Arman's Voice Notes is Are We On Air's latest audio supplement, taking you on an audio voyage through Arman's latest travels and cultural findings.

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Nearly 4 years since they last saw each other in LA, PAUL KALKBRENNER meets Arman in his emerald green 1961 Maserati Ghibli for a chat in BERLIN. Bonding over a love of Mozart, KALKBRENNER mentions he was a terrible instrumentalist as a child, having learned and suffered on the TRUMPET. The KEY to this experience, however, was that he never let it deter him from pursuing music.

He may be one of technos biggest superstars, but the biggest thing that defines his career? TENACITY. In his own words, KALKBRENNER describes this force of self-determination that built his launch pad: “there were many hard years, but I STUCK WITH IT.” Referencing a few of his earliest musical memories, he shares love at first listen was ISAO TOMITA’s Picture at the Exhibition: II. Admiring the LAYERS of sound woven into the song he heard blaring from his parents double cassette tape, KALKBRENNER realised that - the art of layering - was exactly what he wanted to master.

Swerving between German and English, Arman and K could chat for hours. East Germany, during his childhood, looked exactly like the pictures - grey. KALKBRENNER describes the sound of footsteps from the border guards as the only noise from the street at night. These nights had an impact on his craft, as KALKBRENNER believes silence is as important to sound. His warning to the music industry? Do not change because of the times. Instead, use time as a resource to distill your own authentic sound. Slipping into his DRIVING GLOVES to get back on the road, the lyrics “right here, right now” play over the layers of his own track, leaving us with a message. We have the power to make dreams reality if we are tenacious enough.

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Arman's Voice Notes is Are We On Air's latest audio supplement, taking you on an audio voyage through Arman's latest travels and cultural findings.

www.areweonair.com

https://www.instagram.com/areweonair/

https://www.instagram.com/armannafeei/

YANN TIERSEN calls Arman from his studio for a conversation set amidst a blinkering of blue and orange lights from the sound dials, hard drives and synthesisers behind him. While he’s a known legend of cinematic scoring, Tiersen insists that the best soundtrack is not necessarily a composed soundtrack - but using music. Referencing this proper “usage” of music in film, Tiersen points to the master Kubrick himself. Living close to nature is an important part of his life and his music. TIERSEN is the kind of artist who treasures the simple, sacred things, like life without the sound of constant motor engines, or owning a record or book he loves in its physical form because for him, it’s “a piece of me.”

Though Tiersen exudes a sense of peace in his speech and thought processes, he shares that there is a world of chaos at the core of his creative process. When he gets into the studio, he’s inspired by PLAY and ‘MAKING TONS OF NOISE.’ Reminding us that life really should be all about making noise and having fun, TIERSEN’s humbling answer to Arman’s final question brings even more importance to that message. Shortly after Arman asks: “if your life is a movie, what will play in the end credits?” To that TIERSEN responds: “Nothing. A sine wave.” Waving goodbye, we thank YANN for sharing a glimpse into his twinkling mind.

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THIS IS IT. Staying true to her Turkish roots, NILÜFER YANYA is inspired by INSTINCT, foremost, and MELODY second.  Calling from London, NILÜFER and Arman bond over a shared love as she references the Strokes This Is It as an album that’s stood the test of time, and only gets better. For NILÜFER, inspiration is everywhere - but writing, instinctively, “comes from nowhere.” Bringing us into her creative process, she shares that the beginning of a new song unfolds itself musically first, while language comes in second. Other times, it’s simply hearing the cadence of words in a phrase that will send her into a writers frenzy. This lovely, SPIRIT OF THE MOMENT, YANYA shares with us - making this episode a listeners pleasure.

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Amidst 2021's Berlin Gallery Weekend infamous Are We On Air pop-up in Berlin, Arman meets art impresario JOHANN KÖNIG at Unter Den Linden.

With a music selection that ranges from 90's euro-trash to today's latest Tik Tok viral song, JOHANN dwells on the ever changing city that is Berlin (and how he has no patience for the nostalgia infused talk of the 'good ol'days') and how being a gallerist in the age of NFT's is exciting as it ever was.

Talking about how the late Virgil Abloh paved the way for a no-thrills approach to culture, JOHANN wants art to be appreciated as one appreciates music: "People consume art as they consume music. You listen to a song, you like it or not, it creates reaction with you or not. That's it!". We say BRAVO!

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In the courtyard of the Chateau Marmont, you’ll find the sunshine where CL is singing Arman a traditional Korean song her grandmother sang to her while growing up. While she might be one of the worlds biggest POPSTARS, CL glows with the same warmth and joy on stage in front of millions as she does in a one on one encounter with a new friend — “I feel what I feel in the moment to the fullest, so I don’t have anything left behind that I need to solve later.”

If we can all take a page from CL’s book, its to not take life too seriously, and weather the wind of our emotions with a self-loving self awareness. She is bold, pragmatic, and exuberant but she is soft.

On the topic of heartbreak, the K-pop sensation describes the delicate balance of keeping her personal life private without ‘hiding’ it from her art. CL strikes a balance between forging a powerful career as a solo artist, and finding inspiration in any way shape or form that beauty finds her in life. CL shares that when she’s out with friends, she always passes the aux to discover new songs — new songs are her surefire way to inspire new memories. Flipping through fashion archives as one source of her inspiration, Arman and CL bond over a shared love of Raf Simons. Gracefully, after 15 years of being at the pinnacle of the public eye, CL evolves into an even stronger and more beautiful butterfly every corner she turns. Get some fresh AIR and sunshine: It’s CL’s dawn, her day, and we’re feeling good . . .

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For most of us, ’DISTURBING’ is an adjective used to convey a sense of anxiety and upset; to RICK OWENS, ‘disturbing’ invokes an instinctive THRILL - the starting point of exploration.

In the bottom of a Porterville K-MART bargain basement, OWENS dug up David Bowie’s DIAMOND DOGS. The ‘excitement, disturb, confusion and guilt’ that album cover evoked in him became a self defined SELF DEFINING moment. Though it wasn’t until years later that he heard the album, the MIXTURE OF GLAMOUR AND THE GROTESQUE stuck with him and became a part of his perspective forever. There’s something exciting about the way that Owens describes how he actively searches for music, ‘taking one pathway that leads me to another, that leads me to another, and another, I keep going and going.” It’s this insatiable curiosity that transfixes the material mundane with meticulous detail and travels beyond a limited “I” view. Through his RESPECT FOR THE RAW gesture in one’s career that catapults it to wider success, Owens RELINQUISHES CONTROL. Knowing that the response to what he puts into the world is not always as important as it’s made out to be is an act of faith that Owens reveres with a refreshing humility: “I DIDN’T SET OUT TO BE REMEMBERED FOR SNEAKERS AND DROP CROTCH SHORTS, BUT THAT’S WHO I’M GOING TO BE FOREVER.”

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Arman's Voice Notes is Are We On Air's latest audio supplement, taking you on an audio voyage through Arman's latest travels and cultural findings.

www.areweonair.com

https://www.instagram.com/areweonair/

https://www.instagram.com/armannafeei/

BUSY P welcomes Arman into Ed Banger in Montmarte. Born to bring the headbangers, indie romantics, hip hop kids and techno heads together, PEDRO describes the DNA of Ed Banger Records; a place where the integrity and energy of music is felt and expressed in the freshest, sexiest way.

There’s a certain magic in the air as Pedro shares his belief that “LONGEVITY is the best proof of success.” Alluding to DAFT PUNK for teaching him that “knowing what you want to do is as important as knowing what you don’t want to do,” Pedro shares ideas from their synergy working together. Hinting caution to the new youth, Pedro warns “music is not something you swipe, but something you FEEL.”

As important as mixing genres and people is, so is understanding the boundaries that lend themselves to the contrast which make them beautiful. Referencing the Beastie Boys 'Check Your Head,' Kraftwerk, Metallica and MC Solaar, Pedro’s soundtrack reflects his appetite for questioning standards, pushing boundaries, and then bringing them all together. An old soul but perpetually cool kid, BUSY P waves au revoir to get busy again and Arman steps back out onto the cobbled streets of the 18th arrondissement.

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