Ari Hest

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Ari Hest
Ari Hest
Ari Hest
Background information
Born June 16, 1979 (age 27)
Mt. Sinai Hospital.
Manhattan, NY, USA[1]
Genre(s) Rock, Acoustic, Pop
Occupation(s) Singer
Musician
Instrument(s) Vocalist
Guitarist
Keyboardist
Harmonicist
Percussionist
Years active 1999–present
Label(s) Columbia Records
(2004-Present)
Project 4 Records
(1999-2004)
Website http://www.arihest.com

Ari Hest is an American singer-songwriter and a native of Riverdale[1] in the Bronx borough of New York.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Ari took piano lessons as a child and later, as a teenager (around age 15), taught himself to play his mother's nylon string guitar by ear with influences from both his parents' record collection and radio artists. Artists cited as influences are Paul Simon, The Beatles, Dave Matthews, U2, Smashing Pumpkins, Tears For Fears, The Police, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam among others. As a child, Ari aspired to become a professional baseball player and continued to play through the end of high school. During Ari's childhood, his father wrote jingles for toy commercials on television for which he sometimes recruited Ari to sing. One jingle noted by Ari as an example was a commercial for a girl's toy puppy from Hasbro branded "Sweetie Pups". Although he did not win, Ari competed in a “Battle of the Bands” in 11th grade playing Pearl Jam's “Nothing Man” and Led Zeppelin's “Thank You” with another young musician. Ari wrote his first song in 1996 that was titled “Surrounded By Surprise” and is defined by Ari as "something involving a made-up girlfriend and a hot-air balloon".[1] Ari began playing in his first band called “Synapse” between 1997 and 1999.[1] The band played venues such as New York City clubs and graduation parties. Ari's songs “Fade” and “Consistency” were born from this group.[1] Former bandmates of "Synapse" were Markus Dorfmann (drums), Lee Nadel (bass) and David Hyman (guitar).[1] Ari attended Cornell University in Ithaca, NY beginning in 1999 and later transfered to New York University. Ari studied Communication at both Cornell and NYU but graduated from NYU in 2002 with a degree in Communication.

[edit] Career

By the end of his sophomore year at Cornell Ari decided to transfer to NYU because of more playing opportunities. At this time Ari began to focus on his career as a musician by touring colleges and clubs across the United States. Ari had sold approximately 20,000 CDs and released one EP as well as 2 records ("Incomplete", "Come Home" & "Story After Story", respectively) under his own independent recording label named "Project 4" by 2003. After his performance at New York's Bowery Ballroom in August 2003, Columbia Records began to express interest. Ari signed a recording contract with Columbia in March of 2004 and later recorded his first studio album entitled "Someone To Tell" with producer David Kos Rolfe. Ari finished recording his 5 song EP "Guilty Hearts EP" in fall of 2005. The "Guilty Hearts EP" disc contains a 'making of' video created by Karen Scott of StarPolish as well as a link to downloadable lyrics. The video features Ari himself, Scott Seiver (drums) and Rob Calder (bass). Ari recorded his 6th album, "The Green Room Sessions", on a laptop personal computer using Apple's GarageBand software. Ari performed all vocals and instruments to include acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, harmonica, and percussion for this album. Ari sometimes gives demonstrations of GarageBand at Apple Stores that are both free and open to the public.[2] Ari has completed the recording of his seventh album "The Break-In" with producer Mitchell Froom. A single from the album entitled "I've Got You" was released on Apple's iTunes on January 16th, 2007 and the full-length album is slated for release on Columbia Records in April 2007.

[edit] Family

[edit] Parents

[edit] Father

Ari's father plays a number of different horn instruments and is a college music professor. When Ari was a child, his father professionally wrote jingles for childrens toy commercials.

[edit] Mother

Ari's mother is a cantor and professional singer.

[edit] Siblings

Ari has only one sibling, an older brother named Daniel "Danny" Hest who was born on May 26th, 1975. Danny was involved in the production and vocal arrangement of Ari's first album "Incomplete". Danny Hest is VP of Artist Development at StarPolish and manages Ari as well as other artists.[3]

[edit] Television & Radio Appearances

[edit] Television

[edit] Radio

[edit] Music Videos

A small budget music video was recorded of the single "They're On To Me" featuring Ari moving through several New York cityscapes and playing a sold-out album release concert at New York City's Bowery Ballroom venue on August 10th, 2004 with bassist Rob Calder and drummer Scott Seiver. The video was directed by Steven Oritt.

[edit] Band Members

[edit] Current

[edit] Rob Calder • Bassist

Often tours with Ari and can be seen in the 'making of' video on the "Guilty Hearts EP" disc as well as in the music video for "They're On To Me". In addition to working with Ari, Rob has performed and/or recorded with Fiction Plane (Geffen), Cutters (BMG/CMC), Danielle Evin (Lateral View/Sony), Chris Shaffer of The Why Store (MCA), Sue Medley and Ghostface Killah (Def Jam) to name a few. Like Ari, Rob's parents were also musicians. His father was a university music professor and at one time an orchestral conductor in Vienna. His mother was at one time a German opera singer. Rob began playing the bass guitar toward the end of high school and began playing publicly within one to two months. Rob was a member of the Bloomington, Indiana based band Cutters. Cutters released an album named “Sonic Wave Love” in February of 1999. Rob auditioned for Ari Hest in early 2003. Rob currently resides in the Lower East side of Manhattan. Rob is a graduate of Indiana University and a fluent speaker of the German language. Rob's Official website: http://www.robcalder.com.

[edit] Former

[edit] Scott Seiver • Drummer

Also featured in the 'making of' video on the "Guilty Hearts EP" disc and the music video for "They're On To Me". Scott not only plays percussion but many other instruments including keyboard instruments, harmonica & guitar. Scott is currently working with Chewy Puma along with several other projects.

[edit] A-Team

The A-Team is a grassroots group of individuals who promote Ari's music with postcards, posters and through word of mouth. Additionally, members of the team are encouraged to record his live shows, publicly distribute them free of charge, and send a copy of the recording to Ari's website to be distributed over the internet via mp3 audio and videos. Perks for A-Team members include contests with prizes, access to the rep-only website, private rep concerts and exclusive media content.

[edit] Covers

Ari covered Fleetwood Mac's "Little Lies" on his album The Green Room Sessions. Ari has covered "I'm On Fire" by Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and Elton John's "Daniel" among many others during live performances.

[edit] Management

Ari has been managed by his brother throughout his career. Ari continues to be managed by his brother, Danny Hest as well as Karen Scott through StarPolish Artist Management. StarPolish Artist Management is a small New York based firm that manages musical artists. Their clients in addition to Ari are: The Alternate Routes, DADA, The Distillery, Red Heart the Ticker and Virginia Coalition.

[edit] Music Samples

In process, music samples coming soon.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Full-Length, Extended Play and Single Albums

Incomplete • EP Original Artwork 1st 1,000 CDs (1999) Project 4 Records
Incomplete • EP
Original Artwork
1st 1,000 CDs
(1999)
Project 4 Records
 Track 01 • Consistency
Track 02 • Incomplete
Track 03 • Fade
Track 04 • Effortless Success
Track 05 • Pound For Pound
Track 06 • Looking At Myself
Incomplete • EP (1999) Project 4 Records
Incomplete • EP
(1999)
Project 4 Records
 Track 01 • Consistency
Track 02 • Incomplete
Track 03 • Fade
Track 04 • Effortless Success
Track 05 • Pound For Pound
Track 06 • Looking At Myself
Come Home (2001) Project 4 Records
Come Home
(2001)
Project 4 Records
 Track 01 • Caught Up In Your Love
Track 02 • Aberdeen
Track 03 • When Everything Seems Wrong
Track 04 • Come Home
Track 05 • Holding On
Track 06 • Pour Me In
Track 07 • Terms And Conditions
Track 08 • You're The Only One
Track 09 • I Forgive You
Story After Story (2002) Project 4 Records
Story After Story
(2002)
Project 4 Records
 Track 01 • They're On To Me
Track 02 • Fascinate You
Track 03 • Strangers Again
Track 04 • Monsters
Track 05 • Aberdeen
Track 06 • When Everything Seems Wrong
Track 07 • The Upper Hand
Track 08 • Holding On
Track 09 • This Fight
Track 10 • Didn't Want To Say Goodbye
Someone To Tell (2004) Columia Records
Someone To Tell
(2004)
Columia Records
 Track 01 • They're On To Me
Track 02 • A Fond Farewell
Track 03 • Aberdeen
Track 04 • Anne Marie
Track 05 • Holding On
Track 06 • Strangers Again
Track 07 • Fascinate You
Track 08 • Consistency
Track 09 • Monsters
Track 10 • Not For Long
Track 11 • When Everything Seems Wrong
Track 12 • Someone To Tell
Guilty Hearts EP • EP(2005) Columbia Records
Guilty Hearts EP • EP
(2005)
Columbia Records
 Track 01 • A Different Song
Track 02 • Guilty Hearts
Track 03 • One More Hour
Track 04 • Another Day
Track 05 • Sleep Tonight
The Green Room Sessions • EP(2006) Columbia Records
The Green Room Sessions • EP
(2006)
Columbia Records
 Track 01 • Upstairs
Track 02 • Them
Track 03 • Little Lies
Track 04 • So Slow
Track 05 • Just As Well
I've Got You • Single Download Only (2007) Columbia Records/Red Ink
I've Got You • Single
Download Only
(2007)
Columbia Records/Red Ink
 Track 01 • I've Got You
The Break-In • Unreleased(2007) Columbia Records/Red Ink
The Break-In • Unreleased
(2007)
Columbia Records/Red Ink
 Track Titles • Unknown

[edit] Promotional, Soundtrack and Other Albums

Consistency (Live From The Village Underground 10/1/2002) (2002) Project 4 Records
Consistency
(Live From The Village Underground 10/1/2002)
(2002)
Project 4 Records
 Track 01 • Consistency (Live From The Village Underground 10/1/2002)
Note: Included w/ 1st 1,000 copies of "Story After Story"
Winter Break: The Movie Soundtrack(2003) Label Unknown
Winter Break: The Movie Soundtrack
(2003)
Label Unknown
 Track ?? • Ari Hest - Strangers Again
DecentXposure • Volume One(2003) Label Unknown
DecentXposure • Volume One
(2003)
Label Unknown
 Track 01 • Ari Hest - Consistency

[edit] References

In process of tagging the entire article with the appropriate sources.

  1. ^ a b c d e f About Ari - General Background, Interviews of Ari for TheAHSA.com from October 2002 and April 21st, 2003. Accessed on February 5th, 2007.
  2. ^ News: Live At The Apple Store - Ari To Give Garageband Demonstrations and Performances - January 13th, 2007. Accessed on January 31st, 2007.
  3. ^ On The Road: A Manager's View of SXSW 2004, Danny Hest - Monday, April 12, 2004. Accessed on February 6th, 2007.
  4. ^ Last Call with Carson Daly Episodes - TVGuide.com. Accessed on January 31st, 2007.

Ari Hest Live at The Roxy on May 26th, 2005. Accessed on 02/10/2007.
Ari Hest News. Accessed on February 10th, 2007.
Ari Hest Profile/Biography. Accessed on January 31st, 2007.
Ari Hest Biography. Accessed on January 31st, 2007.
Ari Hest Biography. Accessed on January 31st, 2007.
About Ari - General Background. Accessed on February 5th, 2007.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../a/r/i/Ari_Hest_ce4b.html"