We spoke with Artash Doult about Azibi Music, a new musical venture that’s an outlet for the founder’s maximalist, club-ready dance music.
How long has your label been in operation?
Five months, we started in late 2020.
What inspired you to set up the label in the first place?
I was self-releasing my own music through Distrokid and I was asked for the label name, so I came up with Azibi (which is Ibiza backwards).
How would you describe your musical philosophy and creative vision?
My musical philosophy is go with your gut instinct and follow your heart. Never try to force it and don’t get caught up in the weeds. I’ve found my best tracks come together relatively quickly. I try to keep it simple and keep it rolling. If an idea isn’t happening, I’m quick to move on. I try not to strive for perfection. I’m looking for quality through quantity. If you make 100 tracks, one of them should be a banger. My creative vision is to simply keep improving, keep making better music. I want to make big dance floor club tracks. Sometimes cool, sometimes more to the point, but ideally pumping tracks to get a dance floor rocking.
“My musical philosophy is go with your gut instinct and follow your heart. Never try to force it and don’t get caught up in the weeds.”
Tell us about your first release – what was special about that one?
My first release on Azibi was ‘Dancing In The Dark’. I found some Daft Punk-y samples on Splice and the track came together pretty quickly. Timmy Vegas gave me some good feedback so I was optimistic about the track. I found an engineer on Fiverr who mastered it and stuck a vocal on without asking, luckily it was a great fit and really added something to the track. I sent the track to Gary Dedman who said it reminded him of early Air which again was promising, So, we promoted the track and got decent DJ feedback. My mate Andy Boiler House then did a more uptempo Club mix so it’s a nice two-track release. A lot of DJs said it could do with a full vocal so this is something I’ll probably add.
“If you make 100 tracks, one of them should be a banger. My creative vision is to simply keep improving, keep making better music..”
What’s been the highlight of your journey so far as a label?
Being asked by MN2S if I’d like to answer some questions to promote the label on their website. On a serious note though, some of the DJ reactions for each release have been very encouraging.
What advice would you give to anyone thinking of setting up their own imprint?
Just go for it. Be consistent and put out your music.
“I just want to keep releasing music, getting better at producing and most importantly enjoy the journey.”
What lies ahead for your label in 2020 and beyond?
I’m hoping to release at least one track per month. I’m hopefully working with a few producers to improve my own productions. I don’t mind saying that I need the help of experienced professionals to really get my tracks over the line, to get that polished finished sound. So I’m trying to come up with lots of ideas so the best ones can be taken to the next level, I just want to keep releasing music, getting better at producing and most importantly enjoy the journey.