Hautewulf, an aficionado of anime, video games, music, and art, releases a multi-genre tune dedicated to fans of IDM, techno and video games.
New Delhi-based guitarist and music producer Mohan Kumar, under the moniker Hautewulf, has unleashed his latest single ‘Arcadestep,’ filled with gritty, techy sounds and tightly woven melodies with emphatic basslines. Hautewulf has continued his streak of dishing out visually captivating montages with this latest mix, which includes clips, character snippets, and audio from the Japanese fighting video game series – Tekken.
‘Arcadestep’ is followed by Hautewulf’s 2020 debut EP ‘Addicted‘ and his 2022 dubstep melodic techno release ‘Stars falling over Kyoto.’ The multi-talented musician, who has had stints with Indian metal bands such as Pyramids and Alien Sky Cult, took some time away from his gaming and DJ console to discuss his latest release and his affiliation with video games.
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“I keep practicing new sounds in my music production almost every day now. One fine day I realized that I’ve been a gamer since 7th standard and I’ve never written a song on a video game before.”
As an avid gamer since childhood, Hautewulf has always been driven by the idea of creating a vibe where there is a lot of storytelling. He is a huge fan of the Tekken game series, and in ‘Arcadestep,’ he creatively added a few nods in the audio too.
Hautewulf says, “One fine day, I realized that I’ve been a gamer since 7th standard (I’m fairly good at the game) and I’ve never written a song on a video game before. I’m a hardcore Tekken fan and I thought I might have a chance to go full-on heavy with production as Tekken is an adrenaline booster game itself. Hence I picked some old Tekken 3 sounds and decided to keep the track as heavy as possible.”
“I’ve learned mixing and mastering during the making of this song. I struggled a lot with making this track blow speakers out. Hautewulf is still a complete DIY project and I hope, one day with this sound, I’ll represent India on bigger stages,” he adds.
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“The first half of the video is all about gritty visuals to keep it trippy and to show off some editing skills I’ve learned lately, and the rest is me trying to create a vibe”
The Indian electronic artist went into great depth about the video presentation of ‘Arcadestep,’ sharing his mindset and intention while piecing it together and managing the project on a limited budget. The music video was a representation of a dream he had when he first started playing the game at a local video game parlor, which, back then, was viewed as “taboo” by his family.
Hautewulf notes, “The first half of the video is all about gritty visuals to keep it trippy and to show off some editing skills I’ve learned lately, and the rest is me trying to create a vibe where I’m literally picking some of the best cutscenes of old and new Tekken. Thankfully Tekken 7 has all the cutscenes of all the Tekken series.” He has also carefully crafted a fitting cover art for ‘Arcadestep,’ featuring a bright yellow grainy background with a smile contained within a gaming console.
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Speaking about his love for Tekken while simultaneously exploring other genres of video games, the producer reminisces, “I grew up playing all sorts of games. You name it and I’ve played it. But Tekken has always been so close to my heart, I always used to sneak out to that game parlor to just observe how every person is a pro at Tekken. I’d often lose as well. Except for Tekken, I love open world, racing, and FPS (First Person Shooter) games, and I’ve been a huge fan of Call of Duty, God of War, Doom, Street Fighter, Metal Gear Solid, Prince of Persia, NFS, Batman, Spiderman, GTA, etc., to name a few.”
As for the future, Hautewulf is writing more music, which he looks to release soon, and also practices Tekken daily. “It’s my dream to set the bar very high for electronic music in India and to represent my country globally with my music, and this is one step closer to that big dream.”
‘Arcadestep’ is streaming now on all digital platforms, find it HERE
Find Hautewulf on: Instagram | Soundcloud | Spotify | YouTube
The interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
