R&B. Pop. House. Political. These words don't do much to describe the music of out singer/songwriter Ari Gold. With the unique perspective of an openly gay man, Ari's catchy songs have broken through to the mainstream - with exposure on Vibe, MTV, W, VH-1, Tops of the Pops, and Radio One. His video "Wave of You" was the first video from an openly gay artist to hit #1 on Logo. Featuring contributions from Dave Koz, Sasha Allen, and Adam Joseph, Ari's new CD "Transport Systems" is a wild ride of emotions set to a diverse range of beats. What more would you expect from someone who voiced part of the cult-fave Jem and the Holograms?
DJ Ron Slomowicz: I've been listening to this new CD of yours, really hot. How
long did it take for you to put together?
Ari Gold: Oh god, it was probably about a two-year process.
RS: When you started putting it together, did you have a certain
vision in your mind of how you wanted it to sound or what you wanted
to talk about?
Ari Gold: Yes, you know, this really was the first time that I was
able to conceive of an entire album from beginning to end. So I think
because of that it's a lot more cohesive. The writing process, the
themes of transportation and movement and transformation and
progression kept coming up. And so somewhere in the process the title
popped into my head and I was able to continue on in the creative
process, keeping this theme in my mind. I thought the idea of
progression and movement was really – what's the word – timely. I
can't think of the word, but like an apropos theme. Because I felt
like for myself personally, I wanted to move forward in my own life
and in my own sense of self, and move past some of the pains that I've
experienced, to let all that go.
And then I thought that this really, really made a lot of sense, as far as what we gay people are currently going through. We have this greater visibility, we can be seen on television and in movies, but how do we move forward to actually achieve our basic human rights? How do we move forward, to be seen as the multifaceted, complex individuals we are, as opposed to just being (used to) make straight people look better, for example. So yes, that theme was definitely there, and I definitely had a sense musically of where I wanted to go. But, you know, musically I always know there are certain types of things that I'm always drawn to, certain types of chord progressions, certain types of sounds. Though I did experiment with other sounds that I haven't before, using live horns and even live drums for some of it.
RS: I noticed the whole transport theme, and that you also did
piano with a body of movement, the musical interludes. Where did that
idea come from?
Ari Gold: Well it's funny because my friend RuPaul – who I'm sure
you know – RuPaul always hates when people put interludes on albums,
but I kind of like it, when it makes sense. I think there was a time
when Janet did it really well and then she went a little crazy with it
and every interlude was just her giggling. But (for this CD), it's
part of movement and progression. It makes sense formally with the
album because we have little transitions that get us to where the next
place is, and there were just little things that I wanted to do and
say. Like the Love Movement One. I just loved working with Jo-Jo Ho
from Hit Play, and I thought his string programming was just gorgeous,
and I wanted to feature that.
RS: Who is it you have preaching on the preaching track?
Ari Gold: That is me. I am on the pulpit.
RS: Also in that preaching mode, the song Mr. and Mistress, was
that directed at any specific situation in your life?
Ari Gold: I would say it's sort of an amalgamation of a bunch of
different situations that I've been in. I always write
autobiographically, and it's really an empowerment song. It's about a
man who finds out that the man he's having an affair with is married
with children, and it's saying, 'You know what, I deserve better than
that. I don't need that. I don't want to make a mess – especially when
there are children involved – I don't want to make a mess of this
family, and this other man needs to get his house in order, as opposed
to continuing on with the secrets and the lies.' You know, we as gay
people, who have come out of the closet, we have spent so much time
and energy in order to accept ourselves, to come out to our friends
and family, and so why would we want to put ourselves in a situation
where we have to continue maintaining some sort of veil of secrecy and
lies?
