Arty has been hard at work lately in the studio. After making the move to Insomniac Records, the Russian producer released “Up All Night,” which served as the main anthem for this cycle of Electric Daisy Carnivals around the world. Over the past year, he’s stayed in spotlight with key remixes of OneRepublic, Halsey and most recently, Ed Sheeran & Rudimental’s “Bloodstream.” Now, he’s spending the year releasing all his new music, starting with “Stronger” ft. Ray Dalton. We quickly caught up with Arty after his set at EDC NY this past weekend, and it was nothing but fireworks.
What makes EDC standout from all the other festivals you play?
The crowd for sure. People attend EDC knowing they’re in for something special. They don’t come for this DJ or that DJ or even an entire stage, they want to have a great time. That’s the most important thing. You know, taking care of each other, making new friends, meeting up with old friends, having a good time listening to good music, that’s EDC in my opinion.
Is there anyone you might try to catch before you leave today?
I have to go see Carl Cox. You never know what he’s gonna play. It could be techno, or even drum and bass. When we were at Stereosonic a few years ago and he played drum and bass. It was amazing.
Would you play Drum and Bass in your sets?
I like drum and bass, but I don’t know how it would fit into the style of my sets, so probably not.
What are you currently listening to?
Flume has been the person I’ve been listening to the most the past six months. Jack Ü’s album was pretty good, Especially ‘Where Are Ü Now” with Justin Bieber. I didn’t even realize it was him, I just liked the song which was amazing. Oh, and Porter’s remix of “The Thrill” is pretty dope.
You have a new single called “Stronger.” Can you tell us about the concept of the music video?
We recorded Ray [Dalton] singing the track and separated the video into 5000 frames. Fans can participate by recording themselves singing the song and mimicking the same moves he makes frame by frame. Then we’ll put all the pieces back together to create the final music video with everyone who recorded their own sections.
What can people expect from your new album?
It’s me being me for the last two years. I found a lot of different methods for this new sound. There’s some low-end 90-110 BPM tracks going all the way up to classic 128. You know, I have to lock into people’s heart rate (laughs).
There are a lot of personal lyrics. I’ve been working with a team of singers and songwriters and I put part of myself into each song so when I play it, it feels more like me than other people’s tracks. More than ever I feel like I’ve been a part of the song making process and that’s dope. Maybe people like it, maybe they don’t, but I really hope they listen to the lyrics and feel something. The whole album is about the parts of your life – how it can be hard, how it can be good, where you can go, and the things you can dream about.
What draws you to making vocals over instrumentals?
They give you a lot more tools to go different directions with the tracks and instruments you use to make the actual songs. Sometimes you do an instrumental and you can use it to convey something, or you can you use vocals and actually say something with the lyrics.
So will this new album be all vocals or both?
Oh no, there are definitely a bunch of instrumentals I’ve been working on. They’re so different than what people are used to hearing.
Can you tell us about any collaborations for the album yet?
I want to, but I can’t. There are collabs, but everything is still coming together and I don’t want to jinx anything if I speak about them too early.
Are you nervous?
Yeah, I’m nervous, I nervous because of these LOUD FIREWORKS. It sounds like a war’s going on outside! (laughs).
Arty’s latest track “Stronger” ft. Ray Dalton is out now on Insomniac Records. You can learn how to be apart of the music video by visiting the website.
Photo: Max Flyant
