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Jon DeRosa has released a cover of Stax classic ‘Sunday Jealous’ originally by Nick Charles. The song is a B Side to his single ‘Birds of Brooklyn’. De Rosa released his debut album A Wolf in Preachers Clothing in November on Rocket Girl Records.
For those of you in New York – DeRosa is headlining the Mother West’s Holiday Extravaganza. The free show is at The Bowery Electric on the 12/18 and features some of the latest and greatest artists from the Mother West’s roster He will also be doing a reading at at Public Assembly on the 12/11 for the The Greatest 3 Minute Metal Stories Ever. No doubt Danzig will feature heavily in DeRosa’s tale.
Jon DeRosa (b. 21 December, 1978) is a guitarist, composer and singer/songwriter from Brooklyn, NY. Raised in the small shore town of Manasquan, NJ, DeRosa grew up idolizing Glenn Danzig, while studying classical and flamenco guitar and memorizing the entire output of 4AD and Projekt Records. It was with this eclectic background that he began his approach to writing and recording music. DeRosa has been involved with many musical projects including dark folk/goth band Dead Leaves Rising, followed by the dreamy atmospheric sounds of Aarktica. In 1998 Jon DeRosa lost nearly all hearing in his right ear which sparked the birth of Aarktica (a project that remains active over a decade later) as well as his study of Indian classical vocal music with La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela.
In addition to Aarktica, Jon plays guitar with 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 and In Sea Remixes.
In 2011, DeRosa unveiled his first eponymous release, the Anchored EP. Novelist Ed Park (The Believer) said of it: “At first, Jon DeRosa’s Anchored EP, a quartet of gorgeously layered chamber-pop shanties, seems leagues away from the voluptuous Lovecraftian drift he perfected under his moniker Aarktica. But there are dark spaces here, too, room to brood in the sweet gravel of his voice, in Julia Kent’s penetrating cello lines, and in the quiet violence of the lyrics. With a depth that belies its brief running time, Anchored is so perfect that it literally gives you the chills.”
In April 2012, DeRosa self released a limited vinyl edition of his debut full length A Wolf In Preacher’s Clothes in the US, and on November 5/6 2012 DeRosa will release the album on CD internationally via RocketGirl Records.
Praise For Jon DeRosa
“Jon DeRosa is a living, breathing, gateway to a simpler time in the Jersey Shore’s musical history, reaching back into the annals of our culture when artistic scenes resided, not in boardwalk-based clubs and locales, but on street corners, outside store fronts, and in the minds of the same Gospel and Soul singers who would influence the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Southside Johnny.” — Speak Into My Good Eye
“”True Men sets a more wistful tone, boxing serving as its central metaphor. Over a sweeping arrangement straight out of late 50s Ricky Nelson, DeRosa lets the double entendres fly. “I’ve woken the neighbors, after hard nights of labor,” is the closing mantra. And who hasn’t? But the way he sets it up – and then knocks it down – is sweet science.”” — New York Music Daily
“One of the most striking features of [Birds of Brooklyn] is DeRosa’s rich baritone. It resembles Morrissey’s a bit in its grand, expressiveness (with maybe the slightest dash of his childhood hero Glenn Danzig thrown in as well). The music itself is lovely. A lilting, slightly Latin rhythm guides the verses under gentle acoustic guitar and mellow keys..” – KUT -Song of the Day
“You’ll notice a kinship with Children of Scott Walker like Nick Cave and Jarvis Cocker, hints of John Cale’s Paris 1919, and maybe even some connection to John Doe of X. It’s easy to call this chamber pop, but it’s much more textured than that. It’s also hardly surprising that the guy’s Wikipedia page says he grew up in the heart of Misfits country (Lodi, New Jersey) idolizing Glenn Danzig. That leads me to believe he’d probably do the most killer cover of “Blood and Tears” you’ve ever heard.” — eMusic
“In essence, A Wolf In Preacher’s Clothes is a beautiful collision between the dark dreaminess of Echo & The Bunnymen, and the orchestrated pop ballads of the 50s and early 60s, polished off with some natty 40s vocal styling – all of which has influenced 33-year-old DeRosa down the years. Mostly sombre in tone, the album also reveals flashes of pop perfection, such as opener ‘Birds of Brooklyn’, which manages to walk the wobbly line between being instantly agreeable yet understated enough to avoid a sugary aftertaste.” — Happening Magazine