Radikon‘s annual ‘Reto’ compilation returns with its fourth installment. 2021 has come and gone, and it’s been another year of ups and downs, last-minute cancellations, beautiful glimmers of hope, and label firsts: Radikon’s label showcases debuted across Europe, and they celebrated their first long-player release by a solo artist. Above all, this year has shown that electronic music remains a labor of love for all of us, and producing the best music we are capable of is what brings us together – no matter the circumstances.
Reto IV is the label’s second foray in 2022, a time to reminisce about the past year and showcase who we they become as artists. There’s some great contributions by Alma, Arude & Tantum, Dahu, Foreign Guest, Guzy, Hollt, Naeiiv, SKALA, Vincent Vossen, Yubik, and Yuven.
You can now listen to the full premiere of Arude & Tantum‘s track ‘Doppler’ exclusively on When We Dip while reading the great interview we had with them. Enjoy!
WWD: Arude and Tantum, you already had a collab release on Radikon. How did you get the idea to work together and what does the collaboration look like in a song?
A: As I good remember, I heard one of Tantum’s songs called “Bethnal Green”. (This track is amazing, I play it every set since I came across this track.). I immediately contacted Thomas wrote that he made a real hit and asked him a few questions about how he did such a powerful bass on this track and some other questions related to this track. And a few moments later we released our first collaboration EP on Radikon. So this time was easier because already we already have our own principles of work.
T: The original idea came spontaneously after chatting for a while. we have both been fans of each other’s work. Whenever we work together, we end up complementing each other really well IMO, so it’s always exciting when we decide to start something new!
Usually, we would start with some rough idea either of us has created. We both work with audio, which means we bounce full separated stems every time and add/change/modify them. After bouncing back and forth for maybe 4-5 times a track would be ready for the final mixdown and mastering.
WWD: Your song ‘Doppler’ lives from the groove, the punchy drums and its minimalism in the synth work. Who was responsible for which element ?
A: Everything is very simple than it might seem. As I said before we already have our own principles of work on the tracks, so firstly, we asked each other if there was some kind of unreleased demos or some kind of sketches at each other. This time I had one unreleased old track with vocals that were stored in a God-forsaken folder. I sent it to him and Thomas said that he likes the idea and he knows how to improve this track. Thomas just applied his dense groove to my synthesizers and that’s all.
T: As Arude said, he had most of the synth work and some of the drums already laid out. I have added on the rest of the drums, bass, and some of the atmo/pad sounds and did the final mix.
WWD: How did you come up with the name ‘Doppler’?
A:The first trial name for this track was “Phosphenes”. I thought it would be a good idea with this name but after a few days, Radikon bosses said that this name doesn’t fit perfectly and after that Thomas came up with Doppler (truly say I don’t understand what means this word but it sounds really nice and unique).
T:Doppler refers to the “Doppler effect” which is an acoustic phenomenon. The name clicked for both of us in the end and matches the tracks wonky and bending lead very well.
WWD: Both of you have also successfully released solo on Radikon. How do you feel about working with the label and are there any more releases planned?
A: I think we are both happy with it. I’m sure that a lot of people recognized us and our sound since we released our “Glare EP” in 2020 on this label. As for me, it’s a big pleasure to be part of this team. I always can write to guys and discuss some moments with them, I can get some advice about music production from them and they can tell you how to do better in a given situation. I always feel and see their diligence and creative approach to their work and want to add that It’s a real pleasure for me as an artist to have support all-time from these guys. Not every label can boast of such an attitude towards its artists so it’s a pleasure for to me release my tracks on Radikon.
WWD: After all, the new year has just begun. Do you already have a ‘good proposal’ for 2022?
T: Has it really? Time flew by so fast in the last 2 years, it feels like I’m strapped on a rocket haha. Right now I’m in the middle of moving cities after graduating. So I’m plenty busy and hope that I can set up a very clean and productive working environment for 2022!
A: I have an upcoming EP with Final Request and Sandhaus on Edu Imbernon ‘s Eklektisch and many more but I can’t share this information yet. And what else are you doing musically? I also make ghost productions tracks and help other artists on my Patreon channel.
WWD: And what else are you doing musically?
T: Over the holiday, I’ve reconnected with some of the music I grew up with. specifically the tunes I’ve played as a teenager when learning the guitar. Bands like Black Sabbath, The Stooges, Judas Priest, The Misfits, etc. It’s amazing coming back to it now and realizing how great some of the works were. Not only creatively but also production-wise. Nowadays we have all the possibilities of the world, all in the box. But still some of the mixes achieved with what nowadays be considered, limited gear, sound very awesome. There’s a lesson to be learned there that I want to apply to my own music.
Release Date: January 28th, 2022. Buy Here