Interview with Ari Hest

by Stephanie Shum

A short 18 months after our initial interview with singer-songwriter Ari Hest, we decided to sit down with him again to catch up on all the changes in his life. Read on as we discuss Scott Siever, life on a major record label, Scott Siever, his first talk show appearance and ... Scott Siever.

Dreams Awake: Ok, just a couple of easy and silly questions to warm you up. I’m a reality TV buff so I have to ask. Which reality TV show would you go on given the chance?

Ari Hest: I don't watch any reality TV so I will not be able to answer the question, unfortunately. I would love to but I can't do it, sorry.

DA: If Sammy Hagar played a Van Halen song that David Lee Roth wrote, is it considered a cover?

AH: Yes, David Lee Roth is a lot cooler than Sammy. Ah! I probably shouldn't say that. I prefer David's craziness to Sammy's.

DA: Who is your favourite muppet and as a follow-up, who is your favourite muppet who is in the band?

AH: Beaker. I like Beaker, I think he's funny. I love watching him. He's such a nerd, it's great. I also like Guy Smiley a lot. Favourite muppet in the band would be Scott Siever, of course.

DA: Which one of the 7 dwarves are you most like?

AH: Sleepy. Today, I'm definitely sleepy.

DA: Are you in any way influenced by The Partridge Family?

AH: That is a tough question but no, I'm not. Should I be?

DA: I'm not sure, actually. Moving on, coming from an athletic background, what do you do to keep in shape when you're travelling constantly? AH: Um, eat a lot of potato chips. I have Chips Ahoy in there, everything. Everything that could possibly help me stay healthy, I'm eating. DA: Besides guitars, what is your most prized possession? AH: I like my vocal mic a lot. But non-musical? I have a signed baseball by Don Mattingly who's been my favourite baseball player since I was a little kid. DA: Who is in your CD player right now? AH: They're all his. *points to Scott* Hawnay Troof is one. Um, what's that band that I like with the girl singing? Scott Siever: The Cardigans? AH: The Cardigans. Their new CD is great. That's what's in the CD player.

DA: Name someone, an up and comer, you think everyone should take a listen to

AH: Mieka Pauley. *laughs* I mean it.

DA: What song can you play full-length that would surprise most people to know that you know it?

AH: I can play a Ben Folds Five song on the piano called "Missing The War." I can play that. Listen to it, it's good.

DA: Which of your songs do you think is the best "intro to Ari Hest" song and why?

AH: A Fond Farewell because it's just a song I feel like the lyrical theme ... it definitely needed to come out of me. And I have the most fun playing it. It's a pop song but it's done in a way that it's me. I can't describe it but ...

DA: You mentioned that that song means a lot to you. What was its inspiration?

AH: I read a bad review of a show I had and it was after I had read a bunch of other reviews that were fine, good, and after reading the good reviews, I got a bad one and I took a lot of stock in it for a little while, like a day. And the next day, I was like I can't do this anymore, read reviews anymore. I'm just going to trust whatever I feel is good for me and that's what the song is.

DA: Last time we spoke, you said that you didn't mind people downloading your music. Have your views on that changed? And how do you feel about the RIAA cracking down on music downloaders?

AH: My view on that hasn't changed for me because it's still helping me to get people to shows and that's what I want. Touring is really, really important to me and downloading is only helping that. My label would say the opposite and that's the difference right now. That they need to sell their CD. I do too. But it's the kind of thing that I really feel that yes, the downloading will continue to grow but it's okay because then more people will go to shows and more people will buy the CD after the show.

DA: Who is your biggest non-musical influence?

AH: Scott Siever. *laughs*

DA: Aside from The Ari Hest Show Archive, there is a new fansite for you now (ed note: shameless plug). How do you feel about such sites being created? AH: I think it's amazing. It's really, really cool. Thank you to the people whoare creating them. It's an added bonus. DA: Who would you most like to share a bill with? AH: Patti Griffin would be fun. DA: I noticed that on the record and when you play live, you've changed "New York City" to "this city" in "They're Onto Me." What prompted that change? AH: Honestly, when I did it, I didn't realize I was doing it so it wasn't the kind of thing that I was conscious of. I didn't do it on purpose, it just kind of happened. I think that's happened with a few songs where once I started playing them, I developed new words that didn't used to be there and that's just one. It wasn't a thought that I had to change it. I just did.

DA: Have you randomly heard your own song on the radio yet?

AH: Yes, XM Radio. Not anything ...

DA: How did it feel the first time it happened?

AH: I had to turn it off after a couple of minutes because I was frustrated with how shitty it sounded in the van. I'm pretty anal about the way things sound.

DA: Your first late night TV show appearance is set to air this Friday. Could you tell us what it was like taping the episode?

AH: When I got there, I was really nervous and before I got on stage, I was completely, for some reason, I was fine. I think I just saw the people and everybody seemed to be happy and relaxed. I think it's good. Things on TV sound like shit usually so I don't know how it's going to come out.

DA: Will you be watching it or taping it?

AH: I will be watching, most likely, as long as I'm not playing a show.

DA: Suppose a movie studio approached you to make Someone To Tell the soundtrack to an upcoming movie. What would that movie's storyline be and just for fun, who would be the stars?

AH: Some kind of porno flick, I guess. *laughs* The album is about my life soI guess it would be a movie about my life. Everything comes back to me, basically. I'm the most important person in the universe. *laughs* I'd have Scott Siever play me and I would play Scott Siever.

DA: You played your first international show in Toronto earlier this year. Do you think we'll see more international dates soon, possibly overseas?

AH: I don't know how soon but absolutely, I really want to do more. And I don't know why we haven't yet, actually. I really want to do that. The CD hasn't been released across the globe yet so once that happens, I think things will get a little more better with that.

DA: Do you see the band you have now as set? AH: New drummer, maybe. *laughs* I would like to keep getting a bigger band and get more people. More arrangements. Like, things that add colour like mandolin, keyboard, zither, xylophone. DA: I can play the xylophone. Can I be in your band? AH: Yes! You're hired! Hired! DA: How does it feel to have your first major label album completed? AH: It feels really good but it doesn't really feel a whole lot different. The biggest difference is that you walk into a store and it's there but that could've been accomplished without Columbia. I just think that it's cool to have the opportunity and I'm proud of it. I think it's the best album I've done so far.

DA: So you have gone into stores and seen your CD there?

AH: I've seen my CD. I've put it onto the shelf that it's not supposed to be on and all that.

DA: How has the label thing been going so far? Is it everything you had hoped it would be?

AH: So far, it's good. It's exactly what I thought it would be right now. There's a lot of good, there's a little bad. But nothing that we haven't been able to handle so far. And I think that they haven't really completely pushed the record yet. Once that happens, it will be a little better. But things are pretty good right now.

DA: How has life changed for you since being signed?

AH: I don't sleep as much. I still play with Scott Siever. *laughs* I don't know, not a whole lot. I'm still doing what I'm doing. That's what I expected.

DA: Finally, do you have any advice for up and coming artists regarding getting signed or just in general?

AH: Getting signed shouldn't be the point. I made that mistake early on and I think a lot of people do. It's not something you should rush into. I think I'm actually lucky that when I went to visit labels when I was 20 years old and played and they thought I wasn't ready, it was probably a good thing because I wasn't ready. I didn't know what I was getting intoat the time. I mean, you never know exactly what you're getting into. There's a lot of stuff that's going on right now that's new to me but there's also a lot that I'm lucky to know how to handle.

For more information on Ari Hest, visit his website at www.arihest.com.