Ariel Pink

A highly individual and unusual artist, Ariel Pink is famous for his unconventional home recording techniques, lo fi sound and the extraordinary effects he creates with his mouth. From Beverlywood in Los Angeles, he grew up listening to British goth acts like Bauhaus, Sisters Of Mercy and The Cure and was writing his own songs by the age of 10, going on to release them on a succession of cassette tapes. Strongly influenced by his mentor, R. Stevie Moore - "the father of home recording" - he developed his unique talent for creating percussive and other sounds primarily using only his mouth and became a popular collaborative figure for other artists, including Atheif, Animal Collective and Jimi Hey. Signed to Animal Collective's Paw Tracks label, which gave proper release to some of his earlier home recordings like The Doldrums, Worn Copy and House Arrest, he gained further attention with a series of recordings he called Haunted Graffiti. He also gained a strong live following, despite audiences being confused by his avant garde live shows, using pre-recorded music and strange interactive shows with free-thinking musicians such as John Maus, Gary War, Tim Koh (White Magic), Dana Young and Robert Robinson. In 2006 he formed a more regular Haunted Graffii touring line-up which made the music more accessible and, with Matt Fishbeck, had success with the album Stranded At Two Harbors. He gained wider international interest after being signed to the 4AD label and his more sophisticated recordings included a re-make of Round and Round. His 2010 album Before Today, which included grander re-recordings of some of his earlier material, won much critical acclaim, and Pink followed it in 2012 with an equally lauded new Haunted Graffiti album, Mature Themes.