Get to Know Bass Music's Favorite Couple ARIUS

ARIUS swung by to chat about their latest release “Crazy For Falling,” moving to Hawaii and Bali, and their new merch line!

On the surface, Matt and Tessa may look like your average married couple, but when you dig a little further you will find out they are the electrifying duo ARIUS. Going on a whim back in 2015, they decided to DJ and travel the world together. That whim paid off in a big way. In the past few years, they have garnered a huge fan base and respect within the dance community for their creativity and sheer work ethic.

ARIUS shows versatility in the style of music they produce. One release will be gnarly, headbanging dubstep, the next will be a more chill, laid back-track, and then the following release will be an infectious house tune! They have shown over the years that they can release quantity while still keeping the quality with releases on Circus Records, Tribal Trap, and Create Music Group.

On top of these insane releases, ARIUS dominates in the social media realm as well. From Tessa’s viral finger drumming videos to Matt’s captivating dance routines to their tunes, you can’t deny their hustle and willingness to put it all on the table for their fans. With a tremendous work ethic and amazing releases surrounding them, we knew we had to chat about their latest release, “CRAZY FOR FALLING,” their merch line, and more. Stream their exclusive guest mix below and read on for our chat!

Stream EDMID Guest Mix 244 || ARIUS on SoundCloud:

Hi ARIUS, thanks for chatting with us! Let’s talk about your latest release “CRAZY FOR FALLING.” How did this track come about? Can you share what the production process was like?

Our friend Tim (ghostdigi) inspired and taught me how to play guitar actually. We were having a jam session back in January. He wrote an 8-bar loop that was insanely catchy and I left it on repeat for hours trying to think of something for it. I knew it was special so I just kept it on the side until the right time came.

In June, we packed our stuff to leave for Hawaii and I decided to give this guitar loop to Danny (My Bad). A few days later he came back with a splice sample vocal and a drop leaving a space in between for a guitar melody. I felt it right away and knew exactly how I wanted the drop to sound and what kind of vibe this song should have. Tim and I wrote over 20 melodies for this drop and we weren’t happy with any of them.

It was hard, yet easy at the same time because I knew exactly what was missing. One day I just heard the melody in my head, I took out my guitar, recorded it, and sent it to Tim to re-record with this Fender guitar because that guitar had the right tone I was looking for. Very little processing and there it is, the drop is now super vibey and sexy.

Now we needed to find the perfect vocalist for this song. I sent the track to Isaiah over Instagram. We met once at a party and I’ve heard his music before and thought he was really unique. He came back 1 hr later with the build-up done and it was solid. Then we decided to have Glnna on the intro to give it that nice feel before going to Isaiah, then to the drop. I worked with Glnna on the intro and 2nd half, she killed it. Amazing songwriter/singer for sure.

The track is also paired with a fantastic music video that was shot in Bali! How long did to take to shoot the video and where did the inspiration come from?

We were supposed to shoot this in Hawaii in September, right when we were about to shoot, the government pushed the lockdown up again so the music video got postponed until who knows. We ran into our business partners in Hawaii randomly, and we all decided to go to Bali. Then we thought, let’s just shoot our music video in Bali, it’s a beautiful place, it shouldn’t be hard to find a videographer out there. It took us about six days of traveling all over the islands with two videographers and one baby sitter.

The music video for “Crazy For Falling” is unbelievable. From being beautifully shot in Bali to the chemistry you both have. I saw a lot of comments saying how people were so emotionally moved by it. What does it mean to you guys to be able to provide content like this to people in these uncertain times?

It makes us happy to be able to help and give people hope during this time. We’ve been through a lot, we’ve seen a lot and it’s important for us to share with people that what we have is possible. Work hard, be loyal, treat others how you want to be treated. We just want to inspire and spread love and be great examples so our world can be a better place.

Throughout the pandemic, many artists have expressed that they’ve struggled with producing music or finding inspiration while others have been flourishing. What has your experience been like during this time?

It was tough at first, but to every problem, there’s a solution. We knew shows were gone and it wasn’t going to be coming back for at least another year, so we had to make a decision and go with it. Before ARIUS, we lived in Vietnam and traveled around a lot. The cost of living in Vietnam or Bali is like 5x cheaper than America. We had to be smart with our money and use it wisely so we sold our car, rented out our house to our friends, and packed our stuff. America was getting too toxic for us and our daughter, it was affecting our mental health and creativity. Hawaii and Bali was our solution.

One of the things that makes you both stand out from other artists is the inclusion of finger drumming! For those who might be interested in taking up the skill, what would you say is the best way to start?

Best way to start is to buy a MPC, any kind, whatever you can afford and look up some YouTube tutorials!

You have mentioned on Twitter you started designing your own merch line for ARIUS. What direction do you plan to take it in creatively? Is there anything new you are working on that you can key us in on?

Our style of clothing is streetwear, fresh and clean. You can wear it to a rave or Thanksgiving dinner without being too much. Our most popular design is the Massacre Hoodie. It’s a hoodie that comes with a mask attached. We currently have about five new designs coming for Christmas – a crop top hoodie mask and normal hoodie mask, reversible windbreakers, joggers, sweat pants, and beanies!

Do you ever feel vulnerable showing so much of your guys’ life to the world?

We don’t think we show too much, just the fun stuff and sometimes the struggle.

Since you both clearly love tropical paradises, what are three must-have things that you always bring with you to the beach?

Sunblock to the max because we have tattoos. [Laughs] Also water, floaties, towels, and snorkeling gear.

Finally, with most of this year now over, what goals do you have for the rest of 2020 and the future?

2020 is like a reset year for us, taking a step back for a leap forward into 2021. Lots of new music is coming with high-quality content and a super fresh clothing line.