AR/CO FAULT Magazine Covershoot and Interview
Discover the creative journey of AR/CO as they unveil their debut EP, ‘Origin Stories,’. We dive into their unique blend of hedonistic disco escape-pop and psychedelic sounds, learn about the inspirations behind their music and of course, their FAULTs.
What inspired the creation of this EP, and what message do you hope to convey to your listeners?
AR/CO: We had this wild idea of a planet off world called AR/CO, we didn’t know if people would get on board but after the pandemic just seemed like everyone wanted something different. It’ll be cool if we can look back and see. We wanna be able to look back and be like “Wow, that was the defining starting point for us”. Origin Stories is the beginning of the creative, the music, the fanbase, everything. And if there’s one message we take with it’s do not take life too seriously! You’ll never get out of it alive!
Your music is described as “Otherworldly, hedonistic disco escape-pop” and “Psychedelic pop at its finest.” How do you blend these diverse elements to create your unique sound?
AR/CO: We write what we like, the music we’d dance to or put on to share with our friends and family. We try not to overthink it too much, but those descriptive words do make it sound very sexy and elusive. We’ll take it.
What inspired ‘Boys Like Girls’?
AR/CO: Sometimes we joke in sessions and sing really obnoxious, playful ideas we never to see the light of day. Then there’s that second where we lock eyes and think “have we just written a grammy award winning song?” That’s how this one came about.
You mentioned that the track was written quickly but took two years to finish. Can you elaborate on the challenges and rewards of refining a song over such a long period?
AR/CO: The writing of the hook took about half an hour, it’s the production that usually needs a bit of time. It took until we found our friend Bynon in the Montreal mountains, and we cracked the code. Sometimes you gotta try think outside the song and resist the urge to change things just because you’re used to them.
With over 3 million monthly listeners on Spotify and 15 million streams of ‘Night Feels’, do you find yourself ever trying to comprehend the large size of your listener base, or does it not bear thinking about?
AR/CO: We joke with our other music friends, it’s a been a long road here with lots of songs and failures along the way. We’re grateful for everyone who listens, pretty mental how many people across the world are tuning in.
What has been your most memorable live performance experience so far?
AR/CO: We did MADCOOL festival in Madrid last year, our tent was about 1k cap but we’d never been there before. It pretty scary not knowing who’s gonna show, but the place was heaving and there was line out the door. We just remember being like, “oh yeah, people love our shit”.
What’s been the most challenging hurdle on your creative journey?
AR/CO: The music’s always second nature, but having such an ambitious visual concept and building the world around AR/CO well has been challenging but also super rewarding. It’s like these little crazy ideas coming to life, so cool.
Does this release feel like the closing of a chapter before ‘season two’ of AR/CO, or will the next step in your musical journey still feel connected to your previous work?
AR/CO: This is definitely its own thing sonically, it’ll be always be “AR/CO” because of the vocal sound but the cool thing is that we can explore so many different spaces and sounds. We’re definitely evolving but this is our foundation.
What is your FAULT?
AR/CO: We might make people not rate Earth anymore and everyone will want to go to planet AR/CO. (Also, neither of us are morning people.)
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