Exclusive interview with R&B Dance-Pop singer, ARI GOLD!
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"Glitter N' Gold"Interview by Jeff X |
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Today he is all grown up, & hotter than ever! With his new album release "Space Under Sun" filled with bumpin' beats, deep ballads, & openly-gay scenarios, you're sure to be hearing more of him! |
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How did you get involved in the music business? ARI GOLD: I was discovered singing at my brothers bar-mitzva when I was five, put in a Jewish song festival, won first prize, the engineer recommended I audition for a children's record called Pot Belly Bear, got the lead and then got an agent and the rest is history! Well, that's the short version anyway... JX: By appearance, many think that you are Latino, tell us a lil' bit about your background. AG: I am Jewish and I actually grew up orthodox in the Bronx. I think growing up in the Bronx and now living on the lower east side I was always attracted to Black and Latino culture, especially the music. It was definitely a contradiction for an orthodox Jew, but what can I say, most other orthodox Jews in Yeshiva weren't in show business either. JX: As a child, you did many popular commercial jingles throughout the 1980's, & you also got a part on the 80's animated music diva sensation "Jem". How did you land that? & What was that experience like? AG: Being on Jem was honestly one of the best moments in my career as a child performer. I was a huge fan of the show before I was on it and I had already worked a lot with Ford Kinder and Ann Bryant (who wrote all the music for the show)...I did the My Buddy commercial with them, My Little Pony etc. So when there was a part for a kid I think they immediately called me cause they knew how excited I would be. Even though the part was for an 8 year old Vietnamese girl and I was a 12 year old boy, they still gave it to me. Truth is, I did a lot of girl voices when I was a kid...including playing the part of a Tom Boy Cabbage Patch Kid named "Sybil Sadie" on two Cabbage Patch Records. I sang back-ups for Diana Ross once also...that and Jem were probably my two favorite childhood moments. Diana even told the kids that her favorite song was my solo "Get Back Home" on the Cabbage Patch album. She didn't even know that it was me, but I sure as hell told her! Where does an aspiring gay pop star go from there? JX: Any particular character or group you truly like from that show? AG: I loved all the characters!! I loved how much of a soap opera it was. And how it got even more complicated when the Stingers blew onto the scene! Of course the best episodes were the multi-parters that Christy Marx wrote although there are some episodes that I love that she didn't write as well. JX: Jem is now out on DVD, did you get your copy yet? :) AG: No! I will though! I actually have them all on VHS and I have my episode on a store bought VHS that was out when the show was popular in the 80's. JX: Musically, who has inspired you the most? AG: Besides Jem?!? - lol. Well, at the risk of sounding stereo-typical, Madonna was a huge inspiration. She taught me that there was another world out there where it was OK to be gay and to express yourself in an honest way. I dedicated a song to her on my album called, "Fan-tastic"--its really an ode to all divas and for me it was Madonna. Of course artists like George Michael, k.d. Lang, Elton John and Boy George paved the way for an artist like me to be out from the start of their career. Actually Boy George just interviewed and shot me for AXM magazine wearing an outfit he made especially for me (he has a clothing line called Rude). When I covered his song for my album, I only dreamed that something like that would happen. It was amazing. And now were working on a duet and some other music maybe for either of our future albums. JX: Being openly gay, has anyone treated you different because of it? Like record companies, etc? AG: Yes, and unfortunately it often comes from gay people themselves who are powerful in this business. People are still reluctant to sign openly gay artists. So that's why I'm doing this on my own and I'd like to think I'm proving them wrong. JX: Lets talk about your new album "Space Under Sun", a great album, which was just released earlier this year. Can you give us an overview? AG: Thank You! Well, musically I call it an intergalactic hybrid of 80's and contemporary R&B, spacey pop and jazzy future soul. When I wrote the title track, was when the whole album came together, and aside from speaking about the human experience of trying to find ourselves, find love, and find our identities, I realized that it was also speaking more specifically to how we as gay men are still trying to figure out who we are. We may have a lot more visibility in the mainstream (at least on TV and in Film), but I think internally we are still figuring out how we fit in, and how we feel about ourselves---and maybe how we can feel better about ourselves living or growing up in a world that still can be homophobic. JX: What was the force behind wanting to re-record Culture Club's "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me"? AG: It was always one of my favorite songs and I wanted to do a cover and I had the idea for how the production should sound and the chords and so I thought it would be really cool and different done that way. Plus Boy George was such an influential artist. JX: The duet with Kendra Ross "He's On My Team" was pretty daring. I Loved it! It has never been done this way before. How do you feel about this song, that is so true? AG: Kendra and I were definitely writing from true experiences. It was something we went through with each other so I knew it would be a perfect song to write with her. Of course I loved Brandy and Monica's "The Boy Is Mine" which was a take off on "The Girl is Mine" by Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney, so I though this should be next in that saga! JX: The ballad "Bashert (Meant To Be)" has to be one of the most beautiful heart-felt ballads I have heard in a long time. Can you explain a lil' about the meaning of this song? AG: Wow, thank you! Well, bashert is my favorite Yiddish word. I don't speak much Yiddish. My parents spoke it around the house when they didn't want their kids to understand what they were saying. Not that its their fault, but it is a dying language! But the meaning of the word is what's so beautiful to me. It means meant to be which is a concept I really believe in. But it can also be used as a noun. Like someone can be your Bashert, your meant to be. JX: Your album has some kool retro sounds. I heard you were a fan of the 80's Dance/Club music "Freestyle". (Then again, being from the Bronx, it's unavoidable - lol.) What are some of your favorite artists or songs from this genre? AG: I love Freestyle! Well of course there's Shannon's "Let The Music Play" and Alisha's "Too Turned On"--but actually I was more inspired by late 80's R&B like Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis' stuff, and then LA Reid and Babyface when they were working together. I used a sample of a pretty obscure but amazing song that Jam and Lewis produced called "You Used To Hold Me" by Thelma Houston for my song "Funk That Ship". I had already written the melody for that song and I knew I wanted to use that song so when I put them together I was really pleased that they worked so well together. JX: Any chance of hearing a Freestyle song or remix from you in the future? AG: I would love that! Let me know if you know anyone who does that! JX: How do you feel about being considered a role model or "Gay Icon"? AG: As long as people realize that a role model or icon is still a human being, I don't mind. I think its important for kids to have someone who is out and proud to look up to. When I was growing up most of the artists I liked weren't out or they were straight. People just didn't talk about it and the press didn't really ask. It can feel like a big responsibility sometimes and I think that the more people we have the more we can see our diversity, so I'm just trying to do my part to represent! Just please allow me to make mistakes like everyone else, cause that's where we really learn from each other and from ourselves anyway. JX: How has it been to work with a legendary Diva from the gay scene, like Kevin Aviance? AG: Kevin is one of my favorite performers ever. And working on the song for his second album, "You've Got The Groove" was a blast. He's so creative and spontaneous. Unfortunately the version we did together is not the version that got on the album. I think the label actually sanitized it. Our original version was much groovier and sexier in my opinion. JX: Ok, people wanna know, are you currently involved with anyone? :) AG: No! I am so single right now! I broke up with my boyfriend of five years ago like three years ago and I was sure I'd be in another relationship by now, but I guess that's not what's in the cards for me right now. Sometimes I feel like my career is my boyfriend, but I prefer to think of it like my baby. So whoever I get into a relationship with next will have realize that I got a baby. Yeah its some baggage but I'm worth it! JX: Lastly, what can you tell the people out there, gay or straight, who are trying to make it in the entertainment biz? AG: Oh god, well the music business is probably the worst of them all, but if you have that deep passion and love then don't let anyone tell you otherwise! And your friends are your best start. If you can't get them to support you, come to your shows and scream really loud in the beginning then your in trouble! JX: Thank you so much Ari, for taking the time to share with us. & I cant wait to see you live! AG: Thank you! "Show's over Synergy!" :) |
For more info on Ari, please visit his site: | |
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