Ariel Pink

Infobox musical artist
Name = Ariel Pink


Img_capt = Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Ariel Marcus Rosenberg
Born = Birth date and age|1978|6|24|mf=y
Origin = Hollywood, CA; Beverly Hills
Genre = Psychedelic pop
Noise Pop
Lo-Fi
Instrument = Vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion
Years_active = 1996 - present
Label = Paw Tracks, Human Ear Music, UUAR, Manimal Vinyl
Associated_acts = Holy Shit!, John Maus, R. Stevie Moore
URL = [http://www.arielpink.com/ www.arielpink.com]

Ariel Pink (born Ariel Marcus Rosenberg on June 24, 1978) is a Los Angeles based avant-garde musician who is sometimes associated with the Freak folk scene [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/27/arts/music/27arie.htm "New York Times" concert review ] ] . Pink boasts a cult following and endorsements from more widely known artists such as fellow founding Paw Tracks group Animal Collective.

Biography

Ariel Pink was raised in the Pico-Robertson [http://www.identitytheory.com/audio/ross_pink.php Identity Theory interview ] ] area of Los Angeles, attending Beverly Hills High School and later the California Institute of the Arts [http://www.neromagazine.it/pdf/NERO-PDF-SI.pdf "Nero Magazine" NERO n.05 May/June 2005 ] ] . In high school, Pink was a fan of such Gothic rock acts as Christian Death, Bauhaus, The Sisters of Mercy, and The Cure [ [http://www.viceland.com/int/v13n10/htdocs/flying.php?country=nz "Vice Magazine" interview ] ] (which he cites as his favourite band [http://junkmedia.org/index.php?i=1433 Junkmedia interview ] ] ). He started writing songs "around age 10" and has recorded over 500 songs on hundreds of cassette tapes [ [http://www.laweekly.com/music/music/the-weirdo/752/ "LA Weekly" feature ] ] since 1996.

Pink produces and plays almost all of his own music, and is noted for creating drum sounds using primarily his mouth [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/21/AR2005042100367_pf.html "Washington Post" review ] ] , and sometimes his armpits [http://www.tinymixtapes.com/Ariel-Pink-Tours-With-or-Without Tiny Mix Tapes tour news ] ] . His home recording technique gives his music a very lo-fi sound, to the point where new listeners may mistake the era of his music. Pink's influences range from R. Stevie Moore--friend, mentor, and "father of home recording" [ [http://www.dazeddigital.com/incoming/item.aspx?a=616 "Dazed Digital" article ] ] --to Michael Jackson [ [http://lefthip.com/features/9 "Left Hip Magazine" interview ] ] .

Aside from his music, Pink creates and sells semi-abstract and surreal grotesque drawings which can be viewed at his unofficial website ^{[http://www.angelfire.com/la3/zanna/art.html]} .

Pink married Alisa Daniels in July of 2002.

Career

In the summer of 2003, Pink passed a CD-R on to New York based band Animal Collective [ [http://www.angelfire.com/la3/zanna/uncut.html "Uncut Magazine" review ] ] after being introduced by mutual friend Jimi Hey (of All Night Radio and Beachwood Sparks) at one of their shows. Unbeknownst to Pink, Animal Collective had recently started their own record label, Paw Tracks, and several weeks later they contacted him expressing an interest in releasing his music. Pink became the first musician on the label aside from the members of Animal Collective [ [http://paw-tracks.com/edit/artistsEdit.htm#ariel Paw Tracks artist information ] ] . The next year, the label reissued "The Doldrums", an album which had been originally recorded in 1999. Since then, Paw Tracks (now co-owned by Carpark Records) has released two other reissues of Pink's previous recordings, "Worn Copy" and "House Arrest".

Pink has gradually caught the attention of media sources around the United States as well as internationally [ [http://paber.ekspress.ee/viewdoc/33E6CB27235DF93FC22570E40079162D "Eesti Ekspress" interview ] ] . As most of his albums are self-made, many of them have never been heard by fans. Almost all of Pink's albums which have been commercially released come from his yet-unfinished "Haunted Graffiti" series [http://www.discorder.ca/features/06ariel.html "Discorder Magazine" feature ] ] and are thus the best known.

Pink's tours have generally been met with much negativity, primarily because his music was never intended to be performed live for commercial audiences. As he explained to LA Weekly ^{[http://www.angelfire.com/la3/zanna/press/laweekly05.html]} :

Initially playing shows alone with pre-recorded music, Pink has since employed the efforts of keyboardist Kenny Gilmore, bassist Tim Koh (White Magic), drummer Jimi Hey, and guitarist Cole M. Greif-Neill (Ethnik Klensr) as Haunted Graffiti [ [http://prod1.cmj.com/articles/display_article.php?fid=69547631 CMJ tour news ] ] . However, even with a backing band unfamiliar audiences are generally hostile towards the unrehearsed nature of the live compositions.

In July, the band embarked on Pink's "Thanks Mom, I'm Dead" tour ^{[http://www.paw-tracks.com/arielpink/live.htm]} .

Discography

Albums

* 2002: "House Arrest/Lover Boy (Haunted Graffiti 5-6)" (Ballbearings Pinatas; Demonstration Bootleg)
* 2003: "Worn Copy (Haunted Graffiti 8)" (Rhystop)
* 2004: "The Doldrums (Haunted Graffiti 2; Reissue)" (Paw Tracks)
* 2005: "Worn Copy (Haunted Graffiti 8; Reissue)" (Paw Tracks)
* 2005: "Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Pedestrian Pop Hits" (Southern Records)
* 2006: "House Arrest (Haunted Graffiti 5; Reissue)" (Paw Tracks)
* 2006: "Lover Boy (Haunted Graffiti 6; Reissue)" (Ballbearings Pinatas)
* 2006: "My Molly EP" (Tiny Creatures)
* 2006: "" (Human Ear Music)
* 2006: "Ariel Friedman EP" (Human Ear Music)
* 2006: "Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti "7 Gates of Zion/Ghosts* (Mistletone)
* 2006: "Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Witchhunt Suite for WW3 12" (Melted Mailbox)
* 2006: "Holy Shit - Stranded At Two Harbors" (UUAR)
* 2007: "Scared Famous (West Coast Tour Edition)" (Human Ear Music)
* 2007: "Underground (Haunted Graffiti 1)" (Vinyl International)
* 2008: "Glow In The Dark" LP (Manimal Vinyl) with Geneva Jacuzzi
* 2008: "Oddities Sodomies Vol. 1" (Vinyl International)

Compilation appearances

* 2003: "Want Me" Homemade Hits (Kittridge Records)
* 2004: "Interesting Results" (Sonic Arts Network)
* 2005: "Jules Lost His Jewels" The Wire Tapper
* 2005: "Omen" Light Dead Sea Compilation (LDS)
* 2006: "Every Night I Die At Miyagi's" (Jan 06 Uncut sampler)
* 2006: "From U.S. to I" (Ballbearings Pinatas)
* 2007: "Everybody" Through the Wilderness: a tribute to Madonna (Manimal Vinyl)
* 2008: "Dressing Up" Perfect As Cats: a tribute to The Cure (Manimal Vinyl)

Underground Releases

* 1996: "The Nile Pan pt. 1-11"
* 1996: "Kids On Drugs"
* 1996: "Kraftwerk / Experiments"
* 1996: "Dove"
* 1997: "Death Dorm 1-4 (comp)"
* 1997: "tape 1"
* 1997: "metamorfosi / INUMI"
* 1997: "Equus 1 & 3"
* 1997: "Master 1 & 2"
* 1997: "BIANCA LIVE / DEMOES"
* 1998: "Hum It In The Streets (Papermasche)"
* 1998: "Ariel Rosenberg's Thrash n' Burn + PRE"
* 1998: "Gorrilla Live 1 + Solo"
* 1998: "Unreleased Gorrilla tape"
* 1998: "GORRILLA 2"
* 1998: "Appleasians Vaults"
* 1998: "Appleasians Greatest Hits"
* 1998: "Haunted Graffiti - CEMETERIES / RAILROADS"
* 1999: "Appleasians LIVE / the birth of Haunted Graffiti DEMOES"
* 1999: "Haunted Graffiti - UNDERGROUND Double"
* 1999: "Haunted Graffiti - SPIERS IN THE SNOW EP"
* 1999: "Haunted Graffiti - Phantasm EP"
* 1999: "Haunted Graffiti - Young Pilot Astray + Phantasm EP"
* 1999: "Haunted Graffiti - Doldrums Sessions"
* 2000: "Haunted Graffiti - Doldrums"
* 2000: "Mother of God + Orange S*NS - LIVE"
* 2002: "Scared Famous/FF» (Haunted Graffiti 3-4)"
* 2003: "Holy Shit EP (Haunted Graffiti 7)"
* 2007: "YAS DuDette" (tour-only compilation of rarities)
* 2007: "Hot Saucers" (tour-only compilation of rarities and outtakes)
* 2008: "Oddities Sodomies" (tour-only compilation of rarities and outtakes)

References

External links

* [http://www.arielpink.com Ariel's Official Website]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/la3/zanna/ Ariel Pink haunted house] (created by R. Stevie Moore)
* [http://www.humanearmusic.com/ Human Ear Music: Ariel and friends' label]
* [http://www.paw-tracks.com Paw Tracks]
* [http://rectangleblog.wordpress.com/2007/01/09/you-can-not-move-in-with-ariel-pink-glamorous-myspace-interview/ You Can Not Move In With Ariel Pink…]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Tzo4tvOVRA VIDEOS: Ariel Pink vs. R. Stevie Moore, Live at Tonic NYC 4-15-05]