AR Talk

Am 11.November 2022 war Aida Arko zu Gast und spielte beim club:against:reality in der p.m.k. "there is no rave on a dead planet!" An diesem Abend stellten wir die Ökologie ins Zentrum der Clubkultur und es gab einen Talk mit Kilian Jörg.

Aida Arko war so nett mit uns einen AR Talk vor ihrem Auftritt zu machen. Da die Aufnahme leider nicht gut geworden ist, haben wir das Interview transkripiert und können es hier nun präsentieren.

Aida Arko
Aida Arko is a electronic music Producer, DJ, Label owner and resident at ‘Grelle Forelleʼ Austria, one of the most demanding clubs in Europe. She has gained huge international recognition thriving from Vienna with her latest releases, which include a rmx to the iconic track ‘Ghost Storiesʼ from Rebekah, a powerful debut EP on Sura, plus releases on the mighty Soma, Elements and Meat Recordings.
 
Having grown up in Iran in the 1990s, Aida wasinfluenced by the Persian underground scene, as well as the wealth of cultural musical heritage her home country.
As a former biology student, she left the academy in pursuit of her real passion: Performance and music. Therefore she left the country in search of her teenage dreams, starting off working with a circus in Dubai and from there touring and traveling globally with a number of teams, performers, and infamous circus shows for several years.

soundcloud.com/aida-arko
linktr.ee/aidaarko

AR TALK mit AIDA ARKO

1. What is important for you when you are making music? Where do you find your inspirations?

It’s not an easy question, because it’s a mix of a few elements that come together in order to make and finish a piece of music. I used to DJ for so many years, maybe eight years now and at some point, it’s just not enough and you would like to be able to express yourself more and that’s how everything started.

I thought I am a self-thought musician and so I really started to read everything I could and saved my money to by equipment. And slowly, slowly just learned as much as I can. In the beginning its mostly just you get to know how to work and how to work with your equipment and how to compose the sound that you are looking for. So, in the first one or two years I would say it’s just all studying and work and then the fun process starts after that. Because than you get more comfortable with your environment and you will be able to enjoy and I would say more art will get involved with that. Because you know the sound pallets that you are looking for and to know how to execute that sound pallet.

So, an inspiration on that, I don’t know I get inspiration in everything, right now talking to you, the energy you get from around from anyone you meet, from traveling, meeting different people, from looking at a piece of art, from everyday live really, I think inspiration is in everything. So, yeah that’s how I kind of could wrap around the question.  

2. Maybe I can ask you about the working conditions. In our last „club against reality“ we dealt with the working conditions of DJs in clubs. Maybe you can give us some examples about positive or negative experiences you are making on your way?

Yeah, for sure you are right. There are both sides, both positive, very strongly and also negative – also very strongly.

Let’s start with the positive ones. First of all, it’s amazing to be able to do what you love and what your passion is and make a living off of it. It is a hard work because it would never stop. It’s a constant process of making and keep going. And not giving up because things are not always easy and upwards and also that is why it is so rewarding. So, you get to live the dream that you always have to create art, create music, create energy and be able to share it with people. And that feeling – there’s just nothing what beats that.

And also, negative sides of it especially as a woman it’s so much it could go throw because some people think it’s easier as a woman maybe because there are less females and so you get more opportunities. That could be partly true but just for a quick fix. If you want to stay there longer you need to really – and I think woman have to prove themselves so much harder than man colleges or to be taken seriously, equally as their man colleges, or in general for the scene. For, we are talking about like other promoters, other musicians etc. – to be taking as one of the dudes.

So, yeah that’s quiet challenging. And there is also, I felt there is a lot of sexism in the scene. Even those things are so much better now and I think there is a lot of movement and there is a lot of amazing woman and man doing grate works in that regard to make the scene more equal and less about sex and what comes in the front line should always be music but we still have a way to go I think and so that could be also downside of it. Working in the industry as a musician, as a female-musician especially, that you need to always find the balance to both keep the art and also to maintain the pressure of the work the you are getting as a woman as well.

3. In our „club against reality“ tonight we deal with ecology and the connection to club culture. The theme for tonight is the environment. Do you recognize/feel any changes in, I would call it your bubble, in relation to this topic?

Just a little bit, yes but it is not something that I could point out as something that industries consider as their primary consideration. Maybe it’s down on a list. It is in a list for sure but it is not a priority on the list. So, I know. I don’t have the names on top of my head unfortunately now but I know some festivals or some promoters. For example, I know „Exhale from Amelie Lens“. They usually are mindful and conscious to don’t use non-disposable straws and the cups have to be disposable and don’t use plastic. Even the bands that they are giving at the door don’t use plastic. And everything is disposable. For sure there are a lot of promoters and organizations and festivals, some clubs as well that are considering it more than the others. But unfortunately, I don’t think that it is a main priority. I mean obviously there is a lot on the list for a promoter to do in a club – doesn’t matter if it’s bigger or smaller. So, I think it’s not something that wouldn’t be a top priority for a promoter – which needs more education.

4. Our collective represents it selves with the slogan “against reality„ what does this mean to you?

I don’t know. I have a little bit of mixed thoughts about reality because what is really a reality? First of all, and against you know for me everything could be a reality as long as it is thoughtful and also reality depends on where you are looking at things and where you are standing in that regards. So, but if I need to give an answer it’s difficult, it’s a really difficult question. But I would say for the clubs than it would be these disconnections, this release that we all need from everyday live. We all work really hard and go through a lot in live and against reality would be something, comes to my mind as something like a getaway, a safe getaway. I hope. And to just have a great time, meet great energy, great attitude, meet good people and good music and just have a great against reality time.

Hier findest du die Veranstaltung vom 11.11.2022:
contrapunkt.net/gestern/reclaim-your-club-club-against-reality/202-11-11-2022-reclaim-your-club-club-against-reality-there-is-no-rave-on-a-dead-planet.html