ERIM ARKMAN

Erim Arkman is a senior sound engineer who worked with various artists in Turkey as well as with Dreamtone’s partial recordings of their “Snowfall” single and as the FOH engineer for their live events. Near to his engineering talents, Erim also played a guitar solo for the track “Shooting Star” after Onur got bored of recording for hours and helped the band to put some backing vocals for the song “Mankind is a Lie”.

As the main engineer of Dreamtone & Iris Mavraki’s Neverland debut, “Reversing Time”, what do you think about the outcome of this project? What were the difficulties you have faced while recording the album?
The thing that made me happy most is how the band was prepared before the start of “Reversing Time” recordings. As an engineer, I usually face problems in the studio while working with bands due to them not being prepared prior to a recording and trying to solve everything at the sessions but I was very happy to see Dreamtone & Iris Mavraki’s Neverland’s serious approach. As we have previously worked with Dreamtone, we knew each other’s approach and this made our job really easy, enabling us to finish our job faster. As I knew what would the band want from me, I applied my own ideas within that vision and we managed to form a really smooth work space and sincerely, I cannot say that I faced with any difficulties while working on “Reversing Time”.

You’re also a guest lead guitarist on the song “Shooting Star” and a guest on vocals for the song “Mankind is a Lie”. How was it to be a guest musician for “Reversing Time”, what do you think of its music within?
As I’ve previously said, we created a real smooth workspace with the band and while I was trying to figure out how I can add something to the album, I found myself singing or playing a solo. In general, it was a really pleasuring time. Dreamtone & Iris Mavraki’s Neverland is a really energic and successful band.

Can you tell us a funny and a bad memory that you had while recording the album?
To be sincere, I didn’t face with anything bad. The only thing I can think of is that I was really tired while we were preparing and checking things on the last day before we sent the recording to Sweden for mixing. As the album was to be mixed in another country, I had to check everything and it took hours to see it through. What was funny is that I always got hungry and ordered food. Oganalp probably got a bit scared of me because of my hunger hehe.

If you are to record a second “Dreamtone & Iris Mavraki’s Neverland album, what would be the thing that you would definitely do or definitely ignore?
The thing that I definitely want to do is to record something live with Dreamtone and Dreamtone & Iris Mavraki’s Neverland. I want to do this because I know that the live performance of Dreamtone is really impressive and it should definitely be paid attention. The thing that I won’t do again is that I won’t eat that much cause it costed me three kgs haha.

"Neverland" is a world of fantasy, where children don't grow up and where good and happy endings are numerous. How can you describe your own Neverland?
I believe that every person who works/interested in music has a child within. My job is a way to contribute to music in the end and I try to make the dreams possible for musicians who are willing to release their albums. So, this is my Neverland, being a magician helping those children making their dreams possible :)

Other Interviews
w/ Hansi Kürsch
w/ Tom Englund
w/ Gary Wehrkamp
w/ Ozan Alparslan
w/ Evren Yazgan