It’s time that Arkitech, a Surrey-based producer and DJ, drops the beat on the international stage in the world of electronic music. Arkitech was a duo made up of producer Ash Kumar and DJ Remo Liew. They released the track “Keep The Beat“ earlier this year that was signed by the record label Armada. The are also releasing the single “Wildebeest” that was recently signed by DJ Chuckie – one of the headliners for the upcoming FVDED in the Park festival.
To give you a sense why Arkitech is all the rage, some of the world’s biggest DJs, like Hardwell and Blasterjaxx, play the successful “Keep the Beat” track on rotation.
But international fame doesn’t come without trial and error! So to help others who are also looking to launch their career in music, we decided to talk to Surrey’s very own Arkitech about their sweet beginnings five years ago. Kumar is now running the show solo, and he has a lot of insight to share!
Q: How did you first begin?
Arkitech originally started with just me back in 2011. I released a track for free, and went on to submitting to well known labels and getting feedback to make my tracks better. My first official single was a vocal track with Nashville pop singer Ash Richards, called “Drive,” which was released on “Black Hole Recordings” – Tiesto’s former trance label. I signed a local track on there and had a really great friend name Reimo Liew, who started showing interest, so I decided to bring him on board as part of Arkitech.
Q: Tell me about the track “Keep the Beat” and its success.
“Keep the Beat” was actually finished in the summer of 2014 and the track didn’t get released until 2015. We were trying to look for our own sound, seeing what was in trend at the moment with other labels. I sent it out randomly to Hardwell’s team and they absolutely loved it. The manager got back to us, they wanted to meet us, and wanted to support the track. Basically, he wanted to premier it for his North American tour. He premiered it and then a couple weeks later, Armin van Buuren’s team, which is Armada music, contacted us and immediately signed it.
Q: Tell me about your single “Wildebeest” that was signed by DJ Chuckie.
We made this track on what we liked at the moment, which was a little of melbourne house and progressive house. We put those two together and we basically wanted to see who would like it, what kind of label would be interested in something new, and DJ Chuckie absolutely loved it. He recently played the track at one of the biggest festivals in North America just last week, at Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas.
Q: You have a tour coming up in the fall, so what’s in store for that?
The official announcement [will be issued] at beginning of August, but it is a worldwide tour. I’m going to hit North America, Europe, and possibly Asia. It is an official Armada tour, so I’m a supporting DJ on that tour.
Q: What message would you like to send to your fans?
I would say there’s a lot of talent locally here in Surrey. Just get out, meet new people, expose yourself to your town, tell people about your talent. I mean, no one is going to come to you. You have to go to them.
To stay updated with Arkitech’s touring dates in the fall, make sure to check out his Facebook page and follow him on Twitter @ArkitechMusic.