the songs I am a writing. Possibly try to pitch to film and TV. Try to get it in something like that. But everyone else is trying the same thing so it’s difficult to work your music.
WW: I can imagine. But I think it’s good that you have so many records out already and they’re really high quality so I would think that a TV spot is inevitable.
AH: Well I’ve gotten a couple in my career. That’s kind of the way to get publicity these days is to get your song on a TV show. I think last year I got one song in “One Tree Hill” or one of those shows that I never watch, but I guess a lot of people are watching. And it was good for me because you can see your sales go up in iTunes. And it’s just great exposure if you can get that kind of thing but it’s hard to get.
WW: Let’s talk about touring. Have you toured in Europe?
AH: A little. I did a very short tour in the UK, a little more touring in Ireland. Last year I actually made three short trips out there for about five or six days each. I opened for an Irish artist, which was a really good situation for me to get started out there. And I also went to Germany and Switzerland this past December. I only did a handful of shows, but it was a good start to get out there and play. That’s a big goal for me right now. I toured around America five or six times over and I still like to do it for sure, but it’s nice to see new places and experience new things, instead of going back to the same town that many times.
WW: What have you noticed about the difference in audiences in Europe and America?
AH: The Irish audiences were particularly good for what I do. My show is not about flash, it’s about song and my voice. In America, that is not often met with the best audience. I definitely have some great fans, but occasionally I get some people who come to my show and are looking for a little flash out of a performer, and that’s just not me. But when I go to Ireland, they’re not looking for flash at all. They’re looking to hone in on lyrics and melody. Their eyes are wide open and it’s a different experience. And I don’t think it’s at all because I’m new there. I think it’s because they’re really looking for songs.
WW: It seems that that’s part of the Irish culture. Especially when listening to the Clancy Brothers. Those lyrics are so deep sometimes.
AH: Yeah. There are a lot of highly educated people out there. And I think they tend to go for music with acoustic instruments, because they’re music is based on those instruments. I want to go back there as soon as possible.
WW: I lived in Holland for about a year and that was a really great place to check out independent music. If you can make it to a place called Paradiso in Amsterdam, I think you could definitely play there.
AH: I’ve been to Amsterdam once, but I don’t really remember it well. I wasn’t playing music. I was smoking something I shouldn’t have been smoking.
WW: Of course. What are your favorite venues in America?
AH: I really love to go to the North West. Touring up there, not necessarily the venues. I think the venues are good. I like places where, on a day off, I can climb a mountain or just breathe really fresh air. It just feels good to do that. In general, the west coast is great. I would say my favorite venue that I play is called The Barn right outside of Washington D.C. just because of the vibe and the sound and the people there, it has become my favorite place to play.
Okay, every now and again I totally immerse myself in one style of music which is one good way to distract me from all the insanity going around me during the day. So, I thought I’d just put up some nice (yes, I like using the word “nice”) youtube videos for your enjoyment.
If you have never heard of Lenny Breau, he was this Canadian jazz guitarist who kind of blind-sided a lot of the straight-ahead jazz guitarists back in the 60’s with his finger-picking technique and revolutionary way of playing single note lines and chords at the same time. So…uhh…give this one a minute, it’s very pretty. Also, the host is straight of 1961.
Liked it? Then there’s plenty more of that. Just write “Lenny Breau” into the search window in Youtube. Is it funny or not that I just explained how to use a basic search engine? Here’s another video, with a preface.
Preface: So we live in a time where almost anything having to do with media is at our disposal. When you watch this video, try to imagine you never heard rock and roll or jazz at all. Just…TRY!
That’s WIllie Dixon announcing in the beginning. He basically wrote all the great blues songs that every rock group covers. Memphis Slim on piano and the reason I thought to put this video up: Matt “Guitar” Murphy. His middle name is “Guitar.” Nice. These guys invented this music. Enjoy.
Okay just one more. I could keep this going for a while. I like watching live concert footage on Youtube, but here’s one to blow your mind. I had the pleasure of hanging with this cat for a brief second last summer after he came through the Northeast. If you haven’t heard of Lionel Loueke, he’s the triple threat: great guitarist, great composer, and great singer. And when I say great, I mean he’s arguably the best guitar player in the world. But, I never like saying one dude is the best at anything. Other than Evan Lysacek. He’s the best at something.
Yeah. Marinate on that for a while.
It got cold fast, didn’t it? Well, at least in New York it did. It’s raining today, so I figure I’ll take the ol’ blog out for a spin. For the most part, things have been pretty fast-moving and most of all fun. Last week, I played Asylum down in D.C. I took a Boltbus from Penn Station for 17 bucks. Not so bad, eh? Seems like that’s the only part of the economy that’s been working in our favor lately. I pulled in on a Saturday and took the next two days off for a little D.C. vacation. I haven’t been there since I was 12 or something like that. It’s hard to pinpoint when you did certain things in your childhood years. They all seem to run together somehow, or you end up dividing them up into pockets of time, like your 4 years in high school or the years before you went to Europe. I ended up doing every touristy thing you could do in Washington minus the tours. Chilling outside the Capitol was incredible. It sucks to think that such awful people work in such a beautiful architectural display. I mean, they’re not all bad, some have good intentions, but greed is contagious, and I can’t trust anyone just because they were voted into office. I feel politicians today need to take lie detector and morality tests before they can take office. Holding office is like a get out of jail free pass for most politicians and they’re has got to be a method to weed out the easily corruptible.
Anyway, the show at Asylum was awesome. Luckily my good friend, Matt, lives three blocks away from Asylum so It only took a hop, skip and a jump to get there. A trendy, young D.C. crowd showed up and a couple sang along. I’m looking forward for my next busride down and playing there again. Until then, it’s all NYC for me and the band, except for a show out in L.A. in January. Be well everybody. See ya.
A lot has happened since the inception of Warpold Wine. The idea began in San Francisco…I was house sitting for a friend, was situated at least 400 miles from anyone I knew, and all I had was a duffel bag full of clothes, a notebook and my guitar. I was six months removed from college and was in the midst of a creative burst, an especially sincere songwriting burst. I had dealt with a death in the family not long before and it was hard for all of us, especially mom. We learned to cope by putting aside our individual interests and stayed together for a couple of months. My sister visited my mother frequently and my dad never left mom’s side. I stuck around for a few months and after a while realized it was time to figure “it” out. While at home with the family, it felt like everyday I had a fresh song idea, and I certainly had no trouble finishing it within the day that I started it. It was a great feeling of not just release, but as if there was a force moving through me, unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced.
Songwriting was a thing I thought was to be left to the few geniuses I considered to be worthwhile listens. There are many in my list (Bob Dylan, Stephen Malkmus, Joanna Newsom, the Beatles etc.) I began writing songs in high school as a laugh, only to continue it in college for cathartic reasons. My love and focus was jazz and classical guitar. I had played professionally in a number of bands as a guitarist, bassist and backup singer, and had delegated songwriting to the corner of my consciousness. I was having too much fun as a sideman to think otherwise. However, after a while my sideman duties slowed to a screeching halt when two bands I was in broke up leaving everyone unhappy and, especially for me, made me have to reassess my values and aspirations as a musician.
With my ego broken and my pockets empty I, of course, turned to music. But this time, with a much more needy, organic approach. No more shedding music for anybody else but myself. Life is short, and sometimes nasty and we got to make what we can of it. Turns out what I ended up doing…was write songs. I remembered how much I loved to sing my songs in coffee houses back home when I was just a teenager. It grounded me. Made me feel strong and poetic. I naturally turned back to this medium. An old flame was then rekindled.
I didn’t quit my other studies though. I continued to practice jazz and classical guitar, went to jam sessions, did the hang and all that. It was all good. But, something was in me now, and it was starting to burn. While in San Francisco, I had the fortune of being invited to record one of my original compositions on Albert Rivera’s debut album entitled “Re-Introduction.” I boarded a plane back to New York and headed to a recording studio in Brooklyn. The band on that recording session was so killing I couldn’t believe I was there. Ralph Peterson, Christian Scott, Luques Curtis, Zaccai Curtis, Nick Roseboro and Jimmy Greene. I will never forget what Ralph Peterson said to me that day. I was feeling a bit nervous just because it was my first legit jazz recording session and I think Ralph could tell. He said to me, “Hey man, are you a fan of the Matrix?” I said, “Sure.” He said, “Do you remember what the Oracle says to Neo when they first meet?” I had no clue. “She says, ‘You got the gift, but it looks like your waiting for something’” He then exclaimed, “STOP WAITING!”
Since that day I worked very hard at writing and putting some of my songs into an album. I spent the better part of a year living in Groningen, Holland, gigging with musicians from around the world and recording my tunes. I am quite pleased with the outcome. My experience in Holland was very unique and I am very lucky to have had the opportunity of working with all the great musicians I met along the way. I look forward to returning to Europe and touring, but right now New York is still my home, so come out to the show!