Arbadax

Words by Paige Cobos

When you think of dungeon synth, what comes to mind? For most, dark fantasy realms, foreboding castles, and grand adventures enter the mind’s eye. One might not envision deep space adventures in flying saucers. However, the musical artist Arbadax aims to open your inner eye further and introduce these images to dungeon synth’s cinematic pantheon.

This one man act from Milan, Italy tells short stories set in fantastical worlds, and with his recent release Kosmosere I – Dare you take incredible, coordinates are set for exploring space operas set in the realm of dungeon synth music. We spoke about taking the minimalist approach, the use of copyright free music during the creative process, and where Arbadax could take you next.

Off Shelf: To start off, what were the early inspirations for Arbadax, both musical and non musical?

Arbadax: My memories fade into my childhood — since I was a kid, I’ve always been drawn to mysterious or adventurous stories. My mother still remembers how, when we went to the library, I always asked for books about dinosaurs and things like that. That clearly connects to my love for fantasy, sci-fi, and mystery that grew during my teenage years and is still strong today.

Even my first music memories come from family moments when I was little – but my tastes have changed a lot over the years. I discovered metal and started playing. I think it was around 1990, when a classmate in high school lent me the Iron Maiden’s tape, No Prayer for the Dying. My brain literally exploded when I heard that damn music. That day, my life changed forever. I started getting seriously into music — following it, chasing it — and then I began playing, almost by chance. I still remember it. I had just been promoted to the final year of high school, so my parents decided to get me a gift. I wanted a CD player — back then, early ’90s,  it was still a pretty new and rare thing — but they thought it was useless. So I went for a bass instead, a cheap imitation of a Fender Precision.

OS: Your latest release Kosmosphere I – Dare you take incredible, is kind of another side project. What inspired this turn to space noise ambient?

A:Yes, exactly! It’s definitely a side project, although I’ve always kept the Arbadax name instead of splitting it off. It just doesn’t make much sense to manage multiple separate projects with different emails, socials, and all that — it feels like an unnecessary complication. Especially since this was more of a spontaneous divertissement.

Actually, I’d been thinking for years about doing something more focused on a sci-fi aesthetic. I love science fiction in almost all its subgenres, so it was definitely something I had in mind. But it wasn’t entirely created from scratch — I assembled sounds and noises I found around the web. The genre label today leans more toward modern and purely ambient styles, but honestly, I was inspired more by older works like those of Steve Brenner – Signals, Stellar Tunnel, etc., Berlin School, and stuff like that.

OS: Why did you use copyright-free sounds and noises in the creation of Kosmosphere?

A: The idea came while browsing the web. There are large databases full of sounds and samples, and after hearing some interesting stuff, I thought of doing something different from what I usually do! So I started looking for sounds under a CC0 license—things that were weird, creepy, or atmospheric. I used quite a few, after carefully selecting them based on my personal taste. By putting these sounds together and tweaking them a bit with effects, I wanted to see if I could create tracks that weren’t too repetitive and had a kind of sci-fi movie vibe. That’s why I added voices and noises in some of them. I also tried to give the whole thing a sort of narrative flow, choosing titles that hint at a story — even if there’s no clear storyline behind it, unlike what I do with the imaginary world of Ankmar, which I created  for the character of Arbadax.

OS: Turning back to Arbadax, what instrumental equipment do you use?

A: So, I’d start with the “hardware,” let’s say—the instruments that can make sound even without a computer. First of all, my main instrument: the electric bass. Right now, I have four of them but my favorite is still the Fender Precision. Then I’ve got a few guitars—one electric, one classical, and one acoustic. I’ve used them to record some parts in my tracks.

I also have an electric piano, but I don’t use it much…

The rest of the gear is all digital, basically a MIDI keyboard where you can assign whatever sound you want. Like any true musician, I always want to try new instruments and learn how to play them, but you always end up hitting the limits of money and time.

OS: You take a minimalist approach with creating the music of Arbadax. How has this method impacted you creatively? 

A: This minimalist approach isn’t something I planned — it’s just what naturally happens when I start working on new music. The genre I mostly work with, Dungeon Synth, is already a minimal kind of music, based on a few repeated patterns. Plus, I don’t have a professional studio and I often work with just a few tools and limited resources. Being self-taught and not having studied music in a structured way also plays a role. But over time I’ve realized that this simplicity helps me focus on the atmosphere and the core idea of the track. I don’t need to fill everything with sounds — if something works, it works even with very little. It’s helped me be more spontaneous, to really listen to what I’m doing, and to know when it’s enough.

OS: The album artwork of Arbadax changes with every release which adds to the uniqueness of each album as a story. What is the process of working with different artists to achieve that kind of identity?

A: I really enjoy taking care of the artwork for what I create, but I’m not great at drawing. So, for my earlier works, I asked for help from my mother, who is an amateur painter, but not really a fan of fantasy themes; she enjoys painting landscapes, portraits, and still lifes. Later on, I also used old paintings as covers, but recently I decided to commit and create the covers myself, in order to have a product that’s one hundred percent my own. This can also be seen on the cover of Kosmosphere, which I drew, then scanned and digitally colored. I like it because it has a style reminiscent of old-school American comics. I also have in mind to redesign all the covers; I would like to be able to do that in the future. But, at least the best cover is for the HDK label, a compilation called Adventurers Magazine 3, which includes one of my tracks. IT was a professional piece of art created by the artist Eugene Jaworski.

OS: You do offer cassette versions of your albums. How important is the physical media aspect of music to you?

A: If I look at the purely commercial side, it’s not important at all, since I’ve sold very few physical copies. But actually, creating merchandise also satisfies my urge to make things — I had fun printing and arranging the artwork and assembling the cassettes. For now, I’ve paused that, and my latest releases don’t have a physical edition. Speaking as a fan, I’m still always on the hunt for stuff to add to my collection, which is mostly made up of metal and rock CDs. I see a lot of people my age getting rid of physical media and selling everything, but I could never do that — especially with the albums I bought when I was younger, as a student, saving up every coin I could.

OS: Could you see Arbadax existing in another form such as a novel series for example?

A: Yes, I can imagine it, and I actually have! But I haven’t taken on that task — it feels too huge right now. Still, somewhere in my notes I should have a rough draft for a gamebook, in the style of Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf, which I devoured as a kid. I don’t know if I’ll finish the project. Unfortunately, I have this bad habit of starting many things and finishing very few. [laughs]

OS: Have you performed live?

A: Not as Arbadax, but definitely with my metal bands. In the past I played in an epic metal band called Holy Martyr, and lately I’ve been playing in Heavenfall, with whom we have a new album in the works. As Arbadax, I don’t have any live gigs planned right now—before I attempt that I’d like to grow my fanbase, and above all I need to practice on keyboards and get an analog synth. There’s also the idea of putting together a minimal setlist with bass and guitar plus backing tracks, but that’s just an idea — I’m not doing anything concrete to book shows. Plus, here in Italy the scene is only just starting to stir; recently we had the first dungeon synth festival in Bologna! We’ll see how things develop in the future.

OS: Lastly, what music inspires you as of late?

A: Over time, people’s tastes change. Even though I still consider myself a metalhead and metal remains my main source of music, I’ve lost a bit of that musical hunger I had when I was younger — the one that pushed me to constantly look for new bands. Now I often find myself going back to the same bands I grew up with.

That said, if I had to name genres I’ve gotten into more recently, I’d definitely say electronic music — especially Dungeon Synth, which is the main style of my “Arbadax” project, but also Synthwave. I’ve even released four typical Synthwave tracks — they’re only on my YouTube channel, if I remember right? [laughs] I wrote them to take a break from Dungeon Synth after each album. Then there’s ambient music too, especially the more experimental kind. And finally, I have to mention my love for soundtracks. They’ve always been part of our lives, but when you listen to them without the film, you start to realize how powerful some of those compositions really are.

Website | Facebook | Instagram