Akash Sinha aka Armaani Music: YouTube has been my only teacher to learn EDM

We all have at sometimes or the other listened and waved our hands on the beats of Electronic Dance Music or EDM. EDM emerged as a popular subject with the surge of dance clubs, night parties and rave parties. Today music fests like Tomorrowland and Sunburn get more footfall than any other music fests. From a completely underground genre of music, EDM has revolutionized most of the music world. In India, though the subject is new and didn’t speed much, Sunburn Festival is the largest music fest in the whole of Asia and is happening since 2007 every year in Vagator, Goa.

Our own homeboy Akash Sinha alias Armaani Music is also creating some great EDM music only with his laptop. He doesn’t even have any formal music lessons. “Passon is everything and gives happiness” is what Armaani believes and this mantra has made him what he is today. Even after his parents restrictions towards singing or music, he didn’t stop and today he is making them happy and proud. In a conversation with Barak Bulletin, Armani  shared some of his experiences from his journey and the field of music he works with. Here are the edited excerpts:

BB- What is the genre of music that you create?

Armaani- I basically make EDM or dance music and EDM is not a genre to be precise. It is a vast collective genre and can be termed as a subject.

BB- Tell us about EDM a little bit?

Armaani- EDM stands for Electronic Dance Music and it has evolved from an underground based genre to a global music movement. It began in Amsterdam, Netherlands and some European countries. Today you go to any party or clubs, you will definitely find EDM music, but still many people don’t really know what EDM is or how EDM is made.

BB- How did you get introduced to EDM?

Armaani- It’s actually a long story. As a kid I always wanted to be a singer. My family didn’t allow to me to go for music training or singing classes. But still I approached some local bands to take me as a singer or teach me something, but they all rejected me because I couldn’t sing properly. I was demotivated but I still wanted to do something with music. I searched for opportunities or things I can do to satisfy my thirst of become a musician or a singer. While surfing YouTube, I was so surprised to see people making music just with their laptops without using any instruments. After searching and reading some articles about it, I finally learned about EDM. But for making such music you need to purchase software which costs thousands and back then I had no money and asking my parents was not an option but I downloaded a cracked (laughs) version of the software three years back and began making tunes.

BB- Who inspired you to start working on EDM or who was your first inspiration?

Armaani- Martin Garrix is my idol and he was the first person whose work inspired me. I used to listen to his tracks all the time and tried to learn the beats and music which he makes. Also, he conducts workshops, where he teaches how to make music with your laptop. Since I have no access to his workshops, I still try to learn something if possible from the videos others upload from his workshops. It was not easy learning online but I tried and tunes started coming in my mind.

BB- How much time does it takes to make one track?

Armaani- It depends on the mood, sometimes it takes three hours but other times it takes three weeks. The last track I made came after three hours of effort but making the video took me twelve hours.

BB- Did you had any formal music training?

Armaani- No, honestly, I had no music training. As I have said my parents were always against me being a singer so there was no chance. YouTube was my teacher and I’m completely self-taught. I learned with trial and errors.

BB- What is your parent’s reaction now?

Armaani- Even now they’re not completely happy but we’ve come to a treaty. They have understood that I’m not going to stop. So, they’ve put forward that I focus on my studies as well and take studies also seriously and they will be supportive.

BB- Where do you see yourself in the coming years? What is Armaani Music’s plans for the coming years?

Armaani- I’m an independent artist now and still becoming one. I want to stay as an independent artist and make my music. I don’t want to go under any label or brand, just want to make music for people.

BB- What will be your message for all the people who are struggling odds and are also trying to be independent artists?

Armaani- I want to put forward one message- I have found that youths or people of my age are being misled these days. I was very good in academics inboard and higher secondary, but this makes a notion that I will be a ‘parakhu’ student in the years to come but my love for music was always more. What I want to say is that one should always work on passion or their aim, not for what the society decides from your percentage. If someone works on their passion they will be successful soon and also be happy.

Another thing which I want to especially mention is that as an artist of any genre or field you can not make your cent per cent audience happy. It’s better to not have a target audience because taste matters from person to person.