Meet Shai Dawn of ARKMprime in N Hollywood/Noho Arts District

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shai Dawn.

Shai, please share your story with us.
My mother was obsessed with music so her influence on me began while I was still in the womb. I went from entertaining her friends dancing and singing lyrics I couldn’t quite pronounce to learning several songs, doing talent shows and deciding what artists on vinyl I’d like to own. Early on, I was fascinated by film and the world’s people created within them. Now with games and VR, it’s limitless what we have the ability to create. That is very exciting!

The first game to 100% grab my attention artistically was Borderlands 2. The art is incredible, it blew my mind. It made me curious who was involved so I started to follow Scott Kester who was a concept artist on the visual design team. I wanted to know more about this world.

Four years ago, I created ARKMprime initially as a music artist alias. After releasing my first self-produced EP I realized that ARKMprime was something much more. Each song became a world of its own. As a song forms, I get visual scenes in my mind of what’s happening in that universe. There were so many details from the world itself to the characters. Visually, I designed a few vector graphics and then formed a vinyl shirt printing workstation. I also built a photography studio, so that I could capture my designs exactly the way I envisioned them. You can see a sample of this in the attached photo of ninja Rei wearing ARKMprime t-shirt and necklace.

I now collectively have 2 custom necklaces, Mens Tshirts, Girls Tshirts, Hats & Hoodies. It’s incredible the amount of work that goes into each design. It’s incredibly rewarding when people get excited about wearing my creations. Sometimes my ninjas send me glitched pictures of themselves wearing things I’ve made (see photo), that makes me incredibly happy.

My personal favorite creation so far is a wide Black/Royal Blue AP Cuff prototype (shown in the main photo). I can’t wait to produce more of these. It makes me think of the beauty in strength. It’s a kind of aesthetic armor to remind me what I am fighting for.

ARKMprime as a character has also evolved. The stories of him being told through the songs helped me get to know him more. He reminds me a lot of myself.

It’s a secret what I’m working on next but I can say that I’m extremely excited about it and can’t wait to share! There’s so much more!

Extra:
I studied music production and received support by being booked to perform with The Producers Social, Firetribe and Fuzzy Puddles/Synaptik Events/Bass Waffles creators (who are doing really big things right now in the bass scene) as well as having releases on both Lost in Sound and Revealed Recordings.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I realized the most important task for any human being is getting to know yourself. I remember shopping for clothes and feeling horrible because I could never find anything I resonated with. Now, that I make much of my own clothing, It’s exciting to wear designs I can feel myself in. There’s power in choosing.

Creating something of your own takes a lot of patience. I had to start laying a foundation. There’s a lot of learning, research and manual work involved. At the same time, the notorious “to do” list grows longer than ever. It almost feels like I’m solving a puzzle in a Batman or Tomb Raider game putting all the pieces together. Who doesn’t love unlocking treasures? I definitely love it. Doing everything myself has been a great challenge though, thankfully, the more I create the more support I find. Because of that persistence is also necessary.

Figuring out my unique sound has been another challenging aspect of the journey. You have to pay really close attention to the musical details and pick everything apart in order to decipher exactly what is going on so that you can perceive what it is you like about a song or even a sub-genre. Patterns began revealing themselves and you start to understand. I decided for my first EP there will be no rules and I’ll make exactly what I want based on how I was feeling at the moment and that’s what I did. I’m really happy and surprised with the result.

“Into the Deep” got the attention of television writer Brandon Easton (Marvel’s Agent Carter) who placed the song in his short film DDX. I was also fortunate to have the opportunity to share a booth space with Brandon at WonderCon 2017. What a wonderful time that was! So many new ninjas gathered that weekend!

Sign up to the ENTER AEZON: ARKMprime Exclusives list to gain access to new song previews, unreleased items and a chance to win free gear!!! http://eepurl.com/b6nlc9

I’m working on a handful of things that I’m super excited to share! Stay tuned! I know you are going to love it!

Please tell us about ARKMprime.
ARKMprime is the electronic music alias of ShAi Dawn. Merchandise available by special order: Custom shirts, hoodies, snapbacks, and necklaces. ARKMprime is also a character that will be revealed through a series of comics and ultimately a game and/or movie. Sign up for development updates.

ARKMprime DJ mix coming soon! Stay tuned!

Music Artist: I’ve done several performances of original music around Los Angeles and in the desert. I’m currently available for booking performances abroad.

Merchandise: Several items available for purchase. Sign up for access to newest items as they are released.

Story: New Music with Comic in progress.

DJ: New mixes coming soon.

+ more.
Become a ninja and take the journey with me!

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I’ve wasted a lot of energy on fear and doubt. If I had to start over I would just act and not think so much. Sometimes, it’s simply about the work that needs to be done. And boys, I’d stay away from boys haha! 🙂

Pricing:

• Ninja Star Necklace $59.00
• ARKMprime Vector T $49.00 (Mens M/L)
• ARKMprime Vector T $49.00 (Women S/M/L)
• ARKMprime font necklace $39.00
• ARKMprime “Into the Deep” Poster 3’x3′ $9.00
• ARKMprime “Into the Deep EP” (MP3 download x4 with a story) $7.00

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ARKMprime.com
• Email: info@ARKMprime.com

Image Credit:
ARKMprime

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