Arts & Culture
Rising musician Ari Herstand to take center stage at The Encore this Saturday, Nov. 8
Arts and Culture Reporter
Musician Ari Herstand will make an appearance Saturday, Nov. 8, at Stevens Point for the first time in six years, this time performing for a different crowd.
“The last time I was here I was auditioning with my trumpet to get into the music program,” he said.
Although he did not attend the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Herstand said he initially went to the University of Minnesota as a music major. He said he spent his first year in Minneapolis, Minn., performing at local coffee shops before he realized what his true passion was.
“I dropped out of school and decided to pursue music industry school,” he said. “I went to school in St. Paul, Minn., to learn the business side.”
Though Herstand said that he still considers himself a beginner in the music industry, he quit his day job this past January to start recording his current album and devote himself to music.
Part of the musician’s unique style involves incorporating a live looping technique into his music. The new technology involves looping and layering different instruments or musical techniques, including trumpet, beat boxing and lyrics.
“I discovered it three years ago when I stumbled into a club,” he said. “It was being used to loop guitars. I brought it home and locked myself in my room for a couple weeks. It helps to compensate when I don’t have the band there, and helps me stand out.”
This loop station changed the way he approached his writing and live shows. He said he could incorporate everything he heard in his head.
Herstand said it is very difficult to explain what he sounds like live. He described it as more of an experience.
He also said he has written all his lyrics and music on his own and pays close attention to detail.
“I spend two hours for sound check for every show,” Herstand said.
“I am my own manager right now,” he said. “Balancing everything is the hard part: life on the road, song writing, practicing and keeping up with everything.”
His college Midwest tour includes stops in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri and Illinois. The tour began in late August and will continue on and off through December.
Herstand said he has played with different kinds of bands and musicians that have opened him up to different styles.
“It’s nice to expand outside of a certain genre,” he said.
Artists like Dave Matthews, Coldplay and Ben Folds have all served as an inspiration to Herstand, but his music has evolved over time.
“I’ve opened for some of my music idols with crowds of 3,500 people,” he said. “I’ve had shows with five people in the crowd; those are always hard. There are so many ups and downs and there will be [more] in the future.”
Herstand said right now he’s just trying to reach as many people as he can with his music, no matter what direction that takes him.
“It’s cliché to say, but I’m living the dream,” he said. “I play music and make a living doing it.”
