Ariel Pink

Ariel Marcus Rosenberg ( ; born June 24, 1978), professionally known as Ariel Pink, is an American musician, singer, and songwriter whose work draws heavily from the popular music of the 1960s–1980s. His lo-fi aesthetic and home-recorded albums proved influential to many indie musicians starting in the late 2000s. He is frequently cited as the "godfather" of the hypnagogic pop and chillwave movements, His fame and recognition escalated following his signing to 4AD and the success of his 2010 album Before Today, his first recorded in a professional studio. He then recorded three more albums – Mature Themes, Pom Pom (2014), and Dedicated to Bobby Jameson (2017) – the last of which was recorded for Mexican Summer.

Throughout his career, Pink has been subject to several media controversies stemming from his occasional provocations onstage and in interviews. In 2021, he lost support from Mexican Summer following his presence in Washington, D.C., during the January 6 Capitol attack. He then formed a new band, Ariel Pink's Dark Side, with whom he recorded two albums, The Key of Joy Is Disobedience (2022) and Never Made A Demo, Ever (2023).

Early life

Ariel Marcus Rosenberg was born in Los Angeles on June 24, 1978. He is the only son of Mario Z. Rosenberg and Linda Rosenberg-Kennett. Mario is a Harvard-educated gastroenterologist born to a Jewish family in Mexico City, while Linda is from New Orleans. They moved to Los Angeles after Mario completed his medical specialty work at Tulane University hospital in New Orleans.

Ariel's parents encouraged him to pursue a career in visual arts rather than music. He said that "with music I had no discernible skills", whereas with drawing, they reportedly thought he was "going to be the next Picasso, and I believed them and I got better." Another artist he was particularly fond of was Lou Reed. where he attended Beverly Hills High School, branded himself as a goth, sold off his collection of metal records, and stopped following new music.

1996–2003: Early recordings While in high school, Rosenberg began experimenting with songwriting and composing avant-garde pieces using a portable cassette recorder in his father's garage. His tools were limited to one bass guitar, an amp, and kitchen utensils.

In 1997, Rosenberg entered the California Institute of the Arts studying fine art. He was dissatisfied that the school focused on "the art market" rather than "color theory or anything like that". and roommates. On one project, Rosenberg collaborated with fellow student and roommate Jeremy Albert Ringermacher, submitting a three-foot tall illustration, titled "The Last Art Piece", that realistically depicted the school's faculty, staff members, and students engaging in an orgy. The piece was allowed to be displayed, and in response, an administrative member unsuccessfully sued the university for sexual harassment.

Listen |pos=right filename=Among Dreams Doldrums.ogg title="Among Dreams" from The Doldrums (2000) description= Most of Rosenberg's early albums were recorded alone in his home with an eight-track Portastudio. The drum sounds were simulated using mouth noises. He first contacted Moore in early 1999 During this period, he recorded Scared Famous (2001), Fast Forward (2001), House Arrest (2002), Lover Boy (2002), and portions of Worn Copy (2003).

By the mid-2000s, Rosenberg had accumulated between 200 and 300 cassette tapes of material. In February 2004, his 16-year-old half-sister Elana suffered permanent brain damage and lost the use of her motor functions due to injuries sustained in a car accident. Asked in a 2012 interview how the experience affected him, he answered, "I have a hard time making music anymore. [...] I listen to what I made ten years ago and it's like hearing a different person. I have no access to those impulses anymore." after being introduced at one of their shows by a mutual friend, Beachwood Sparks drummer Jimi Hey. Several weeks later they contacted him to sign him on Paw Tracks. Rather than Worn Copy, Rosenberg submitted what he believed to be his album with the least commercial potential, The Doldrums. and the first time his limited-edition home recordings were widely distributed. Only a small circle of his friends and family had heard his music before this point. Pitchforks Nick Sylvester was less impressed and noted a "burgeoning cult of personality" around Pink's "supposed appeal of [...] normal songs, except a 'crazy' guy is singing them, and he has 'crazy' lo-fi production." In 2005 and 2006, Paw Tracks reissued two of his previous recordings, Worn Copy and House Arrest, respectively. In 2008, Pink established a more consistent touring band with keyboardist/guitarist/backing vocalist Kenny Gilmore, drummer/vocalist/guitarist Jimi Hey (later replaced by Aaron Sperske), and guitarist Cole M. Greif-Neill. The original liner notes to these early albums, while credited to "Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti", also distinctly credit "Ariel Pink" with performing, recording, or writing the music. Pink was the only member of his band to appear on all four of his albums from the 2010s. Some of its songs were written years earlier, such as "Beverly Kills", which originally appeared on Scared Famous. Its making was fraught with personal difficulties, with some band members briefly quitting, including Rosenberg himself. and received critical acclaim.

In 2011, Pink released a 16-minute standalone single, "Witchhunt Suite for WWIII", to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. In April, he sabotaged his performance at the Coachella music festival by causing feedback with his microphone and refusing to sing; he then left the stage and apologized to the crowd. He later explained that the group had "set up in a new configuration" without consulting him first and that the "whole point of that action was not that I was unstable or anything ... I was hammering the point that I could embarrass the fuck out of them if they didn't listen to me and that this was not a democracy, this was a police state."

Pink struggled to keep his band together and later said that Koh and Gilmore threatened to leave if he did not dismiss drummer Aaron Sperske from the line-up. In 2012, Sperske sued Pink and the band for $1 million (~$ in ) after claiming to be "squeezed out" of an established "oral partnership".

Mature Themes, the follow-up to Before Today, came in August 2012. Unlike Before Today, the material on the album was newly written especially for the LP.

Personal life

Public remarks

Many of Pink's remarks in interviews have incited controversy. Some of his provocations included "It's not illegal to be racist", "This gay marriage stuff pisses me off", and his expressed "love" for necrophiliacs, pedophiles, and the Westboro Baptist Church. Fans argued that he is simply a glib speaker. (Rhik Sammadar of The Guardian noted that "Pink has a particular tendency to pull radically insightful arguments from nowhere – about sensationalist media, the amorality of capitalism, liberal delusion – and cloak them in clangingly reactionary or inflammatory conclusions." The article embroiled him into a minor controversy, with musician Grimes calling his comments "delusional misogyny".) He denied that he was a misogynist and said that he had only repeated what he was told by an Interscope agent.

Pink admitted that one of his tactics with interviewers is to talk so much that the other person has no opportunity to ask a question. He resents interviews and fame, explaining "I'd like to get by without making a fool of myself, running my mouth all the time. It's not helping me."

Relationships and family

During his early 20s, According to his attorney, the plea was made due to his lack of funds to continue battling the case. In response, in 2020 Pink filed civil harassment restraining orders against Coe. The suit was later dismissed, although the court did not rule on the merit of the allegations. A week after the courts rejected the suit, Pink stated that he was unable to afford legal representation, In 2015, he said he was grateful for the bullying he experienced as a child, as it taught him to be thick skinned, and commented that "nyone who is crying about police brutality or victimization as an adult needs to stop it and realize the privileges we have in this country." When asked if he celebrated Hanukkah, he explained that he did not, except when his parents invited him to do so. In a 2010 interview with Heeb Magazine, he remarked that people who boast of their Jewish pride are "fucking stupid". He explained: "I'm totally against all that. I think you're a man of the world. Worldly. We're all from the same DNA strand, you know. It's like potatoes are our brothers. So, so, so silly."

In a 2017 interview, Pink was asked to clarify his political leanings, to which he answered: "I would say I'm for America in whatever capacity that comes in... If Hillary [Clinton] was going to win [the 2016 election] I would have been like, right on... As long as we are a nation that comes together then that's all I care about." Following the 2020 presidential election, Pink tweeted his support for Donald Trump.

In December 2020, during an appearance on the podcast Wrong Opinion, Pink stated that he believed the recent presidential election was tampered by the Democratic Party "in some sort of collaboration with China". He opined that Trump represented "an indictment on anything bullshit... I'm so gay for Trump, I would let him fuck me in the butt." but reaffirmed his support for Trump.

Discography

Underground (1999) The Doldrums (2000) Scared Famous and Fast Forward (2001) House Arrest (2002) Lover Boy (2002) Worn Copy (2003) Before Today (2010) Mature Themes (2012) Pom Pom (2014) Dedicated to Bobby Jameson (2017) With You Every Night (2025)

Explanatory notes