ARMNHMR Shares Their Story With An Inspiring Message In iEDM Exclusive Interview

From rave buds to an unstoppable pair, ARMNHMR is an LA based duo who are quickly climbing their way to the top of the EDM scene. They’ve received support from some of the biggest names including The Chainsmokers, whose music they’ve impressively remixed.

Before dropping one of the best Shaky Beats sets, they kicked it with us to share their story and give some inspiring advice.

iEDM: Where did you two guys meet?  Joe is from San Fran, and Joseph from LA, right?

Joseph: We actually met through friends. Just partying, networking here and there. We use to rave together. Then I started picking up music, I was trying to get into Ableton Live, which is a program that we use to make music, and I asked a friend of mine, "Do you know somebody that could mentor me?" Then, he pointed to Joe. That's how we linked up. I think actually a huge asset is that our fan base consists of our friends on top of our friends, friends, friends. It just snowballs into a huge community.

Joe: We’d be nothing without them. When we met I was actually making trance music, and I had a little bit of a head start that way. So it didn't work out the first time. We created some things that didn't really stay with us. Then, maybe a couple months later he sent me something and I was like, wow that's really cool.

Photo Credit: Reese Cocrane

iEDM: Where did you two get the name ARMNHMR?

Joseph: I’m really into electronic music. And I started with Boys Noize, Justice, and MSTRKRFT. And I really like the way they spelled their name, and I just kind of played it with the name ARMNHMR.

Joe: There's been a lot of heat about people taking out their letters, but we’ve had this name for five years.

iEDM: If you had to choose, which one would be ARM and which one would be HMR?

Joe: That's a tough one. I mean physically he's bigger than me. So, he could be both ARM and HMR.

iEDM: So you're just the N?

Joe: Yeah, I'm the glue.

iEDM: What are you looking forward to the most playing at Shaky Beats? This is your first time in Atlanta?

Joe: The coolest thing is being able to travel and meet the people who really like our music. Otherwise we would never have met these people in our life. It's the coolest thing of all time and we are always talking about it.

Joseph: And the fact that we get to play a festival in Atlanta

Photo Credit: John Song 

iEDM: I see that you two are about to play Red Rocks, with Flux Pavilion and ILLENIUM. Is this your first time playing there?

Joseph: Yes, we’ve had a lot of firsts this year. We have a lot of festivals lined up, which is pretty insane, because looking back this time last year we weren't playing any shows. Now fast forward to now, we're literally playing with some of the biggest names in the EDM scene.

We are so pumped for that. It's one of those venues where every artist just wants to play it because it's so majestic. You're looking upwards from canyons. It's just something we didn't really see happening right away, but we got the offer. So, please sign me up!

Joe: Especially with the line up that's down there. We'd see it by ourselves even if we weren't playing it.

iEDM: You have several remixes of The Chainsmokers songs. Do they play them during their sets?

Joe: I think our "Inside Out" mix regularly. I'm just glad they like our music enough to keep playing it in their set. They are really genuine guys.  

iEDM: Why do you choose their music? Do you have more of a connection to their music?

Joseph: I think it just starts with who they are as people. We actually played with them in Nashville. They're really down to earth. So much fun. They’ve really helped us to get to where we are. Our dynamic is to be yourself. We're not going to try to be all hidden or above anybody else. We're just two regular guys that want to have a great time.

Joe: And when we met them, they were just two regular guys. Funny how we actually we met them. On Halloween, they came to our green room in Kiss costumes, and we didn't recognize them. They came to say what’s up playing a joke on us. It was a great surprise and that was actually our biggest show yet at the time. It was picture perfect.

iEDM: Do you two have any advice for people that are trying to get to where you guys are now?

Joe: I say, work your ass off. One of the biggest things we want to show is that regular people can do great things. You don't have to be ... I don't even consider ourselves exceptional. We just love making music. I think the authenticity in our music is kind of what stands out.

Joseph: I would say really invest into your friends. Don't just look for quantity, look for quality. Your friends, by word of mouth, will tell everybody about you, and that's what helped both of us. We had a super strong support system.

iEDM: Do you have any new album announcements?

Joe: We have a bunch of originals coming out. We're trying to focus on that more.

Joseph: We can't say too much. But we do have a couple of songs that within this month and next month are coming out. We have some really big shows that we will be announcing and are so pumped!

Thank you guys so much for your time! You absolutely rocked Shaky Beats. We loved your vibes, how humble you both are, and looking forward to your new releases. 

Their newest song is below. To check out more music and tour dates, click here. Read my Shaky Beats Music Festival review here.