From music composition student to indie hopeful, the Maldivian native hopes to create ripples in Melbourne’s music scene.
The first thing I notice upon meeting Arctisky for the first time is how expressive he is with his hands. With each word he utters, a new flicker of motion bounces from them. Possibly used as a regulator of his emotions, such a trait must be an asset when your job is literally to be in touch with how you feel.
Arctisky, or Zul Arif, as he introduces himself to me today, is a man deep in his work. Armed with a grin and floppy hair akin to a mid-2000s movie, he greets me like an old chum from back home.
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Upon asking him how his day had been, he cooly offers, “It’s been an interesting day. I’ve been busy in the studio. Got a bit going on.” This is, of course, an understatement, given Arctisky has a lot going on.
Hailing from the Maldives, the soulful singer has been in the game for a long time. His musical journey began at the tender age of six when he started drumming. Speaking of this time, Arctisky offered “I was featured on Maldivian primetime TV as a child prodigy drummer. Between six and 10 I was performing around local venues both there and overseas.”
There, he quickly learnt the tricks of the trade. There was, however, only so far Arctisky felt he could take it within his home country.
“I didn’t really grow up around an education system that cared for creativity. Maldives has a very special culture, but over there, people don’t really consider music to be a vocation.”
Set on being a singer, Arctisky felt he had no choice but to pack up and leave. Looking for pastures new, he eventually landed on Victoria. “Victoria offered a different type of lifestyle, something I couldn’t get back home. I really liked the music scene.” Especially, Arctisky tells me, AC/DC.
Landing here when he was in his early 20s, Arctisky was originally enrolled as a music composition student. Not knowing a single soul in Melbourne, he came wanting to nurture his craft.
Unfortunately, within a few months of his arrival, Melbourne was placed into a cold, hard lockdown. Trapped alone in a foreign country, Arctisky had no choice but to look inward.
“During COVID, I was in a house alone. I went through a couple of years where I had a lot of time just to think about things. I feel like my music just came out of that, really. The best ideas come to you when you’re by yourself. I learnt how to write and compose songs. I realised during this time that storytelling gives people a perspective that they might not have heard before.”
Slowly but surely, Arctisky built his musical foundation.“Basically, I just learnt about Western arts, pop culture and music theory, then threw it all into a blender. My music is what came out.”
One of the songs that emerged from this period was his latest single, Loose, written about an incident that occurred while he was in Southeast Asia. Arctisky chooses his words carefully when he describes this event to me.
“Some corrupt officials pulled me over because I was speeding by a bit. But really, they just wanted to make some money out of me. Eventually, they took me to the station and put me in the backroom all night. Basically, the whole song is written about the negotiation we had over how much money I was to give them.”
Arctisky eventually gave them $200 and went on his way. While he may have been $200 down because of the arrest, the event actually turned out to be positive, as he got a good song out of it.
The track was made with fellow music composition student Nic Rippon. “During lockdown, Nic and I were in the same personal bubble, so we would keep in touch, check in. He’d come over and we’d hang out and write music. It was a good way to get out of our hectic heads at the time.”
Looking to the future after Loose, Arctisky has even greater plans for his music, set to release his debut album, Roots Vol. 1. Across 13 tracks, his music will delve deep into a diverse range of influences from reggae to rock.
Arctisky is also looking to do some gigs going forward across Melbourne pubs and clubs. “I want to start off at local venues and take it from there. If you’re tight with the songs and the music, you can’t mess up on stage. Going forward, that’s what I’ll be doing – things like that.”
From chatting with Arctisky you get the feeling that he’s still working things out. His music and live performances will be a litmus test. Will it all be great? No. But isn’t the point of starting out as an artist to learn the craft from the ground up? Plus, with stronger foundations than most, I get the feeling that Arctisky will be just fine.
To keep up to date with Arctisky and his music, you can follow him on Instagram here.
This article was made in partnership with Arctisky.
