A part of the scene since its youth, Arkwright has worked for years to hone his sound and create the unique variance on 140 that we have all come to know and love. A particularly busy last few years have seen the artist release on industry heavyweight imprints such as Wheel and Deal, Duploc and New World Audio. Impressing peers and artists all around, he has announced himself as a part of the resurgent scene and is here to stay. We caught up with him to ask some questions about his background and his work.
Hey! First off, what’s new in your world?
Hey! Thanks so much for taking the time to have chat with me! What’s new in my world? I’ve got a baby and I now live 150 miles away from London!
How would you rate 2018 so far within your progression as an artist?
2018 has been an odd year for me, my production rate has slowed right down due to me having a child now, but I have also made some of my favourite tunes this year as well! Rather than pumping tunes out so regularly like before I feel like I’m not just making music for the sake of it, which is a refreshing change.
There is undeniably a resurgence of Dubstep taking place now – how positive do you think this is, and what has bought it about?
Yeah I mean it really has picked up again, and I do think it’s positive definitely, you can’t deny that, it just means there’s a lot of people trying the same thing, which dilutes the music slightly for me, but it’s not a bad thing, everyone has to find their sound somehow.
I think it’s come back probably in part due to the fact that the angrier side of dubstep ‘riddim’ has gone mad in America, a lot of people find dubstep via that and then delve deeper, it’s probably also in part to the fact every few years a new generation of teenagers start raving and find new genres that way.
Do you have a specific release of yours that you would define as your favourite, and why?
I don’t think I do, boring answer I know but if you listen to any of my releases nothing on them sound similar, I have always found it odd when people release a 4 track SO and every song sounds the same, what’s the point in that?
Big question that we ask everyone – do you think the digital age is hindering or helping the genre, and more specifically, young producers trying to break on to the scene?
Yeah it’s a tough one because the early success I received was because of joining SoundCloud at it’s peak, so i have the digital age to thank for that, but as time goes on it definitely dilutes the scene, tracks are forgotten in weeks and artists are often overlooked because a (in my opinion) less talented artist has a more aggressive online presence.
In the same breath it’s nice to see younger talent keep the more veteran producers on their toes, I’ve been to a few dances this year and the younger talent definitely put on a better show, they have more dubs from them and their friends and they have something to prove as well.
I would just like to see a bit more quality control, it’s hard because everyone has released a dud ep when they first start making music just so they could get their sound out there, I just think labels need to slow down releases and start thinking more about what they want their catalogue to represent, some labels have released like 15 eps and 3 albums already this year, that’s mental!
What more do you have planned for the remainder of the year – anything you can let us in on?
I have an alias with my mate Chuckman, we produce under Fearless Dread and we have some new music and releases coming which is exciting, and we have been playing a lot of gigs and it’s been going off which is Sick, mixing vindaloo into my tune ‘Nosalis’ after we beat Sweden is definitely a career highlight!
Is there a specific dub you’re hoping to see released by the end of the year?
If I’m completely honest I haven’t been keeping up too much with dubs in the scene this year, I play my music and music that is sent to me and that’s about it at the moment, I’m in quite a lucky position where I get sent such fantastic music I don’t have to search too much!
What is a music career goal you want to achieve in the next year?
I want to tour America!
Finally – if you could deep fry anything, what would you choose?
It would absolutely have to be a massive lump of mozzarella!
Arkwright Online
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