Beatportal Exclusive Interview - From Behind the Mic to Behind the Decks with AR/CO

AR/CO have a problem most artists would kill for: they’ve written and performed on tracks with Fisher, Rudimental, and Kx5 that have collectively racked up more than 280 million streams. Their vocals are already stamped across songs you know — but when Mali-Koa and Leo Stannard walk into a club as DJs, they’re still just getting started.

The British–Australian duo spent years as the voices behind some of dance music’s biggest records. Now, they’re proving they can hold their own as a headline DJ act. Their recent single “Fire Fire” hit #1 on Instagram’s trending audio and charted in 35+ countries, while “Sound of the Sunrise” with Sistek marks their evolution into more club-focused production.

We caught up with AR/CO to talk about the leap from featured vocalists to credible DJs, what they learned in the studio with Cassian and Fisher, and why they stopped writing songs with other artists in mind.

1. You've written and performed vocals on tracks with Fisher, Rudimental, and Kx5. Now you're headlining shows as DJs. What made you realize you needed to be behind the decks instead of just behind the mic?

AR:CO: You know, for us, writing and producing the tracks has always been a part of our DNA, so stepping behind the decks just felt like the most natural step for us. Also there’s only so many times you can finish singing your heart out and then see a DJ press one button for 50x louder cheers. At some point you’re like…hang on, can we press the button?

2. You started with a live instrumental setup and switched to DJ sets. Walk us through what that transition actually looked like. What did you have to learn from scratch?

AR:CO: We’ve both been in music for a long time and we have the A&R skills to focus on great song curation. As long as it’s clean and the songs are impeccable, then everyone’s having a good time. We toured arenas as a live act, so we understand how to be on stage and work a room, a lot of those skills cross over.

3. Your catalog includes your own productions plus all these massive collaborations where you're featured. How do you approach programming a DJ set when some of your biggest records have your vocals all over them?

AR:CO: It’s insane to have so many great records that we can fill a set b2b virtually with ourselves! We’re always joking that we feel like we’re playing our greatest hits, just because we’re really proud of the music. The more time we spend in the studio making songs, the easier the sets are to curate for us. Also if we ever hear something we wish we made, we’ll definitely give it a spin.

4. When you're in the studio writing for other artists versus writing for an AR/CO release, does your production process change? What's different when you know you'll be playing it out yourself?

AR:CO: We’ve stopped making songs with other artists in mind just because it frees up so much creative space to make something fresh and different. We’re always listening to what everyone’s playing, especially when we’re on the road and our creative process is influenced by what we see audiences react to. Basically we make music for us, and if other people are into it then, sick!

5. You've been in sessions with some of the biggest producers in dance music. What technical skills or approaches have you picked up from those collaborations that show up in your DJ sets now?

AR:CO: From Cassian, simplicity is king and you have to get to the root of a great idea and be brave enough to stand behind it. From people like Adriatique, who we saw open up this summer at Ushuaia, creating a movement and community alongside your music all through excellent song curation. Our boy Shimza is always happy to sit in a groove and back his personal taste and not crowd please with something new every 30 seconds. And the realest lesson of them all from Fisher, “just have fun with it”.

6. Most vocalists stay vocalists. Most DJs stay DJs. You're doing both. What challenges have you hit trying to establish yourselves as a credible DJ act when people already know you as "the voices on those tracks"?

AR:CO: We think people don’t realise that we’re part of the creative process from start to finish. It’s been hard for people to accept that we can do both, and we’re carving out our own space now. The only way people are ever going to really accept us as DJ’s is if they see us out in the world doing it. There’s no compromise either side, as DJs or vocalists. You get both, humbly.

7. "Sound of the Sunrise" with Sistek blends your vocal production with his Latin and Afro house sound. How do you choose collaborators now that you're thinking like DJs? Does the dancefloor test change what you're looking for in a track?

AR:CO: We love Sistek’s track Celular, and we knew early on that it could be a cool crossover when finding someone to be on Sound of the Sunrise. Off the back of ‘Fire Fire’ for us this year it felt like the perfect follow up. When choosing collaborators we’re shifting from more commercial acts to the artists we’re hearing in clubs and playing in our sets. 2026 is gonna be an exciting year because we’ve challenged ourselves to evolve and made so many great songs we’re excited to put out.

8. Looking at the dance music landscape right now, where do you see space for an act that writes, produces, sings, and DJs? What are you trying to prove?

AR:CO: We try to make great dance music and want to share it with people, that’s what it really comes down to. There’s a time and a place to be a Solomon or a Carl Cox and there’s also a time and a place to be a Fisher or an Anyma or a Fred Again. The role of a DJ is evolving rapidly and there’s space for everyone if the music is good. We’re not trying to prove anything, just have a good time and if people love our music and show up then we won’t deny them!