Ari Hest
is an American singer-songwriter and a native of Riverdale
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ARI HEST TICKETS
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Biography
Early life
Ari took
piano lessons as a child and later, as a
teenager, 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 contest 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".
Ari began playing in his first band called Synapse between 1997 and 1999.
The band played venues such as
New York City clubs and graduation parties. Ari's songs "Fade" and "Consistency" were born from this group.
Ari attended
Cornell University in
Ithaca,
NY beginning in 1999 and later transferred to
New York University, where he received a degree in Communications in 2002.
Career
While attending NYU, Ari began to focus on his musical career by touring
colleges and clubs across the
United States. Under his own
independent recording label, Project 4, Ari released one
EP,
Incomplete
and two albums,
Come Home
and
Story After Story
, selling approximately 20,000
CDs. In March 2004, Hest signed a
recording contract with
Columbia. He recorded his first
studio album Someone To Tell
with producer David Kos Rolfe, which was followed by a five-song
EP "Guilty Hearts EP" in the fall of 2005. His sixth album,
The Green Room Sessions
, was recorded 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.
[1] Ari has completed the recording of his seventh album,
The Break-In
with producer
Mitchell Froom. A
single from the album
I've Got You
was released on
Apple's
iTunes in January 2007 and the full-length album was released by Columbia in May of that year.
Family
Ari's father plays a number of different
horn instruments and is a college music professor. When Ari was a child, his father wrote
jingles for children's toy
commercials. His mother is currently a cantor at Temple Beth-El of Great Neck. Ari's older brother, Daniel Hest, manages Ari as well as other artists.
[2]
Television & Radio Appearances
Television
- New York, NY, WPIX-TV 11 Morning News. Monday, August 9, 2004 at 8:45am EST. Live acoustic performance.
- CNNfn "The Biz". Tuesday, August 10, 2004 at 12:30pm EST. Interview.
- Chicago, IL, WGN-TV 9, Wednesday, September 8, 2004. Musical guest. Live performance and interview.
- "Last Call with Carson Daly". September 24, 2004. [3] The episode also featured Jim Breuer, Bill Bellamy, Paul Rodriguez and No Use for a Name. Live performances of "They're On To Me" and "A Fond Farewell" from the album "Someone To Tell". This was Ari's network television debut.
- ESPN "Cold Pizza". Tuesday, October 26, 2004. Live performance.
- Philadelphia, PA, WCAU 10, Tuesday, December 2, 2004 at 9:30am EST.
- CBS "Saturday Early Show, Second Cup Cafe". January 1, 2005 at 7:00am EST. Live Performance.
- Kansas City, KS, WDAF-TV 4's "the Noon News", Tuesday, March 29, 2005 at 12:40pm EST. Live performance and interview.
- Austin, TX, KTBC 7, Tuesday, May 17, 2005 at 12:00pm EST. Live performance and interview.
Radio
- Multiple radio stations. Acoustic Café, August 23, 2004. Recorded performance.
- WXPN Experimental Pennsylvania Network (88.5 FM) at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. World Cafe, August 25, 2004 at 2:00pm EST. Live performance and interview with David Dye.
- XM Cafe (45 XM), "Build Your Own Show". September 6, 8th-10th, 2004. Live performance at XM Studios w/ Rob Calder.
- KMTT The Mountain (103.7FM) in Seattle, WA. January 19, 2005. Live performance at the Mountain Music Lounge.
- WRLT Radio Lightning, (100.1 FM) in Nashville, TN. Thursday, March 10, 2005. Live performance.
- WFUV Fordham University's Voice (90.7 FM) in New York, NY. Sunday, March 13, 2005. Live performance and interview on Pete Fornatale's "Mixed Bag".
- WBOS Boston (92.9 FM) in Boston, MA. Saturday, April 30, 2005. Live performance for the 12th Annual 92.9 WBOS EarthFest at Boston's Hatch Shell. Headliner: The Wallflowers. Other artists: Low Millions, Carbon Leaf, Five for Fighting.
- WBOS Boston (92.9 FM) in Boston, MA. Saturday, July 14, 2005. Live performance at the Copley Square Concert at 7:15pm EST.
- WBOS Boston (92.9 FM) in Boston, MA. Saturday, January 6, 2007. Live performance and interview from Bretton Woods Mountain Resort Slopeside Pub in Bretton Woods, NH.
- The Acoustic Lounge on KSFS podcast in San Francisco, CA. Released on June 20, 2007. Live performance of the May 13th, 2007 Bottom of the Hill concert and interview.
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 10,
2004. The video was directed by Steven Oritt.
On March 22, 2008, Ari performed a live, interactive concert for his fans at
DeepRockDrive. Songs performed include "Sleep Tonight", "Anne Marie", and "I've Got You".
Ari's video for So Slow was shot in Northport, Long Island.
Band Members
Current
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), Kanye West (Rocafella), The Break & Repair Method (Cement Shoes Records /Universal), Danielle Evin (Lateral View/
Sony),
Chris Shaffer of
The Why Store (
MCA), Sue Medley and
Ghostface Killah (
Def Jam) to name a few.
Former
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.
A-Team
The 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.
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",
Radiohead's "
No Surprises",
Jeff Buckley's "Morning Theft",
The Doobie Brothers' "
What a Fool Believes" and
Elton John's "Daniel" among many others during live performances.
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, a small
New York based firm whose other clients include
The Alternate Routes, DADA, The Distillery, Red Heart the Ticker and
Virginia Coalition.
Discography
Full-Length, Extended Play and Single Albums
- Incomplete
(EP, 1999), Project 4 Records
- Come Home
(2001), Project 4 Records
- Story After Story
(2002). Project 4 Records
- Someone To Tell
(2004), Columia Records
- Guilty Hearts
(EP, 2005), Columbia Records
- The Green Room Sessions
(EP, 2006), Columbia Records
- I've Got You
(Download only single, 2007), Columbia Records/Red Ink
- The Break-In
(2007), Columbia Records/Red Ink
- Live at the Quick Center
(EP, 2008), Project 4 Records
- ''52 (2008), Project 4 Records
- ''Twelve Mondays(2009), Project 4 Records
Promotional, Soundtrack and Other Albums
- Consistency
, Live From The Village Underground (2002), Project 4 Records, included with first 1,000 copies of “Story After Story”
- Winter Break: The Movie Soundtrack
(2003), Various Artists, with “Strangers Again” from Ari Hest
- DecentXposure • Volume One
(2003). Various Artists, with “Consistency” from Ari Hest
References
- News: Live At The Apple Store - Ari To Give Garageband Demonstrations and Performances - January 13, 2007. Accessed on January 31, 2007.
- On The Road: A Manager's View of SXSW 2004, Danny Hest - Monday, April 12, 2004. Accessed on February 6, 2007.
- Last Call with Carson Daly Episodes - TVGuide.com. Accessed on January 31, 2007.