Ari Lehman

We had the honor and the priveledge to do this interview with Ari Lehman. Being the first person to play the iconic Jason Voorhees to playin in his band First Jason, Ari continues to entertain fans in the music and film world! Shaun and I would like to thank Ari for doing this. We hope that you enjoy the interview as much as we did doing it!

1. You were the very first actor to play Jason Voorhees, how does it feel to have played one of the most iconic serial killers in horror and film history?

First of all I want to say "Thanks!" to you, and "Hi!" to your readers.

Playing the First Jason Voorhees in "Friday the 13th" was a lot of fun for me, as a young man of 14, and being set at a Summer Camp, I had a blast on the set learning acting and filmmaking in between swimming and canoeing.

No one had any expectations at that time that "Friday the 13th" would go on to become such an important Horror film, and the blueprint for so many slasher-genre films that came after it. So, in answer to your question, I think that I speak for all the cast and crew when I say that I feel lucky
to have been a part of it all.

The feeling of having played Jason in particular is powerful. Initially, I felt that Jason's revenge represented the rage of all neglected children, and when I saw the reaction it had on audience members, that was a charge.

After the subsequent movies, when Jason became a huge monster, I began to feel a sort of brotherly connection to the other actors who played Jason, and definitely had a sense of pride for having been the FIRST one! The best part of it all is at the conventions and events nowadays, when the dedicated, loyal fans of Jason bestow upon me the GREAT honor of being one of the actors who embody this giant demon, although I am of average height.

To be the First Jason is a wild ride, sometimes an ego rush, often dangerously provocative, always hilarious, and never boring. I am always aware that I am VERY lucky to have gotten this pivotal role.

2. How did you come about getting the role?

I wanted to be in movies, just like any kid does. I found out about an audition for Sean Cunningham's previous effort, called "Manny's Orphans", a comedy about inner-city orphans who play Soccer. I had no agent, so I came up with a plan. I walked into the Westport, Connecticut YMCA with a clipboard in my hand to look official. I asked the front desk, "Where's the audition?". "Up there", the lady told me, pointing upstairs. So, I marked something down on the clipboard, and, having fooled the lady, ran
upstairs where they handed me a script. I read for Sean and his casting people, and I landed the 80-line role of "Roger", a sex-obsessed kid, who always carried a Playboy magazine in his hand.

The film was well-produced, and Sean was hoping to land an after-school special slot on TV with as a pilot for a series. However, "Manny's Orphans" was a flop, perhaps due to the fact that in 1979 there weren't too many Soccer Moms around just yet. So, Sean needed to recoup his losses, in order to do another film. That is how he first decided to do "Friday the 13th", in order to make up for his losses on the comedy.

Sean called me one day, and said, "Come down to the office, I have another role for you.". I said "Great, I'll do it". Then, Sean asked me, "Can you swim?". I said "Sure, I swim almost every day!". "Good, you got the part!", said Sean. When I got to the office, however, Sean was not around,
and they accidentally handed me the script for Kevin Bacon's character, which read something like, "the counselor goes off into the woods to make out with his girlfriend". I was like, "Wow, this is excellent!", being only 14 years old. Just then, Sean Cunningham walks in and says, "No, no, that's not the character for Ari! Here, this is your script, you are going to be the monster!". Which I was very glad to hear. "You are going to wear a mask and everything!" Sean said...

3. You had to wear some pretty hardcore makeup for the role, what was the process like for that especially being such a young actor?

At that time I was already I big admirer of Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi, Ricou Browning, Ben Chapman, and Boris Karloff. I had always wondered what it would be like to wear a mask like that. Somehow, I knew that it could be an empowering experience. Also, I was eager to learn how all the scary effects were created, both out of curiosity, and to reassure myself that they were indeed safe and fake. I was in for more than I could imagine...

4.What was it like working with scream great special effects artist Tom Savini?

Sean immediately put me into the hands of special effects master Tom Savini, and his assistant Taso Stavrakos, and I was instantly inspired by these intelligent, funny pranksters, and I identified with their work ethic which was to manifest a open-studio environment of 24-7 production, a non-stop whirlwind of creation and recreation, always focused on the project at hand, and any beautiful women who might happen by the studio.

Tom and Taso's antics included stage-fighting with fencing sabres at any given moment, yelling furiously while jumping off the furniture, and riding motorcycles around the temporary Special Effects studio they had set up in the backwoods of Connecticut. In fact, the first time they made a mold of my head, there were laugh lines around the mouth, due to all the horsing around. Tom came up with a unique solution: The Doors. "Have you ever heard Jim Morrison?", he asked me. "I have heard of him, but I haven't heard his music.", I replied. "Listen to this.", Tom said, and as I waited with my head covered in alginate, I heard The Doors's "Strange Days" for the first time in my life. I was mesmerized, and since I held so still, the molding set perfectly, thanks to The Doors!

5. How has the role of Jason Voorhees changed your life?

Most importatntly, it is the dedicated fans of Jason Voorhees who have changed my life in so many very positive ways. They have accepted me with open arms, and always encourage me to extend my talents in every way possible. And just like being a part of a new family, I want to look out for the interests of everyone, and serve the genre and the fans as best as I can. Currently, I record and tour with my Monster Rock band, FIRSTJASON, I act in independent Horror films, I compose and perform soundtracks for independent films, and I attend Horror Conventions worldwide.

Through my association with this role, I have been enabled to discover the limitless capabilities of Horror, and it's potential to reveal the human condition so clearly, through the uncompromising use of Mythos, Monsters and Metaphors. When we realize that the earliest Horror directors, like F.W. Murnau, Fritz Lang, Paul Wegener, were actually contemporaries of the pioneers of psychology, like Freud and Jung, as well as contemporary phiosophers like Nietzche, it's not surprizing that the main focus of the
genre is the inner workings of the human mind, and what happens when it becomes unbalanced. No other genre explores this still-unchartered territory with such brazen audacity as is needed to make true inroads.

6. You started your own band appropriately named "First Jason", can you tell us how that all started?

I have been a professional musician, touring and recording for over twenty years, appearing worldwide with many acts, and working for major labels like Interscope and Tuff Gong records. When I first began attending horror Conventions, I was still doing Reggae/Rock and World Music. I soon realized that, even though the fans were generously buying my World Rock CD's, their hearts were dedicated to Metal, Punk, and Hardcore. I started to listen to everything I could get my hands on, and began to rekindle fond memories of checking out The Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys and Reagan Youth, while I was a music student at New York University. I created FIRSTJASON after a fan suggested the idea to me at a convention.

Today, I am proud to report that FIRSTJASON has a busy touring schedule. First we toured throughout the Midwest/South region in Summer of 2007, on the "Creatures of Crystal Lake Tour" alongside FREAK13. We hit the East Coast for the Rock and Shock convention in Worcester, Mass, opening for
WEDNESDAY13, with MUSHROOMHEAD and TYPE O NEGATIVE sharing the bill. Halloween 2007 found FIRSTJASON playing to a packed house at the always fun Lucky 13 in Brooklyn, NYC. Just two weeks ago, FIRSTJASON played for hundreds of screaming Horror fans at FEAR FEST 2, in Dallas, Texas, opening for former MISFITS member MICHALE GRAVES and his fine band.

7. Can you give the people who aren't familiar with your music a low down on your sound and basically what you're all about?

FIRSTJASON lyrical message comes form the inner workings of the mind of Jason Voorhees, who has no voice. FIRSTJASON is the Voice of Jason. The sound is something of a crossover of Metal, Punk and Hardcore. FIRSTJASON is proud to have the Bassist Nefarious from MACABRE on the team, who has been instrumental in developing the band's sound. It was Nefarious who urged me to bring my keyboard skills into the mix, inspiring me the create The KeySword. The KeySword is an analog synthesizer duct-taped to a huge wooden Chinese sword with a guitar strap on it. I put it through a little
bass amp as a distortion box, and it the effect is totally Metal! The KeySword has to be seen to be believed. (I will attach pictures below).

Add to that a kickass double bass drummer from Transylvania named Vlad, and you've got that lean, mean, Monster Rock sound that is FIRSTJASON.

8. What are some of your musical influences?

Motorhead, The Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys, BioHazard, Reagan Youth, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, King's X, 24-7 Spyz, Bad Religion, The Misfits, Henry Rollins Band, Michale Graves, Patti Smith, Slayer, Macabre...

9. You consider yourself part of the horror rock scene, what is it about this scene that you like?

The Horror Rock scene is really strong and growing fast. I consider myself very lucky to be involved. The best part of it all, as a singer who writes his own songs, is having such a rich source of topic material to draw from. It is galvanizing to have this specificity when going to write lyrics especially. It's a catalyst for the imagination. The old model of the singer/songwriter displaying his/her "true feelings" about love, life and other mundane subjects, has no chance when one can sing about madness,
monsters, and mortality itself, as we do in Dark World of Horror Rock.

10. What's a live "First Jason" performance like?

I let the sound of the KeySword ring out, and fill the entire space, so people can Behold it's Mighty Power! Then I shout off a fast countdown and we go right into "Machete Is My Friend". "All kneel, I speak in steel, This is the Seventh Seal, I wield, on battlefield, My wrath will be revealed! Foes fly, enemies die, fear flashing in their eye, I smite, All in my sight, Like lightning in the night!", are the opening words.

This leads into "Jason Never Dies" where I tell "Freddy Krueger, you don't scare me, You are just a dream! Michael Myers, you don't scare me, not even on Halloween!", and I go on to let them know that "Jason Never Dies!".

The tempos are upbeat, and the music is loud. Vlad's double-bass drumming sets up a heart-pounding rhythm, that sets the stage for the crunchy KeySword, and my dynamic vocal work, while Nefarious takes on a role not often given to the Bass, of adding improvisational embellishments with a strength and accuracy that could only come from an experienced musician.

11. Where can people get a hold of your music and merch?

FIRSTJASON is going into the studio here in Chicago with Matt Mercado of SUPER MERCADO fame, and we'll have our first release ready by summer 2008. It will be available at CDBaby, as well as all the major download sites.

There is a FIRSTJASON Bare Bones Demo CD that I sell at the table at Horror Conventions, so stop by the table! Also, we will be putting up a new FIRSTJASON merchandise store at www.FIRSTJASON.com on the "Store" page very soon. There will be autographed items and special T-shirts available.

12. Can you tell a little bit about "ThanXgiving" and your new movie "Black Friday"?

ThanXgiving was written by Richard Novosak, and conceived and directed by Bobby Ray Akers, a friend of mine who I met at my table at a Horror Convention. I played DelBert Eaton in the film, a great character who tries to warn a buch of meddling kids to get off his land before they get hurt, or eaten by the local cannibal-ghouls. DelBert carries a shotgun, which I actually got to shoot in the movie. DelBert gets eaten in the end. (picture from ThanXgiving attached below)

I am very excited to be a part of Black Friday, who sponsored FIRSTJASON's appearance at FEAR FEST 2. To be in a film with Kane Hodder, who truly defined the Jason Voorhees character, would be a great honor.


13. You composed the music for "Vampira: The Movie", can you tell us a little bit about the film and about your experience working on the film?

I am proud to report that VAMPIRA:THE MOVIE just won The Rondo Award for Best Independent Film of 2007! It was a real thrill woking on this fine film, as I got to learn about the life of Maila Nurmi, as do all who see it. She was such an electrifying, eccentric lady, a true creative spirit, who we unfortunately lost recently. However it is my sincere hope that this film helped her to realize just how loved she was before she died.

Alpha Video has asked us to release a VAMPIRA:THE MOVIE soundtrack CD which will include special audio content not found on the DVD, as well as a bonus track from FIRSTJASON! Keep you ears open for the VAMPIRA CD!

14. What's a day off like for Ari Lehman?

I like to walk my dog, drink good French wine, and watch a few great Horror films from the German Expressionists, the Universal Classics, or Hammer House, or the fine works of the 1970's Italian Horror directors.

15. Being a huge horror fan I always ask, what are you favorite horror movies or movies in general?

F.W. Murnau's "Faust", Fritz Lang's "M", Paul Wegener's "Der Golem".

"The Mummy" starring Boris Karloff. "Phantom Of The Opera", starring Lon Chaney. "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" starring Lon Chaney.

"Rasputin, The Mad Monk", starring Christopher Lee. "Witchfinder General" starring Vincent Price. "Theatre of Blood" starring Vincent Price. "The Wicker Man" starring Christopher Lee. "Dr.Phibes" starring Vincent Price.

Dario Argento: Phenomena, Opera, Suspiria, Tenebrae.

All Time Favorites:

"The Night of The Hunter" starring Robert Mitchum, directed by Charles Laughton. "The Seventh Seal" directed by Bergman, a powerful film.

16. Any upcoming projects or events you'd like to tell us about?

VAMP FILMS is releasing a new documentary about a fascinating filmmaker named Ted V. Mikels, who did the "Astro Zombies" series, and I have been asked to do the soundtrack. The FEAR JAM Rock Show that I organized at FEAR FEST was such a success that the promoters have asked me to handle all the future FEAR JAM events. I am planning a solid Death Metal lineup for their next event, dedicated to Italian Horror, called FULCI FEST.

17. Anything else you'd like to tell the fans out there reading this?

I have just been cast in an excellent role in the upcoming independent Horror called "Helle-Phone". Great concept! Look for the release soon.

Horror fans are the most imaginative, adventurous, wild and fun people out there. I thank you all from the bottom of Crystal Lake, and hope to see you all at a Horror Convention real soon. Stop by my table and mention this interview for a free gift! Keep your eyes open for FIRSTJASON!!!

Many Thanks, and remember...

JASON NEVER DIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~ Ari/Jason#1

www.FIRSTJASON.com
www.MySpace.com/FIRSTJASON