Behind The Music: Arcain (Music Producer Interview)

At just 18 years of age, rapper, producer, and engineer Arcain has carved a unique space for himself in the music world. He defies the idea of jack of all trades, master of none and has found ample success in all of his musical endeavours. Alongside releasing his own music, engineering for Russ Millions’s latest album and opening his very own studio, the native West Londoner has been instrumental in creating opportunities for fellow young people through collaborations with youth clubs in Ealing. Arcain is proving his ambitions stretch far beyond the mic, embodying the spirit of what we do at Split60.  

I had the opportunity to sit down with Arcain to talk on his new studio, his entry into music, the importance of music opportunities for young people and more.  

Tell me a bit about yourself, how would you describe yourself as an artist?  

My name is Arcain, I'm from Hanwell, West London. I am a producer, studio engineer and artist. Right now, I’m focusing on studio engineering and producing for people, every now and again I'll put a verse down.  

Tell me about your entry into music, what/who inspired you first?  

The way I started was by playing the recorder, then saxophone at age 8, from then I played ukelele. Eventually, I started using GarageBand, which was my gateway drug into music production, that was what made music take over my life, at the time I was using my family’s old mac from like 2008. People that influenced me back then were just people I looked up to in my area, someone like Kernal (@Kernal_olh on Instagram) he was a music artist I could actually speak to. He was one of many people actually helping me out when I started, a lot of people didn't take me that seriously because I was only 13.  

You are a rapper, producer, and engineer. How come you chose to do all 3 as opposed to focusing on just one?  

It’s a good question because people say if you work on one thing, you'd be better at that. It is just how it’s worked out for me. When I started producing, I wanted to put my own vocals on it, a lot of my friends were rapping so I started rapping too. One day I had a studio session and in 2 hours I left with something worse than I could have done myself, so I became a studio engineer.  

Along with all the roles you currently do, are there any music industry roles you would be interested in trying out?  

I feel like this is where my cut off point is. It would be nice to go into a music business, but I'd rather leave the A&R work to other people, people who have the ear for it. I'm happy with the music creation, the studio, that's a business in itself.  

What is COM collective?  

A collective me and my friend made when we were very young, I was 16 at the time. It was just people who were friends at the time, we would make songs in our room. It didn’t really work out because of the workload, I was doing a lot at the time. It was a great learning curve though, it showed us how difficult music is day in day out. I’ve got a lot of love for everyone in the collective, there was some very important people to me in that group, but everyone needs to pave their own way, we are all going to make it together, just not under one name or collective.  

You have collaborated with youth clubs, and this is something that you have mentioned frequently in your lyrics. Why is this of such significance to you as an artist?  

It all started after we did New Gen Festival in Ealing 2 years ago. I got a call from a guy called Colin who’s in charge of the youth clubs in Ealing, basically saying we are setting up a studio for young people in Greenford. We all started promoting it, I did a bit of work with Colin and the council, just trying to show young people that music is a viable music career. We never had anything like that in my area, the closest place was in Acton with Colin. If the youth clubs were there, in my area, in other areas, some of the not so good things about an area may decrease and it would be a safer environment. People need to be kinder, and show more love, it’s very possible if you have someone like Colin.  

You have your own studio in Wembley now, congratulations. What was the inspiration behind that?  

Thank you! I have wanted my own studio since I was using the old Mac, It’s surreal that it’s now a reality. One day we were recording a track in Pirate Studios, and there was the loudest band next door. In the back of every vocal take you could hear guitar noises, after that I realised, I needed my own studio. I paid rent and it was a lot of money, but you make it back it’s a business. The best thing is that I can do what I want, In Pirate you are always on a time schedule, the other day we recorded an entire cypher, I have the capacity to do that now.  

What advice would you give to a rapper, producer, or engineer? Especially someone who is doing it all like you.  

Show everything that you can do, if you do it all and I go on your page and I don't see you doing it all, that’s a problem because people should know about it. Turn it into a business if you can, being an artist takes a while to get off the ground, but if you are a producer or engineer you can start making money so take the jump. Sometimes free work is good when you are starting off, it can be lucrative portfolio wise but know your worth.  

What trials and tribulations have you experienced as an artist that others may be able to relate to, how did you deal with these?  

My number one thing is trying to get into a healthy routine, for some reason musicians love late nights. Look after yourself, get into a routine. If you are an engineer, you can get this thing called ear fatigue, you know when you are thinking I just added this plug in and I can't hear it It’s trash I hate it etc. Just step outside, take a break, and come back to it. Just surround yourself with people with the best energy, they are the people that you will make it with.  

What’s next for you, do you have anything specific that you want to share?  

I want to start releasing a lot more content about the studio, day to day stuff so people can see what I am doing, so keep your eye out for that. I want to release more, not as an artist but maybe as someone like a Metro Boomin, and just keep growing, showing love and positivity.