This week Electronic Night Life brings you an interview with High Contrast artist Arteno Divini, who shares great detail in regards to his history in the Electronic Music scene as well as some little known information about his past in sports and how he changed his career.

Can you tell us your earliest memory of Electronic Music?

My first memory of electronic dance music is the rise of house music in general. When I was in highschool, house started to dominate the charts and the infamous Houseparty albums were released, only to become instant classics. The happy hardcore sound (nowadays known as ‘hardcore’ in the UK) was insanely popular, but at that time I mainly focused on my sporting career. Though I díd participate in our highschool band, I also have to say that I preferred listening to bands such as The Doors, Nirvana and Metallica.

Were you ever interested in other genres besides Electronic Music?

Definitely, especially when I drive home after a gig I love to listen to R&B or pop music. It’s something completely different than the music I produce, but listening to these kinds of genres makes me able to clear my head and become totally relaxt. I also reckon that it’s important to listen to other kinds of music, I get lots of inspiration out of it. When I’m working on a new track, I need that inspiration because I’m very critical when it comes to my own tracks. I pursue perfection and nothing less, but once I find that the track is completely finished, I’m really happy with the result. Luckily also my A&R manager Dick de Groot always knows how to push me into the right direction.

Are you currently working on an artist album?

Not really at this very moment, though High Contrast will release a compilation by the end of the year, which I will get to put together. I will use a lot of my own tracks, so it will be sort of a crossover between a compilation and an artist album.

How did your anthem for Pleasure Island 2010 come about?

Art Of Dance (the organization which is responsible for Pleasure Island) asked me to do this year’s anthem. We made a couple of different examples, but after that we found ourselves stuck at a certain point. It’s always to create something that satisfies all parties involved, but in the end an awful lot of work resulted in ‘Griffin’. Lately I gave the first version a couple of tries during my sets and people keep asking which mix it was that I played. I’ll probably use it for the forthcoming compilation, so keep a little more patience haha.

What type of feedback are you receiving from the fans for the track Griffin?

I’m actually quite happy with the response, which has been positive. Every time I drop this track the fans recognize the intro and they start chanting along the melody. This track has come to life and that’s what makes me so proud, it’s been worth all the effort. This is also why it’s so much fun to play the first version of ‘Griffin’, people expect something else than what they hear.

You recently performed at Nature One in Germany. Can you share some of the highlights with us?

This was my first ever Nature One, it even was the first time I played at such a big festival in Germany. I have to say that it was very impressive, we arrived on Friday night and on our way to the site the roads weren’t as crowded as we suspected. But then we ended up in a huge traffic control routine, but luckily a German police officer was kind enough to let us pass so we could make it on time. Once we approached the site the roads became busier every mile we drove and after we parked the car we finally got to see how immense this festival is. UNBELIEVABLE how many people were attending this event and I just could not believe my eyes when I saw how big the entire shows on all the stages looked. I was playing on the Heaven’s Gate stage that was hosted by Alex M.O.R.P.H. and Woody van Eyden. This stage was situated on top of a gigantic bunker, so when I got up there I had one of the best views of the festival site.

I was on after Gareth Emery, who by the way turns out to be a really nice guy, I met him the week before Nature One at the Czech edition of Pleasure Island. In Germany he got the crowd going so when I started I could do what I love doing most: create some dance floor mayhem. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to stay that long after my set, I had a plane to catch.

What are your favorite destinations to travel to?

Well, I haven’t played in that many countries yet, but South-America, Poland and the Czech Republic are countries where the people know how to party. I love the vibe that those people create, every time I drop the first track they go completely insane! After every single one of those sets I am exhausted, that’s why I love those countries and their crowds.

Who are some of your favorite artists to work with?

I haven’t collaborated with a large amount of artists, but one of the people I enjoy working with is DJ Fausto. He is Holland’s leading hard dance DJ and every time we start working on a new track, we either finish it within a couple of days or it takes way too long, which is mainly due to the fun we have talking about silly stuff or doing crazy voices and characters. He always knows how to trigger me to give a track that little bit extra. Fausto’s new track ‘Patience’ was done in only three days and all I can say is that this one will be a banging hard dance track. It’s nice for me to produce different styles of dance music every now and then; it gives me different angles to project on my own tracks.  

I’ve also always enjoyed working with Melvin Warning, after a four-year break we decided to collaborate once again, just for fun and old time’s sake. And of course there’s Jochen Miller, we created some great tunes together. Lately Jochen’s been working on new stuff together with Benno (known from Rank1), but once he’s got some more time, we will definitely get together again for some new material.

Last but not least there is Jonas Stenberg, whom I like to refer to as Professor Stenberg haha! This guy is insanely quick when it comes to producing sounds, it’s a shame that he lives abroad, but every time that he’s in Holland, he stays over at my place a couple of days to work on our new track, which will hopefully be out on High Contrast sometime this year.

Which artists do you hope to work with in the future?

I would love to work with Rank1’s Benno de Goeij. He is an absolute genius. I’d like to see how he handles certain synths and programs, but I’m afraid that he’ll work too fast for me to follow. Next to Benno, I wouldn’t mind watching Marco V and Benjamin Bates at work. The way they mix down and master all their tracks is brilliant, I want to know how they do that. For me every day is an exploration of my studio, I always learn new tricks and I try different ways to get the ultimate sound out of my Mac, without losing my own, specific sound.

What artist did you respect the most when you began your journey into Electronic Music, and why?

It’s not really one single artist; I’d have to say that the band Queen is the absolute top of the bill when it comes to music production. Their arrangements are stunning, with ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ being the ultimate piece of work. In our high school band we had to practice this one over and over and over again, but once we succeeded in playing it, it was stuck in our set list until we all quit the band. And of course there’s Michael Jackson, so much respect for what he has done for music and for his strength in life. I really miss him and Freddie Mercury; I wish they were still here to give us more good music.

What are some of your goals in the music business?

I’m at the age of 32 and I’ve had the wish of being a professional DJ by the time I turned 30, so that’s one goal achieved. I was 28 when my girlfriend and me bought our own place, after which I decided to quit my job and pursue my musical career. In my years as a teenager I was a professional biker, this experience gave the discipline to get up early and work hard, even though it has been tough. At first my number of bookings declined, but in the end we made it. My newest goal is to get a spot in the DJ Top 100 so please DON’T FORGET TO VOTE FOR ARTENTO DIVINI haha! No seriously, everyone has to decide for themselves, I know the importance of this list and that marketing is an important part of how to get a place in the list, but please just pick your true favorites.

My personal point of happiness of this year is that I finally feel that everything in my career has come together: High Contrast releases my tracks, I’ve got amazing representation by a great booking agent (fleur@globaldjbookings.com) and Niels who handles my marketing. It feels great to go to the studio and work with these people to achieve my goal of entering the famous DJ list.
 
What are your feelings towards the evolution of Trance Music?

I noticed that there was a time, not too long ago, when it started to decrease a bit. But Trance is back in business as a dance genre, especially since House started influencing Trance. I tend to play my sets at 130 to 135 beats per minute, so I sometimes start my set with some good House-like or even Techno tracks. But that depends on the atmosphere of the night, though I like to create my own story in every set I play so that the entire crowd can enjoy it too the fullest.

Looking back to the beginning for your career, is there anything you wished you did differently?

Haha yeah, I wish I hadn’t taken up sports, I should have started DJ-ing way earlier in my life and if I had been there during the ‘successful’ years of dance. But like I said: my career in sports taught me perseverance, will power and a fresh mind. So that’s worth a lot too, without those capacities I might not have gotten where I am today. I also believe in the fact that everything you do, you do for a reason and that everything happens for a reason, this was the way that I had to walk to achieve what I want to achieve.

What advice would you give to an aspiring artist?

Do what you like doing, keep renewing and improving yourself and especially believe in yourself, this will get you further than anything else.

Are you currently working on any other projects?

I recently finished a remix for High Contrast, I finished my new single ‘My Sanctuary’ which will be out soon and I’ve been working on my next single, but first it’s time for a well-deserved holiday together with my family and my girlfriend in the first week of September.

Do you have any comments for your fans?

I would like to thank everyone for supporting me and my tracks, even more for having amazing times in the clubs and at the festivals,

- Interview by Zaneta Soroko-Ortiz

http://www.artentodivini.com/