DMNW: And I saw you were from a town in the Columbia Gorge, Washington. What was it like growing up in a small town and how do you think that influenced you musically?
A: My family moved from Portland out to White Salmon when I was pretty young. I don’t think I fully appreciated the beauty of the natural rural area we moved to, but it helped tremendously to cultivate creative thinking. As a kid I was always fascinated with storytelling, and since we lived relatively far from town, it was up to me and my sister to entertain ourselves. I realize now that all of these interests came full circle in my adulthood to create my debut album, Iskatallith.
I feel like this album is a culmination of all my life experiences as whole, and I think the Arkana project will be a life-long story. Iskatallith is a monumental accomplishment for me, in pursuit of these dreams.
Catch up with New Dawn Collective, and listen to Arkana’s upcoming project
It’s astoundingly clear from an hour-long zoom conversation how dedicated Sam is to this label and project. Few music producers are as grounded while still so staunchly committed to breaking boundaries as he is. He carries a huge sense of carefulness too in his thinking about the label and his own production—like all opportunities are considered and no stones left unturned.
It’s also clear he’s poured his heart into his upcoming project. Dumping every emotion into the production from start to finish, he wants the listener to walk away with a feeling of invincibility and magic. On the wider label, the focus is clearly on fostering the artists to elevated success relative to each other. There aren’t enough producers and label owners with that same mentality today, and we can’t wait to see what Sam is going to change in the wider electronic music scene.
Listen to the next single on Arkana’s upcoming Iskatallith album on September 2nd, and follow up with the rest of New Dawn Collective here. Are you going to be tuning in? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter.
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