In the spotlight: Arcando

It's interview time!

After his recent single release Paralyzed together with Jeffrey James on Future Generation, we wanted to sit down with Arcando to discuss about the making of Paralyzed, his music studies, hobbies outside of the studio and what else he got in the store for 2019!

Hi Marc! It’s awesome to catch up with you again! Please tell us what you’ve been up to and how you’re spending your time these days?

"It’s been great - I’m at the moment working on a lot of new projects, originals and remixes. I’m trying to make as much music as possible and my school studies at the Conservatorium Haarlem play a big role in this as we are creating music for movies, commercials and games as a part of the studies. Besides improving our production skills, we’re learning and enhancing our skills with real instruments like piano and guitar besides studying music theory. So practically my schedule is almost 24/7 about music, whether it’s working for my artist project or for my studies. Naturally you can’t all the time work on music, so when I’m outside of the studio I like to spend time with my girlfriend, play video games such as Call of Duty or go and play tennis (I’ve played it already for 12 years)."

Your latest track on Future Generation has been making quite a few waves lately! What can you tell us about the making of “Paralyzed” and what it was like working with Jeffrey James?

"Yes indeed it’s been doing really well this far - we’ve reached 160k streams in a bit over 2 weeks and we were really satisfied to receive some official support on Spotify and by one of the biggest Youtube brands MrSuicideSheep. Working with Jeffrey on Paralyzed was amazing - he really felt the track since the moment he heard the idea for the first time, which was actually just the basic idea of the bassline, chords and guitar. Jeffrey sent me some ideas for the vocals and I was blown away how well they fitted to the instrumental - 3 days later he had already finished the vocals but not only the lead one, but a huge stem pack full of doublings, ad lips, harmonies and drop vocals - this guy is a machine! His voice was just the perfect fit for the release."

What inspired you to make it in the first place?

"I’m really a fan of Two Feet and just got really inspired of his music; I contacted a friend of mine who’s a guitarist, we hit the studio and started playing around with the intention to combine the electric guitar with the production. Paralyzed was a perfect example about when you got the perfect vibe and collaborators for the track, things can happen pretty fast - I think the whole track was already ready in around 3-5 days."

What were you trying to say with the track? 

"I wanna make songs that create different kind of emotions - that people can be happy, angry or sad with my songs. When you go through for example the lyrics of Paralyzed, you’ll notice that this track wasn’t any kind of happy story. In all cases, whether you are the producer or the listener, you need to really feel and vibe with the track and that’s why Paralyzed ended up so well because we were really into the story of the track with Jeffrey."

You’ve built a fair amount of your success on putting your own spin on popular tracks. How do you balance out your time between focusing on originals and remixes?

"Until recently, I worked with couple managements so naturally at that time we decided together when it was time for originals and when for unofficial or official remixes. But currently, I just wanna go with the flow, whether it’s going and creating an original, doing an official remix or if there’s a really hot song out there at that moment, I’ll just put my own spin to it and remix it. I’m just making as much music as possible but obviously trying to maintain the good pace with my original releases. All in all, it’s about the consistency and getting your name out there, whether it’s with an unofficial remix uploaded by notable Youtube channels or with an original release on the DSPs. I truly believe if you keep up the pace with let’s say every 3-4 weeks with a new release, you’re able to stay on top of the people’s minds and grow your fanbase steadily."

How do you personally weigh the importance of each project and track?

”Maybe it’s a bad or good habit of mine, but I’ll consider every project as important one and never make music without a certain goal for the specific project. For example with Paralyzed, I was thinking right from the beginning what kind of vibe I wanna create for the track and potentially where it could be released, as different labels tend to prefer certain kind of tracks. I’m also finishing the majority of the ideas I create without being too hard or critical on that but naturally you’ve to like the idea and see potential in it before deciding to finish a track.”

What are your thoughts on Audiomack entering the mainstream of electronic music?

”It’s always great to see new platforms coming up as there can’t be too many platforms where you can to get your name out there and interact with potential new fans and listeners. Audiomack is already huge in rap & hip hop music and has also started to really grow within the electronic music scene. I believe it can be ’the next Soundcloud’ and there can already be seen some similarities as more and more underground and bigger artists are jumping on the platform after seeing the success and impact some of the releases have received. I’ve myself also found some great success on the platform with my originals and remixes hitting hundreds of thousands plays and most recently with the release of Paralyzed we did also a playlist takeover for one of their electronic playlists. But at the end, it’s important to keep in mind that Audiomack is first and foremost an audio discovery platform and not so opted out to become a competitor among the streaming platforms.”

Looking forward, what can we expect to see from Arcando in the future and during the rest of 2019? 

”One thing is for certain - a lot of new music including originals, official and unofficial remixes. However I can already announce that I’m working on an EP to be released later this year in addition of a really big project with some major artists, which I’m unfortunately not allowed yet to discuss about. But yeah, I think this it is, I wanna thank you guys for taking the time for interviewing me and for all the readers, make sure to tune into my socials @arcandomusic to stay updated with my upcoming releases!”

Made in partnership with The QR Network, which is a site for interviews with producers and DJs such as Anikdote, Herobust, and Lucille Croft. Be sure to check out their latest interview with REGGIO, here on the new TNC website!