Making it big in the music industry is often a long shot, because it takes unwavering dedication to breakthrough to the top. Years of hard work saw Music Producer and Disc Jockey Arsham Pour making his mark in the electronic dance/pop music industry.

His journey started in 2014 when Arsham Pour and his brother Armia Pour stumbled across Limkokwing University upon visiting Malaysia to explore career opportunities. Arsham mentioned that it was luck for them to discover the University as it was the perfect place for them to learn more about music.

“Even though we discovered our passion for music at a very young age, we hadn’t started actively pursuing it until four years ago upon joining Limkokwing University.”

Arsham graduated from Bachelor (Hons) Recording Arts. “I chose Limkokwing University mainly because of its top-notch facilities and also its industry knowledgeable lecturers.”

In 2015, a trail of accomplishments followed as they released a single called ‘Animal Barn’. A year later, the duo received several recognitions including winning Best Original Song and Best Music Video for their track ‘Safe Train’ at the US Indi Wise competition. In the same year, they were chosen by Reverbnation as Number 1 DJ in Malaysia, official MAC DJ 2016, official Coca Cola DJ 2016, and were featured on the cover of DJ magazine in September 2016.

Their music is classified under the E- Pop genre which is a fusion of electronic dance music and pop music.

Recently they released an album called ‘LOST’ with a major recording label Sony Malaysia which skyrocketed to US Top 40 for seven straight weeks and appeared on Dutch Top 100 at number 69.

Arsham acknowledged this as a huge accomplishment as no one in Asia has ever maintained a spot in US Top 40 for as long as seven weeks. “Since our album appeared on the charts a lot of artists got interested in collaborating with us; we have been going to work with artists in the USA, K-Pop artists, and some artists from India as well.”

“We always aim to get artists from around the world, because we believe we are all human and we want to create pieces of music that show the unity of the human race.”

Their next project is working on an EP album, then go on tour in the US, India, China and the Netherlands. “This is going to be a very exciting moment for us, because it will be the first time it is happening in our career, especially after we released an album,” Arsham beamed.

A typical day for the duo not only involves making music but also managing their social media accounts, responding to emails to follow up on collaborations as well as readying and assigning new music to different artists. “Basically, our day is a combination of music, social media, corporate work and meetings for our music videos. We also prepare for gigs and events.”

Arsham credited Limkokwing University for tapping into his creativity and providing him with the skillset to excel in the music industry.

“When you walk on campus you see people from different cultures and backgrounds, this helped influence the music that we make, because we use the same approach in our music by incorporating artists from over the world. In addition to the multi-cultural factor, Limkokwing University has top-notch facilities which are one of the best in Malaysia.”

The duo mentioned that before joining the industry, they thought it would be a smooth sailing and only about music, however, they realised it was going beyond the making of records. “The music industry is a business and it involves a lot of things that we had to learn along the way; it is focused around business networking, branding and marketing. One has to know how best to sell music to their fans.”

Giving advice to students who want to follow the same career path Arsham mentioned that it is important to do what one likes. “Do what you want and be consistent. Also patience is key because it takes so many steps to get where you want to be. Don’t give up.”

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