Ari Roar
Ari Roar is the brain child of Caleb Ian Campbell. Currently residing in Seattle, it all started in Dallas, Texas. He first began his musical journey through life when his parents exposed him to some Doobie Brothers tapes at a very young age. The group would also turn out to be his first concert. When he asked his parents what that curious smelling smoke was wafting across the lawn of the amphitheater, they quickly changed the subject.
Fast forward to high-school. Caleb lurked the hallways hiding behind his peculiar brightly colored hodgepodge salvation army outfits. In retrospect he might not have looked so great with that black hair dye. Nonetheless, it didn't matter as long as he felt that he was doing his best to stand alone from what he considered to be the unoriginal mindless drones that squawked in the halls about who cheated on who and how much liquor their parents might have stowed away in the cupboard under the sink. His parents, determined for him to compete with the honor roll students left him feeling somewhat apathetic in a school rife with gang violence and constant demolition/construction blocking off various sections of hallways. The assistant principle told him that taking four art classes in one semester was too many but what did she know.
His senior year was cut short from an operation to fix his scoliosis. That means twisted spine for those of you who don't know. Laid up in bed for months on end he would need to relearn how to do most basic tasks. Sit up, stand, walk, shower, shit, piss, jerk off ... all the hits. Somehow they gained new meaning upon the second learning. This was a fuzzy period wrapped in a warm blanked of heavy painkillers. But alas, he eventually was a real boy again.
So called "adult life" following high-school gave Caleb chronic panic attacks. Maybe it was the weed. It was probably the weed. Working as a waiter in a smelly seafood restaurant, he was feeling rather accomplished with life. He practically floated to work with his red bow tie and black denim vest that he was required to wear. This experience still has him waking up in the middle of the night incold sweats screaming.
He thought to himself that he might try out a small city north of Dallas called Denton. He knew that it was a breeding ground for new music talent and bands. This became the place that would really inspire and motivate him in the years to come. The people from Denton would become his closest friends. He often moved in and out of the city chasing jobs and bands that he was pursuing. One of which landed him in Dallas again. He took a room, well more of a small garage adjacent to this guy's house and set up little place next to his bed to record. At this time he was working as a draftsman for his dad's structural engineering firm. Although his dad would have liked him to go to college and become an engineer like him, and his father before that, Caleb had little interest in pursuing it as a profession. Everything became placeholders for the ultimate goal of being a somewhat successful songwriter in someway. While living in the garage he would write and record several songs that appear on his first couple of EP's. He enlisted the help of his friend, Mckenzie Smith, who he had met in Denton, to play drums on these tracks.
Some time later Caleb decided to embark on a journey to live with his uncle in Miami Beach. It seemed like an exotic place that would be a good launching off point for tours up the east coast. His friend, Alex Naughton, flew in from Seattle to meet him when he arrived in Miami Beach from Dallas. They rehearsed for a couple weeks then headed off up the east coast to nyc and back. This was the first Ari Roar tour. The next one would follow the same path up the east coast except this time Caleb went on his own. His time spent in Miami Beach consisted of walking to the beach, writing, recording, and walking to the beach. The people he encountered along these walks were eclectic to say the least. Among his favorites were Jamaican Jewish Guy Who Sang Hebrew Rasta Songs On A Casio Keyboard and Golden Speedo Mustache Dude. Once while on a tender date a homeless guy tried to run him over with an empty wheelchair. Caleb felt embarrassed that he showed fear in front of the girl he was with. Two of the other tracks coming out on his new EP were written and recorded by him in Miami Beach. This time he played the drums.