A Whitley Bay-based marine insurance claims executive who found his musical mojo during lockdown is gearing up to release his latest single.
Adam Curran – better known as the independent electronic music producer Arcade Skies – has received plaudits via BBC Introducing as well as regional radio stations and arts and culture magazines, since he began channeling his creative talents into making his own music during the first Covid lockdown in 2020. Since then he’s released two critically acclaimed EPs and a number of singles, with his latest offering, Sugar Sugar, set to hit the airwaves on May 2.
Adam, 44, specialises in 80s derived synth pop electronica under the guise of his alter ego, Arcade Skies. The name was inspired by both Whitley Bay’s amusement arcades and the spectacular sunrises and sunsets he witnessed on lockdown walks.
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Adam describes the mostly instrumental Sugar Sugar as “chilled electronic synth pop folktronica,” and said he has enjoyed showing his versatility as a musician who can play a range of instruments, from the piano to the saxophone, on his latest musical endeavour. He told ChronicleLive: “It was great to play the clarinet again on a new song, this time for the main riff. Sugar Sugar combines woodwind together with virtual instrumentation to produce a catchy lounge house duet with an uplifting vibe.”
Adam is into all music genres, but explained the reason he has veered towards synth and electronic is “because a lot of the artistes I like stem from the 1980s and that’s the sort of music I tend to listen to. I thought it would be good to produce my own.
"As time has gone on I have moved more in an ambient, atmospheric direction as well. But I still like the folktronica element because it is nice to bring real, live instruments into songs.”
Adam writes all his own material – which couldn’t be more different to his day job working for leading Newcastle -based marine insurance company, North P&I, as a senior claims executive. A trained solicitor with a Bachelor of Law degree from Northumbria University, he describes Arcade Skies as originally a “creative hobby” spawned by lockdown, a parallel interest his wife Clare has in electronic art, and his cousin who has a band.
He said: “My cousin was promoting a new band and I was kind of interested in what they were doing and wanted to find out a bit more. I started researching music myself by looking on the internet and YouTube and found out the basics of how I would start and what equipment I would need, and took it from there really.
“In terms of music, all through my life I have dabbled with playing different instruments. I had piano lessons for a brief period when I was very young and I’ve always had a keyboard and kind of upgraded that every year. Then I did clarinet at school, which is featured quite heavily on Sugar Sugar.
“At one point I had a drum kit and a couple of guitars and kind of messed around with the instruments just by ear, really. I have recently got a saxophone as I realised if you can play the clarinet you can play the saxophone as well. The thing with the clarinet is that it sounds good but it looks cooler if you want to be in a band and you play the saxophone.”
Arcade Skies is a solo project for Adam and he has had success almost from day one. He said: “It started off quite well as my first single was featured on BBC Introducing. Since then I’ve been getting regular radio plays.”
His fan base is growing through the likes of Spotify, YouTube and Bandcamp, and whilst he is not yet in a position to give up his day job, Adam said: “One way of looking at it is, whether anything really takes off or not, is that it doesn’t matter in terms of me doing my hobby as I will still continue regardless. But anything that comes of it is a bonus. You kind of grow gradually, and people find out about you and then all it takes is a little bit of a breakthrough and its grows exponentially.”
