Music
The Rise of Arcade 82
The Rise of Arcade 82
The UAE-based duo rapidly establishing themselves at the forefront of the Middle East’s electronic music scene.
Arcade 82
© Arcade 82
On November 25, UAE-based electronic duo Arcade 82 will open for The Chemical Brothers at du Arena for the four-time Grammy winning act’s after-race concert at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Arcade 82 are the first Red Bull Opening Act of the new UAE gig season, and for the UK-born duo – DJ-producer, percussionist and sometime-synth player Mark Pickup, and vocalist, producer, and keyboardist Shyam Parmar – it’s their highest-profile performance to date, with tens of thousands expected to attend. “It’s amazing for us to be involved,” says Parmar. “They’re electronic music icons and so well-respected in the industry. So to be on the same bill is just so exciting. “And it seems likely that Arcade 82 are set for even greater things in the near future. Since forming in 2013, the pair have set about carving out their own niche in the Middle East’s electronic music scene. What sets them apart is their blend of DJing and live performance, a direction that Pickup decided he wanted to take after seeing UK duo Disclosure perform at Creamfields in Abu Dhabi in 2013.
“When we get our tracks mastered, we also make a PA version, which has elements stripped out of it – the vocal, probably the snare, and the top-line synth,” Pickup explains. “So Shyam will be singing and dropping some top-line melody, I’ll be doing some top-line melody, the snare, the drums, whatever I need to do really, over the top.”
Pickup has been DJing for over 20 years, cutting his teeth in the vibrant club scene in Liverpool and the North West of England, but started producing his own tracks in the early 2010s “because that’s the way it’s going now”.
“I’ve come from an era, back in the mid-Nineties and the late Nineties, where you’re getting gigs on the back of a good mixtape or a good CD mix,” he explains. “That’s how it used to be. Now, it doesn’t matter if you’ve got a good mix, it’s all about what labels you’ve signed to and what tracks you’re releasing. So I’d got to a stage where I had to get on this production wagon.”
When he saw Disclosure on the Creamfields bill, Pickup says he didn’t know much about them, so he checked out some of their videos. “I saw this whole live show they do, and I looked at their equipment and I was, like, ‘I’ve got that. I’ve got that. I’ve got that, this is what I need to do.’”
Arcade 82
© Marckpickup.net
Pickup has been drumming since his mid-teens (his dad was a drummer in Liverpool’s Merseybeat scene in the Sixties) and has taught himself to play keyboards too (although, he stresses, “I wouldn’t call myself that. I can do top lines, but I’m certainly not a keyboard player”). In order to introduce a live element, though, he needed a vocalist. “I was all about basslines and drums,” he says. “I made a load of good instrumental tunes, but without a top line or a vocal on it… you know.” Happily, he didn’t have to wait long. Through a mutual friend, Parmar sent over one of his own tracks he’d been working on. “It was a powerful track and the vocal really worked,” says Pickup. “I messaged him saying, ‘Who did the vocal on this track?’ And he said, ‘I did.’ And I said, ‘Who did the keys?’ He said, ‘I did everything on it.’ I said, ‘Mate, we need to meet.’ So we met and I told him what my vision was.”
He’d been heavily involved in the beginnings of the UK garage scene back home before heading to Dubai, working with artists including Wiley and Wretch 32. But most of his singing experience was in recording studios.
“Initially, it sounded exciting, but I wasn’t too sure about how confident I’d be doing live stuff,” Parmar says. “But then I thought, ‘Why not?’ Before we knew it, we were in the studio writing stuff together, and that confidence grew. Mark’s DJing and drumming skills, with my vocals and synths, it really worked. For us it was a great way to go and play live music, but electronic music – the music that we love. The music that we go and party to. I thought we had something really cool. Others agreed.
The duo’s first live performance was at Creamfields Abu Dhabi in 2014. They’ve closed for Fatboy Slim at DXBeach and have had a long list of charted releases on hugely credible labels including Toolroom, Sleazy Deep, Milk & Sugar, and Spirit Soul Records. It’s an extraordinary success story for a regional act.
All of which might sound like it’s been easy for Arcade 82. It hasn’t. Pickup says that “every dirham” they earn goes back into the band, either for new software and hardware, or, for example, to shoot one of the music videos that have been so instrumental in garnering interest from labels and promoters (they just returned from a mini-tour of Moscow – their first gigs outside of the UAE – which Pickup attributes directly to their videos). Both men display an impressive mix of pragmatism and a willingness to work hard at their craft.
Take the way their live show has evolved. “We did two years of shows, and one day we were watching video footage back and Shyam’s wife says, ‘You can’t actually see what you guys are doing,’” Pickup explains. “So that’s when we started to put our keyboards on laptop stands so they’re raised above the decks instead of next to them. My drums used to be laid out flat, now they’re on, like, a 35-degree angle and raised really high, so the crowd can see what’s going on.”
Their sound, too, is evolving. The downtempo “118-bpm, sunset-vibe stuff” that helped build their reputation is starting to take a backseat so we’ve spent the last nine months making more uptempo, chunky music, so we can start playing club gigs and later slots.”
Arcade 82
© Arcade 82
It’s not an easy trick to pull off. Pickup says they have drawn up a list of 10 labels they’ll be targeting. For each label, they try to create a track tailor-made for its particular sound.
“I think you waste time by just making tracks,” he says. “For me, it’s ‘Fail to plan, plan to fail.’ You need a vision, a direction.” He stresses that doesn’t mean copying what a particular label has released before. “Just understand the structure. Don’t copy the bass line or anything. Just try and reference that track. But be better.”
Parmar, too, is very conscious of the need to deliberately craft tracks that will work for a specific target audience.
“When I’m writing, the mood of the track is very important,” he says. “I think, with electronic music, it’s very easy for anyone to drop vocals over tracks. But from understanding and partying to house music for so long, I’ve realised that it’s very important to get the mood right. The daytime deep stuff is more vocal-heavy, quite sun-kissed. So writing tracks with that sunshine, happy, positive mood over those records really works. And on the flipside, you’ve got stuff that’s a bit more for the club, a bit more underground. If you’re trying to make stuff for the club – for people to party and groove to – you’ve got to be really careful about where you place vocals and how you put stuff together. It’s a very different style. That’s something I’m developing and improving on.”
Arcade 82’s Chemical Brothers opening slot will give the UAE audience its first chance to sample that new direction.
“We’ve added a lot of new tracks and new hardware. We’re trying to add new elements that allow us to do more, creatively,” he explains. “We’re excited to play and we’re hoping the crowd in Abu Dhabi enjoy it too.”