We’ve been giving a lot of airtime to Artuga recently – playing his tracks City Lights and Blue (Da Ba Dee), a cover of the Eiffel 65 classic. We caught up with him to find out more about him.
Tell us a little bit about your yourself?
I’m a producer/songwriter currently living in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. I have a big passion for music and that really shows if you ever visit my home studio. That is where you will find me most of the time.
The last couple of years, I have been collecting and playing all kinds of instruments. My studio features multiple electric and acoustic guitars, a bass guitar, digital drumkit, electric piano, synthesizers and even a violin.
Recently, a Roland JX-3P vintage synthesizer from 1983 came into my possession which is brilliant. It used to be my uncle’s and I’d love to use that on some of my future tracks.
When I’m not working on my music, I’m mostly gaming, watching anime or reading my favourite books.
I’m also really interested in Asian culture, history and folklore. Fortunately, I was able to visit a few times and it left a lasting impression on me which is a big inspiration for my music.
When did you first start to develop a passion for music?
I come from a very musical family and thus came into contact with music pretty early in my life. We had a piano in the living room of my childhood home which I, at least tried, to play on as a child. Piano lessons by my grandfather followed suit shortly after.
However, as a teenager, my passion for music really developed the most. I discovered all kinds of new music genres and also got into Japanese culture around the same time.
Then my grandmother gifted me my first guitar and I started collecting different instruments and writing my first songs.
Which artists did you listen to while growing up?
My music taste has always been extremely broad. I started out playing Canon in D and Für Elise.
But I turned into a metalhead in secondary school, listening to the likes of Arch Enemy and Killswitch Engage.
When I discovered Japanese music, it became a really weird mix of western Metal, J-Pop and J-Rock. Scandal, Dazzle Vision and The Gazette come to mind.
It is only recently because of famous Vocaloid Hatsune Miku and because a co-worker of mine got me into the world of synthesizers that I entered the Dance and EDM scene.
How would you describe your music to someone who hasn’t heard you before?
Experimental, Various, Different. I think because of the mix of cultures and styles in my music I potentially have a big audience and can bring all kinds of completely different people together.
What music have you recorded and released to date?
So far, I have released three singles.
My debut single City Lights is a great example of the music I would like to create more. It is a perfect blend between modern EDM and my passion for Asian culture. It tells a mythic tale about a Fox Spirit which you can find in Asian folklore.
It also is a song which introduces Vocaloids to a target audience where little is still known about them. It is bringing two completely different worlds together and I love that.
At Autumn’s End is something completely different and is inspired by piano music in anime and pianists like Yiruma. It makes a beautiful but melancholic piano play about sad endings and new beginnings.
It is my dream to be able to create music like this for anime, games and movies in the future.
My last single is a cover of Blue by Eiffel 65. At first, this just started out as an experiment at home to see if I could cover this song and make a few adjustments to it. I absolutely love the original, but in my head, the synthesizers always were a bit more modern and thicker to really make the song catchy. This turned out so much better than expected that I decided to release it.
That did cause a challenge though. I was using a sample of the original vocals and of course I didn’t have the master rights to use that in my release. This meant I had to rerecord the vocals and try to mimic the original effect Eiffel 65 used. With some trial and error, I think I came pretty close to the original and am quite happy with the result!
Which artists do you enjoy listening to at the moment – and do they influence your work?
I currently listen to Mandragora, Hardwell and Tungevaag. They definitely provide inspiration for my EDM tracks. Hatsune Miku, TeddyLoid and Kizuna Ai are my Japanese inspirations at the moment.
Yiruma, anime and games influence my work when it comes to piano pieces and soundtracks. I’m also still actively listening to Rock and Metal. Right now, I really like Periphery, David Maxim Micic and Band-Maid.
Who would your dream collaboration be with?
I would love to be recognized in the Japan/Vocaloid scene and do a collaboration with Hatsune Miku or TeddyLoid. Not many artists from the west do.
What are your plans for the future?
I’ll be releasing plenty of new original tracks the upcoming years and I’m also making plans for a themed album. Besides my EDM music, I’m looking into the possibility to start making soundtracks for games.
