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Jon DeRosa

a brief history of Jon DeRosa:

Jon DeRosa (b. 21 December, 1978) is a guitarist, composer, & singer/songwriter from Brooklyn, NY. Raised in the small shore town of Manasquan, NJ, DeRosa grew up idolizing Glenn Danzig. In his early teens, while studying classical and flamenco guitar & memorizing the entire output of 4AD and Projekt Records, he began writing & recording music. Although DeRosa had been involved with several musical projects by the time he turned eighteen, his dark folk/goth band Dead Leaves Rising was the first of his endeavors to draw national attention & continued to garner acclaim until it was disbanded in 2002.

In 1998, DeRosa lost nearly all hearing in his right ear. The accompanying aural hallucinations inspired DeRosa to start Aarktica, a mostly instrumental, guitar-based atmospheric project that still remains active over a decade later. Aarktica’s debut release No Solace In Sleep (Silber Records, 2000) was described by George Parsons of Dream Magazine as “…songlike as a sedated Durutti Column, or as ectoplasmic as Flying Saucer Attack sleepwalking through Windy & Carl’s home movies of their trip to Iceland.”

In the difficult years following his hearing loss DeRosa began studying Indian classical vocal music with La Monte Young & Marian Zazeela. His studies with them (& later, Michael Harrison) would be particularly influential to DeRosa & affect all of his musical output from that time forward.

Around the time of Aarktica’s 2003 release Pure Tone Audiometry, Jon Pareles of the New York Times wrote, “Aarktica’s songs are extended reveries, built on loops of guitars & drums & occasional voices. The musical elements hover & circle, float by or bristle with distortion as the songs drift through serenity & trouble.”

Throughout the 2000’s, DeRosa continued performing & releasing music as Aarktica, in addition to playing guitar with New York City chamber pop ensemble Flare. DeRosa also briefly recorded under the name Pale Horse and Rider, releasing two albums of urban country songs during this time. Rob O’Connor at CMJ remarked “DeRosa’s not unlike the downcast end of Springsteen. ‘Jersey Coast Line’ [from 2002’s These Are The New Good Times] could very well be Nebraska‘s 11th track.”

In 2006, DeRosa lent his voice to Stephin Merritt’s opera “The Peach Blossom Fan”, as the role of Hou Fang Yu. Some of his contributions were first featured on Merritt’s Showtunes album (Nonesuch, 2006). “The Peach Blossom Fan” became available in its entirety in 2008 (Nonesuch).

DeRosa continues to record as Aarktica, his most recent releases being 2009/10’s In Sea & In Sea Remixes.

In 2011, DeRosa unveiled his first eponymous release, the Anchored EP, the first in a series of solo EPs, primarily released digitally, with limited physical editions in various formats.
 

Jon DeRosa Discography
Jon DeRosa: Anchored Jon DeRosa - Anchored
CD EP 2011 | Silber 103
4 tracks, 16 minutes
$6 ($12 international, $3 download (320 kbps, ~35 megs))
Shipping Late-August! In stores in September!
Jon DeRosa of Aarktica's debut solo EP of moody pop backed by orchestral strings & horns. 

: Listen to the track Anchored
: Press release
: Reviews

Jon DeRosa Links
Official Website
Aarktica
Dead Leaves Rising