Last Thursday, Russian DJ/producer Arty made his way back to Kuala Lumpur. Proving that there is no party without Arty, the young DJ gave Gravity Club Kuala Lumpur a night that was over the top. Currently one of the hottest DJs in the world, the 25-year-old DJ/producer has worked with some of the best musicians in the industry including Mat Zo.
Known for some of his most popular dance tracks including “Up All Night”, “Kate”, “Around The World”, “Gentle Touch”, “Trio” and a whole lot more, we were really stoked that we got to speak with him again before he turn things up at Gravity Club Kuala Lumpur.
One year on from when he was last in Kuala Lumpur, we find out what Arty has been up and if he was just as excited about being back in Kuala Lumpur as we were.
Hi Arty! Welcome back. It’s been slight over a year since you were last here. Are you excited to be back and what are you looking forward to?
Hey! Yeah I am pretty excited to be back. The last time was good, was pretty crazy so I’m excited. I’m hoping for a good reaction, like people should have fun and just be open for a good time.
Just for a little basic background, how did you first get started with music production?
Well, I have friends who were really into music production at the time and one of my best friends showed me the right productions tools. That got me all interested in it because I had a musical background before that so it was pretty natural for me to go from classical music to electronic music. I picked it up really quickly, started to force myself do more and more so by the time I was in university I focused on music completely and here we are. Haha.
Would you say your classical music background has influenced the way you work now?
Oh yeah, definitely. Everything, all my ideas basically begin with the basic melody instead with the beats like how it usually happens so it’s a little bit different for me I guess.
Ahh so it’s kind of an advantage that you have. With all these different experiences you’ve had with shows at smaller clubs to the biggest festivals in the world, are there still any other venues or festivals that you’d really like to play?
Yeah kind of is. I’ve played pretty much every franchise but there are some festivals that I want to play at again. But again, to be honest, it all depends on the crowd. It’s not about the exact franchise like Ultra, EDC, ZoukOut, or Future Music because every festival has their pluses and minuses, they have their own people that work on making the festival better and better but at the end of the day it depends on the crowd. As long as the crowd is good and they have a decent sound system as well as set up on stage, that’s all that I need.
Fair enough. What would you say is the craziest or best fan experience you’ve ever experience?
Well actually, it was my birthday a coupe of weeks ago and one of my fans from Russia travelled all the way from Russia to Vegas, to where we celebrating my birthday to surprise me with a video that she made. She made a video of all my family, best friends, and Russian producers wishing me a happy birthday so that was a pretty emotional moment for me. Definitely the craziest moment for me.
Wow! That’s really sweet. You must have been really surprised. With the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs poll coming to an end, who would you pick if you could pick out your very own top 3 DJs and why?
Yeah it was really sweet and very surprising. Haha I have a pretty strong top 3 this year. It’s a no-brainer for me. I would pick Porter Robinson, Audien, and Mat Zo, I mean you can put it in whatever sequence you want, but they’re all on pretty much the same level for me.
Speaking of Mat Zo, you’ve worked with him quite a bit. What was that like, working with him?
It’s cool! He’s a really smart guy and really, really talented. Mat’s really fast with his work and production and he’s just fun. He’s quite a unique person so it’s always a different experience with him whenever we are in the studio. We just made a new version of the track that’s going to be on my album so yeah things are still going on with Mat. It’s fun.
That’s nice to know. What does the rest of 2014 hold for you, is there an album we can expect?
Finishing the Asia tour, getting back to US for 2 months then after that I’m heading to Russia to finish my album and see my family.
Oh new album! When can we expect that and are you collaborating with anyone on it?
Yeah, it’s probably going be released in February or March. I have a lot of features and collaborations with singers and songwriters mostly but I can’t reveal anything just yet. You’ll have to wait. Haha.
It sounds like you’ve got a pretty jam packed schedule so how do you balance work with your personal life?
There’s no balance right now, unfortunately. I mean I have some time off but it’s not that often and even when I do it doesn’t feel like that because I’m still doing something that is connected to work but it’s fine because I feel good. The last time I had a vacation was last August so that’s over a year ago but it’s fine because I feel good and I’m happy.
Gosh! That’s crazy but it’s good that you’re happy! Last question, if you had to pick, which would you give up − food or sex?
What’s that? Hahaha. I think I’m going to need you to repeat that.
Hahaha okay. If you had to give up, which would it be – food or sex?
Oh so I did hear you right. Haha. Food or sex? Oh. Neither. I don’t know how you can do that, because you’ll die without both so neither. Haha
Haha all right. We’ll let you off the hook this time. Thank you so much for chatting with us.
It was my pleasure. Thank you too!
Special thanks to our buddies from Gravity Club Kuala Lumpur and Universal Music Malaysia for making this interview happen. We leave you with one of our favourites, “Flashback”, from no one other than Arty himself:
For more information on Arty, stalk him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
