We checked in with pop star and activist (and local resident) Sir Ari Gold, who is getting ready to headline the NYC Gay Pride Month Launch Party on Orchard Street tomorrow afternoon. The street party will include live music from Isle of Klezbos, Josh Zuckerman, Tongue in Public and more. Not to mention the big Lady Gaga Look Alike Contest. Winners will receive over $500 worth of prizes. Here’s what Ari had to say about the event:
My Mother grew up here on the Lower East Side as did her parents and grandparents, which makes me fourth generation Lower East Side, so it’s really cool to be headlining the official NYC Pride Month kickoff here. To think about what my grandparents and great grandparents had to go through as immigrants and now how LGBT people are fighting for our civil liberties, and then also to think about the rich artistic history of the LES, it’s just an awesome confluence of history and I’m so honored to be a part of it—it feels so bashert.
TLD – What will you be singing?
I will be doing material from my new album “Between the Spirit & the Flesh” which is out now under my new moniker Sir Ari after being knighted by the Imperial Court of NY for my work in HIV/AIDS and human rights. I’m also singing some of my other Billboard hits and my song “Bashert (Meant To Be)” which I’ve sung at four gay weddings two lesbian weddings and one straight wedding!
TLD – Who do you want to come?
The thing I love most about the LES is that it’s probably the last neighborhood in Manhattan that truly has a mix of races, nationalities, cultures, sexualities and generations. So I want to see that mix in the audience because even though I’m an openly gay artist who sings personal songs about my life, I believe what I have to say is universal and human.
TLD – Will you be dressing like Lady Gaga?
My producer, Yaron Fuchs, who I worked with on this new album called me “Man Gaga” ’cause I make dance/pop music with a message and sometimes wear crazy costumes. I’m happy someone like her is so huge and spreading this message—it takes some of the pressure off from an artist like myself who has been singing about LGBT issues since my first album came out in 2000. I don’t feel as alone anymore. (People magazine just wrote that Ari’s new album “Between the Spirit & the Flesh” “packs born-this-way swagger.”)
The party takes place tomorrow from 3:30 pm to 7:30 pm on Orchard Street between East Houston and Stanton Streets. It will kick off a month of Lower East Side cultural performances and a shop-a-thon to benefit The Imperial Court. The NYC Gay Pride Month Launch Party is an official partner of NYC Pride (www.nycpride.org).
