Last week, Ukranian DJ Anton Rudenko, who goes by the stage name DJ Arude, was in Hyatt Regency, Chennai for his debut performance in the city. The gig was a part of his India tour, which also included Pune and Bengaluru. Ahead of his gig, when we caught up with the 23-year-old up-and-coming artiste, he looked weary due to his 20-hour journey from Europe, but still made time for a merry chat.
Speaking to us about his music-making process, he says, “I just sit down on the sofa, clear everything from my head, and make music. You write melodies and progress from there. It’s not hard work. You must have an open heart for creating something special for your listeners.”
On what keeps him motivated in his career, he reveals, “When I make music for people who think it’s special, it inspired me to get into production. In India, the music scene is rising faster than in Ukraine. It’s a progressive one since many international artistes come to India every week.”
Pointing to a rather massive tattoo on his arm, an exact replica of the one sported by Canadian DJ Deadmau5 — a line of four pixelated hearts — he mentions the names of his idols, saying, “From the beginning, I’ve been listening to Deadmau5 and David Guetta. Once I got deeper into the music scene, I got hooked to the music that Avicii has made.”
Anton’s music is a collection of trance and deep house tunes, with a constant flow of similar beats and noises. It may not meet every electro-head’s expectations, but it’s a refreshing detour from the big names. Like most EDM artistes, he uses the Ableton software to make his tunes. The melodic-techno musician admits that he does not know how to use instruments, but adds that “literally everyone can do it using Ableton. I didn’t have any music education, YouTube was everything to me.”
He then proceeded to demonstrate the simplicity of Ableton on his laptop, as he broke down the process of making music in real-time. Over the sound of trance-like beats, he adds, “I hate mixing. It’s hard work for me because you must know every small detail, and that is quite time-consuming.” He does add, though, “my favourite bit is definitely writing the music.”
Apart from his originals, he also dreams of collaborating with artistes like German DJ Soul Button and Italian duo Mathame. He is also keen to perform at one of the world’s largest music festivals, Tomorrowland. He says, “It’s my end goal.”
Listen to Arude on SoundCloud.