Body Rocking with (Sir) Ari Gold

In music, as in popular culture there are standards. One must appreciate and acknowledge the finer quality of things, and especially coddle and protect those commodities that are precious. One such precious commodity is gold, or more specifically Ari Gold. I'm not referring to the obnoxiously brazen upstart talent agent portrayed on the HBO series Entourage by the obnoxiously brazen upstart talented actor Jeremy Piven. No...the Gold I'm focusing all my attention on is the original and unparalleled Ari Gold.

The pop-star. The first Ari Gold. The independent music maker that has been for a decade now creating music and blazing the trail that most other out, gay artists have had the fortune to follow. If there was an artist that shattered the glass ceiling by coming out first, Ari had them beat especially since he barely set foot in the closet.

These days, the singer is distinguishing himself among his class of pop-super stars with the self-proclaimed title of Sir Ari Gold. It's a persona he's set in-motion to promote his upcoming album project, the seductively entitled Between the Spirit & the Flesh.

Scandalous video

The scandalous video for the first single "Make My Body Rock" is already raising eyebrows. Perhaps it's the video's highly charged sexual content and a shirtless Gold engaging in a vampiric threesome; certainly bathing in a gelatinous goo before feasting on a defenseless innocent may spark some controversy, but whatever the images may provoke, everyone agrees that "Make My Body Rock" is arguably a brilliant new sound for Gold. The tune is a more electro-pulsing synth arrangement than we're become accustomed to hearing from the artist.

With his first hit single, the intoxicatingly vibrant "Wave Of You" Gold easily positioned himself as a chart-topping performer, garnering the attention of industry heavy weights like Clive Davis among other notables. A catchy string of popular singles and a heart-warming charismatic appeal soon found Ari Gold with international music success. His 2007 full-album project Transport Systems proved how skilled a concept artist he could be; as marketability capable at his craft as his music idols Madonna, Janet Jackson or George Michael.

On this album Ari also wrote several tracks that played up to his sexuality. In "Ride to Heaven" he details the misadventure of taking a joy ride with "just his kind of guy"; on "Mr. Mistress" Gold thumbs his finger at a trifling lover who can't let go of his life on the down-low, and on "Human" his own melodic harmonies reveal how vulnerable Gold can be when he pulls back the layers of the original ballad by The Human League and turns it into an anthem for the gay community's continual fight for equal rights.

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Watch Ari Gold's video of "Make My Body Rock":

Watch Ari Gold's "It Gets Better" video:

Inspired by True Blood

But even now as in recent times, when artists such as Ricky Martin and country music sensation Chely Wright, come out in the mainstream media, Ari Gold who has never been a closeted performer is held at point by the odd angle of a double-edge sword.

Gold has often profited from the desirable image of his gay sexuality, and he doesn't hold backon his current new release. Decidedly pursuing a more complex narrative for his latest video for "Make My Body Rock" Ari borrows from the popularization of vampires, and perhaps draws some inspiration from another HBO series True Blood or the very popular Twilight saga.

"I'm a huge fan of the show...but vampires have been around for a long time," he tells me with a grin, sharing his decision to go supernatural for the song's interpretation to short film. "There's an ambiguously sexual nature with vampires that's appealing, but the video is more a commentary on the current economic crisis (his on-screen business man character), on sexuality (the macabre images haunting the character's day-to-day), and marriage (the hetero-sexual character engages in a little man-on-vampire action) -- it's a blend of things."

As is the new more pop-trippy sound of the single. Having already established himself as an r&b/pop act with his soul infused melodies and vocals, "Make My Body Rock" is much more current sonically, certainly keeping with the popular style of radio-friendly hits making their way onto the airwaves. "I don't think it's that much more of a departure from what I'm used to doing," Gold shares, "but this is the most rock sounding song I've ever produced."

He took the initial cue for the new album, from a music track that was submitted to him from a brand new songwriter that Gold had never worked with before, but was familiar with Ari's sound.

"The first single did inform the rest of the album...I started working with Michael Colin -- he sent me the music." Gold started collaborating with his new songwriting partner via the internet -- in fact most of the tracks the two worked on together for Between the Spirit & the Flesh were crafted over the world wide web. "It was so easy," Gold says about writing for the album, and especially writing "Body Rock". "The last time I wrote a song like that -- that quickly was 'Wave Of You'." And if fans are concerned that Ari has shifted creatively from the familiar sound that made him such a popular artist, he says not so. "Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds will always be of my school of reference, but I'm also of the age of Michael Jackson and Madonna, and they've also influenced how I approach my music."

Just some shirtless dance act?

And certainly those iconic artists established themselves with constant experimentation in music, producing some of pop's most ground-breaking hits, and constantly switching things up. "This is also the first time that I'm working with an executive producer other than myself, Yaron Fuchs -- he's overseeing the entire project." Another indicator of how Gold, as an independent artist, is competitively approaching his skill as a musician and performer to compete among the rest of the industries more common chart-toppers.

With a decade of work to draw from, Ari Gold emerged on the music scene at the same time that Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera were battling for the crown of the new pop-princess, and J.Lo was embarking on becoming the ultimate triple threat. Ari was immediately embraced by the more open International market which has a deeper regards for dance acts, and didn't have an issue with his open sexuality.

"I think that a lot of times people assume I'm just some 'shirtless dance act' -- I don't think people give me all that much credit for the thought, the politics and the theories that go into the things that I do." But it was always of profound interest to Gold to not only share his gift of music and performance, but also establish himself as an individual in his art form. Someone with a definite message to share given the platform he was pursuing.

"There's a lot of things that I see Lady Gaga doing now, that I've been doing all along," he says, "but it's also been a long time since we've had a pop-star like Lady Gaga who can express themselves, or discuss their art in an intelligent way." Since the advent and popularization of competitive reality television shows like American Idol and the cavalcade of Disney Channel marketing machines that gave us Hannah Montana and the High School Musicals (the precursor to hits like today's Glee), unless there were millions of dollars in the offering, few labels would even bat an eye at gifted musicians or newly emerging acts.

Gold had to rely on the gay market and its then limited media outlets, including social-networking to make his impression. A strategy that has since been applied most obviously by mainstream artists like Beyonc�, Scissor Sisters and especially Lady Gaga to tap into gay dollars and achieve their super-stardom. "Would there even be a space for Lady Gaga if some work hadn't already been carved out for her?" Ari is quick to suggest.

And why is it perhaps still an ordeal for an artist like Ari Gold with his proven market-appeal and sustainability to find it a challenge to make the leap and crossover into mainstream success?

"It's been nearly 20 years (since the visibility of gay artist) and the message that we're sending is: you have to hit it big in mainstream first, and then come out later."

It's something that for Gold is a common obstacle every time he is preparing to release a new project. "I still have to have the conversation about 'toning down' the gay -- after the 10 years that I've been doing this." Some people in the industry feel that even after the onset of mainstream artists that have come out, radio programmers may have a problem playing the music of an artist, like Ari Gold on their stations.

"It's as if no time has passed," Gold explains, "as if the time between Elton John, Boy George, George Michael and now Ricky Martin is all part of one period in time -- and they are all in one category of artists who were big before coming out." Gold adds, "Does it get frustrating? -- yeah sure -- every artist just wants their work to get out there, and I don't understand why it's taking baby steps."

Ari Gold may have been prepared to face the distinct prejudices within the music industry when he started his career, but has been uniquely cast as a leader continuing to alter perceptions about gay performers. "The challenge is not to be bitter -- I love what I do, and I love my life. I'm grateful that I've been able to do something that's laid down the ground work -- that's the gift."

Ari Gold's next musical evolution Between the Spirit & the Flesh will be preparing to launch early 2011. The single and video for "Make My Body Rock" is currently available.

Watch Ari Gold perform at Orlando Pride 2009:

Watch Ari Gold's video of "Where the Music Takes You":