Ari Gold is doing for pop music what “Queer as Folk” (the English version) did for television: telling candid stories, and chipping away at the gay cliché in the process.

The songs on Gold’s second album, Space Under the Sun, produced by his record company Gold 18 Records, address his personal life in a refreshingly realistic and direct fashion, openly drawing parallels to the gay male culture at large. It’s also fun to listen to.

“I’m describing this album as an intergalactic hybrid of 80s, contemporary R&B and funky, smooth soul, spacey pop and jazzy, blues-sultry,” Gold said. “It’s primarily an R&B and pop record, but there are definitely a lot of different colors; there are ballads and there is more up-temp and mid-tempo dance stuff…. When I wrote the title track, I realized what the album was really about and it came together for me as a concept.”

They lyrics in question – “Infinite possibility, if I can only break down this fourth wall/I’m living in a room for everyone, finding my space under the sun” – point to Gold’s push for self-actualization as an artist. Within this push for full expression of identity is the desire to express sexuality, a freedom that seems impossible for many up-and-coming GLBT performers and something Gold can relate to.

“I once worked with this big-name producer – who shall remain nameless – and he would, literally, in the same conversation tell me that I had to write from my own life and then when I would write anything that had to do with being gay, he would say that it’s never going to go and no one is ever going to play that,” he said. “I don’t see how you can write about your experience if that is off topic. Being gay is not all of who I am, but it is a big part of who I am and it informs the other aspects of who I am as well.”

Gold writes all his own lyrics, and his songs cover a lot of ground. “He’s On My Team”, a duet with Kendra Ross, has the singers dueling over the same man, while “Caught” is about getting caught by the police having sex with another man.

“Not all of it is overt – some of it you have to read between the lines,” Gold said of his lyrics. “It’s exciting for me to write in a way that if you read it with gay glasses on, then you definitely get more meaning from the songs than if not. And some of them are more obvious. ‘He’s On My Team’ is very clear that it’s me and a girl fighting over a guy. Basically, I write from my experiences and from my life.”

“Fan-tastic” explores the gay male practice of diva worship, and “Bashert (Meant To Be)” integrates Gold’s lifestyle with his orthodox Jewish upbringing. Other songs focus on romance, sexual intimacy, independence and identity.

“That’s always the challenge in writing – to try and be as specific as possible, and the more specific you are, the more relatable your experiences are to other people,” he said. “I think that everybody can relate, not just gay people, to what I’m saying.”

Gold told Billboard magazine that he wanted to make an album that he did not have growing up. Born in the Bronx ,he has been performing since the age of five, when he was discovered singing at his brother’s bar-mitzva. Performing as a child vocalist for much of his youth after that, he found himself preciously short of gay role models when he began to shape his musical career as an adult.

“I think the fact that I went through that struggle made it important for me to say what I’m saying now, so that there is someone out there like myself that I didn’t have when I was growing up – I had Madonna, but that was about it,” he said.

Based in Manhattan, Gold took home the Outmusic Award for Outstanding Debut Album for his album Ari Gold, and has amassed a large following in the New York City area, particularly in the gay community.

“I get emails every day from people telling me amazing stories and telling me things like how much seeing me be out there and do what I do and be open about who I am helps them come to terms with themselves,” he said. “I ultimately want to reach as large an audience as possible, but it was very important for me first to reach the gay community. That was my first priority doing what I’m doing.”

Gold feels that the greater visibility GLBTs have in the mainstream media has made it somewhat easier for GLBT performers.

“With shows like ‘Queer Eye for the Straight Guy’, ‘Queer As Folk’ and ‘Will and Grace’, we’ve come to the point where everybody can see themselves in the gay experience,” he said. “Certainly it’s important for people to see themselves reflected back, not just through a diva, but also through someone who is actually like themselves. I still think for some reason that music is the last frontier – there is really no one [out] in pop music. But like I’ve said, I think that anyone can relate to my stuff – teenage girls can relate to what I’m saying, as well as gay men.”

Living in Manhattan, Gold is busy these days promoting Space Under the Sun and working with distributors. There is pressure, but there is also excitement as his album, two years in the making, finally gets off the ground.

“It’s been really cool,” he said. “I had a big show in New York that was very successful – a lot of people came out even though it was snowing outside. I had my release party recently, and a lot of press has come out. It’s really exciting because I’ve been working so long on this album and I put it out myself. When you’re doing everything yourself, things just take longer than you want them to. Plus, you’re there for every step, so it’s exciting to see it finally getting out there in the world – it’s my baby.”

Gold has been in San Diego recently, working with artist Joe Phillips on several illustrations, including a cartoon image of himself and another of “He’s On My Team” which Gold put on T-shirts and sells on his website. He plans to return to the area at the end of February or beginning of March.

“I am starting a world tour, but it’s still in the works,” he said. “We’re trying to get the dates together and get sponsorship, stuff like that. Ideally I would love to do the kind of show that I just did here in New York, where I had a full band, with guitar, keyboards, bass and percussion, plus electronic and track elements and dancers for some of the songs.”

In the meantime, Gold’s albums are available online, at Amazon.com and on his website. Go to www.gaylesbiantimes.com and click on this article for a link.