Arty: Reaching For The Stars

Straight from the heart of Russia comes one of the most promising talents ever to grace the worlds of house and trance. At just the tender age of 24 years old, Artem Stolyarov is turning heads with his music all over the globe in his quest to reach and break through the glass ceiling into the promised land.

Better known as Arty, this one man Russian revolution had caused quite the stir on the house and trance scene these past few years catching the attention of the likes of Skrillex, Tiesto and Above & Beyond. We got the opportunity to discuss his rise to the top, his performance at SW4 this past weekend and what we can expect from his relationship with Insomniac Records via Interscope.    

First of all Arty, what inspired you to get involved in DJing and why?

Back in 2009 when I was fifteen years old I just loved everything about electronic music. I started to make the music when I was really young and obviously when you get involved with making electronic music, you start to get more and more involved with DJing and that’s how I ended up being a DJ because I was making music and wanted to play it. 

Where did you perform your very first gig and how did it go? 

That’s a really good question. The first big one that I can remember was in 2010 in Russia, It was a pretty huge festival with 30,000 people. But I was opening for the main stage and I started to play when nobody was there because they couldn’t open the gate because of some issues. I was playing for twenty minutes for barely any people and suddenly I just see all the people rush towards the stage. In about five minutes, there was like 6-7,000 people on the dance floor. That was the first time in my life I had seen that kind of stuff. The stage was filling out so fast; it was incredible. It was a really good feeling compared to the beginning and it turned out to be a really good show.

How does performing at your first gig compare to performing in front of ten of thousands at festivals such as the Ultra Music Festival, the Electric Daisy Carnival and the Electric Zoo Festival? Describe the progress you have made. 

Well, I’ve played Electric Zoo at the end of August. I hadn’t played there for a while but to compare these festivals, obviously the Russian crowd is amazing and the American crowd is pretty good too. It’s really hard to compare such authentic festivals that have really unique crowds like for example, if you would compare an Electric Daisy Carnival to Ultra Music Festival, people go there for different reasons. 

The people that go there are pretty different and the promoters of the festivals, they put the festivals into really different positions. That’s what makes them unique. That’s what is really cool about them because you go to the festival expecting something similar to a festival that you played before but it ends up different because it’s full of different people. They are just different franchises. It is awesome to have all these experiences and play at both festivals.

Speaking of festivals, you have just performed at SW4 this weekend. What did you think of your performance?

Yeah, it was awesome if a little quieter than normal. I guess it’s because of the politics because it’s in London. You can’t really bring up the volume high but the night was definitely really good. I really liked the show. 

What was it like to perform in front of a British crowd? 

It was awesome, I love that. It can be different. I have played Ministry Of Sound a couple of times and it’s one of the better venues in the European empire and yeah the UK crowd, if they go nuts, it is something else. It’s definitely a top notch crowd if they enjoy the music that you are playing.

SW4 is all about showcasing the world’s finest EDM talent. Besides yourself, is there anyone currently on the EDM scene that catches your eye as a DJ that has star potential to climb that ladder of success?

Yeah, definitely. Porter Robinson is coming out with a really amazing album which is not really EDM but it is still electronic and it’s still dance music. He’s really great. Mat Zo is always coming up with something new and fresh so these guys are my favourites right now.

Is there any of the above artists you would particularly like to work with? If so, why?

Yeah, with these guys I would. I’ve actually just made a new track with Mat Zo for my album and it was an amazing experience. All the time we are doing something with Mat Zo, it always sounds pretty cool and unique and it was nothing close to the track that we did before. I love to work with him.

As one of the biggest rising stars on the EDM circuit, you have gained support from all corners of the globe including names like Skrillex, Avicii, Tiesto and Above & Beyond. What does this mean to you as a DJ?

It makes you really excited and with all this kind of support, you just want to make bigger and better productions. It means a lot, it means that the thing that you do, it means a lot for other people. If it attracts, it catches the eyes of other people. Then you get huge support from such huge names. For me, it means a lot and it keeps me going and keeps me pushing further.

Switching gears now, it is no secret you are the very first artist to have signed with Insomniac Records via Interscope. Can you tell us a bit more about this, what artists you have collaborated with whilst working with them and what your plans are for the foreseeable future with them?

I’ve signed an album to Interscope/ Insomniac Records. It a joint venture of Interscope records with one of the biggest American promoters of dance music, Insomniac. I think it’s going to go really good and the album that I signed is really more song oriented. 

It features Ray Dalton who is a teacher with a couple of others with Macklemore. I did other tracks with the likes of Angel Taylor who is more of a R&B and pop singer. But the thing that we did in the studio, I worked with these guys and I asked them to go to the completely opposite side of what they usually do. In the end we created something pretty unique with the results. I can’t wait until the album comes out.

What are your expectations for the album?

Well I don’t have any expectations. I just want to make music share it with the people. I don’t want to make any predictions about what it will be like. 

Finally, if you had the opportunity to create your own festival, what would it be called and what acts would you have perform there? 

That’s a really good question. I mean currently there are so many festivals. If you go to EDC you will find six or seven completely different stages. There are different acts from different styles. You will find a drum and bass stage, a dubstep stage, a more house-orientated stage, the main room with the main acts and it is really hard to come up with some new ideas. I would definitely need time to think about it more. But it would be something different with more underground artists on the bill. That’d be cool!

Words: Matty Adams