Aarktica was conceived in the winter of 1998 with Jon DeRosa's permanent loss of hearing in one ear as a distraction from his other musical interests. As his hearing loss became less of a distraction and more of a new way of listening, Aarktica became a means to execute the soundtrack of the life in mono now thrust upon him. One of audio distortions, aural hallucinations and a reliance on painkillers. The first album No Solace in Sleep was recorded on a dying 4-track cassette recorder in various NYU dorm rooms and released on Silber Records in 2000.
After releasing the now out-of-print Morning One EP on Ochre Records in the UK, Aarktica signed to Darla Records and released Or You Could Just Go Through Your Whole Life and Be Happy Anyway, Bliss Out v.18 in 2002 and Pure Tone Audiometry in 2003. These releases would combine lo-fi electro and shoegaze with the ambient textures of modern composers like Morton Feldman and Ingram Marshall, defining Aarkticas innovative drone pop hybrid.
Over the years, Aarktica evolved from a solo project into a collective. The project regularly features a revolving lineup of musicans, with DeRosa as the mainstay. The ensemble creates drones and textures from the timbres of instruments, not soley from reverb units and delay pedals. Recent members include Chris Carrico, Oliver Chapoy (Saxon Shore), James Duncan (of Le Systeme Records), Mike Pride and Seth Misterka (of Dynasty).
Aarktica's fourth full-length release Bleeding Light was released in April 2005 on Darla Records, followed by a limited split 12" with Aaron Spectre on Berlin's Moonbunny Records.
After Bleeding Light DeRosa took time off to collaborate with former Flare bandmate LD Beghtol on some songs for the new Flare album, Cut (Affairs of The Heart, 2009), as well as sing a lead role on Stephin Merrit's theatre album Showtunes (Nonesuch, 2007). Aarktica relocated to Southern California in Summer 2007 and released its fifth album Matchless Years on Darla Records in Fall 2007. In 2007 Aarktica also recently finished work on a film score for the indie feature film "Apology" which combines some older Aarktica material with an entirely new score written specifically for the film.
In Summer 2008, DeRosa moved back to Brooklyn, NY and began work on the sequel to Aarktica's 2000 debut No Solace In Sleep, titled In Sea and to be released on Silber Records in late 2009.
