Digital Duo-Ali K and Alex Arzeno

	DownshiftRadio spotlight

The NY based DJ/producer duo of Alex Arzeno and Ali Kay AKA Digital Duo started working together in February of 2001.
Alex' history goes back to 1987 in Miami where he played alongside the likes of Danny Tenaglia and produced a #2 billboard hit "TUBALE" under the alias "WARNING" in 1993.
Ali started as a DJ/promoter in NY in 1995. He became a resident DJ at the weekly party "ONE LOVE", which led to bookings all over the US. Together, they are working on original tracks and remixes and promoting their label "SIRENUM RECORDS", which has already produced a sold out hit record "Godless".
In between working hard at the studio and spinning on their "studio sessions" Mondays on Downshiftradio we caught up with the boys and got the down and dirty.

Digital Duo-Ali K and Alex Arzeno

How long have you been producing music?

Alex: I have been producing music since 1978 and electronic music since 1986. What made me start producing electronic music was my fascination with synthesizers. I loved the fact of being the whole band myself. No more excuses like: the drummer can't make rehearsals or the guitar player eloped and nobody knows where he is (that sucked).
Ali and I met through my wife. They worked together at that time and Jameeale ( my wife) noticed that Ali had an interest in music and was a deejay. She mentioned to Ali that I was also a deejay and producer. So one day Ali and I met in mid-town Manhattan and from then on we started to collaborate.
Ali: I started producing music seriously after I met Alex in 2001. Before then I had only experimented around with ACID by Sonic Foundry, putting a couple of tracks together using loop CDs.

What are your influences?

Alex: I would listen to Elvis, Beetles, Pink Floyd, Duran Duran, Kraftwerk, U2 and the list goes on.
Ali: I have never listened to anything but electronic music. I think that it's partially because I grew up in Europe and electronic music in general and dance music in particular are much more mainstream over there. The first LP I ever bought was TRAVELOUGE by HUMAN LEAGUE (I still have it), after that came KRAFTWERK, DEPECHE MODE, FRONT 242, NEW ORDER, PETSHOP BOYS, FRONTLINE ASSEMBLY, NITZEREBB...As far as today's producers go, only a few names come to mind: JAN DRIVER, TIMO MAAS, DELIRIUM, and THIEVERY CORPORATION.

what comes first and what is your passion-djing or producing?

Alex: Sometimes it's hard to tell. I love producing but give me a great club with good people and a slammin' sound system/booth and I'm in heaven too. I must say that for me when it comes to electronic music I love producing and djing just the same.
Ali: I like doing both also. I like the absolute control that you have in the studio as a producer and the instant feedback you get from a crowd as a DJ. But If I had to pick one, it would definitely be producing.

What's the story behind Sirenum records?

Ali: I started SIRENUM RECORDS three years ago, but didn't release anything until this year because of a couple of reasons: First and foremost the financial aspect, selling vinyl is not very lucrative. You are lucky if you break even at the beginning. Second is finding distribution. An unknown artist of an unknown label is a hard sell for a distributor, no matter how good the track is. What I would like to see in the future for SIRENUM RECORDS is an outlet for our tracks as well as other producers. I would also like to sign well known producers and remixers to the label to establish its name.

How would you compare dance music nowadays and yesterday?

Alex: You can't really compare because dance music is always in progression. It is meant to constantly evolve, It would not be fair to compare. Nevertheless, record sales were much better before. But back then we didn't have the computer savvy of today with downloads, mp3's, pirating and rippin CD copies. That really hurts the sales. Thank god for DJs and their loyalty to vinyl.
Ali: I totally agree, the only thing I want to add is that good music will stand the test of time. Lately I have been on a DEPECHE MODE kick and been listening to a lot of their old stuff. Even though some of the remixes sound outdated, the originals sound as good as when I heard them the first time around.

What do you have in your studio and what is your favorite gear?

Ali: My favorite question finally, I am a gearaholic, I admit it. (if somebody knows of any gearaholic anonymus meetings please let me know)
KIT LIST:
Software: SONAR, Sound Forge, all the NI plugins, Waves gold bundle, Project 5, Live, Reason, Acid, Stylus, T-racks, Autotune, Kantos...
Hardware: Dell workstation, Delta 1010, Roland V-synth, Roland XV-5080 with four expansion boards, Emu Xtreme lead, Korg Ms2000, Akai AX-60, Novation K-station, last but not least Virus B and C each one expanded to eight banks of 128 patches.
Now, figuring which one is my favorite is a difficult question. It is like trying to pick your favorite child, you love them all. But if I was stranded on a deserted studio and had to choose only one plugin and one synth, I would pick Kontakt and virus B.
The way Alex and I work most of the time is that either he starts a track at home brings it to the studio and we finish it together, or I start a track in the studio he comes over and we finish it together. The process could take anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of months depending on our schedules.

Is it easier to break into the industry today or harder?

Alex: I think its a little harder to break in the industry now. We have it too easy with all this great gear and technology. That's also what makes it harder. Everyone and their dogs are Djs/Producers and that makes the industry very saturated with good and bad music. But I believe a good record will cut through the crap and you will be able to make it in this industry.

What does the future hold for Ali Kay and Alex Arzeno?

Ali: We are looking around to find a distributor for our second release on SIRENUM RECORDS. The track is called WISE and features the vocals of Niverca.

What would you do if you weren't making music?

Alex: If it wasn't for making music I would probably have been a brain surgeon.
Ali: I would probably be on a movie set somewhere. That is what I went to school for.

Ali Kay and Alex Arzeno-The Digital Duo can be reached at sirenumrecords@rcn.com.

Digital Duo - Mondays - from 2-4:00 pm EST.