This is the up in Arms story
in the year 2000
Nato was planning to become the greatest battle dj on planet earth.
Devon, Alberta. Grade 7.
It was all so simple – use his brother’s turntables to practice… when he wasn’t looking.
His brother also had a Technics drum machine – so he started teaching himself production and beatmaking, too.
Then disaster struck – Nato’s left an unmistakable scratch across one side of his brother’s Jeru The Damaja record.
From that moment, Nato had to start getting his own gear.
He copped an Akai MPC 2000, kept DJing and making more beats.
from bedroom...
While working at a plywood plant, Nato steered further into making beats, and recording his friends.
This birthed an Edmonton underground classic: Politic Live’s “Precise” – a moody, piano driven beat with an un-mistakeable hook comprised of Nato’s deft cuts.
2004 - 2008
... To Home Studio
Nato invested in more gear, transforming a bedroom of a rental home into the first version of Up In Arms Studios.
The home studio produced early work for Dragon Fli Empire, Epic, and Cadence Weapon’s “Breaking Kayfabe” – shortlisted for the first CBC Polaris Music Prize in 2006.
The Sign: Hull Block
Fired from his carpentry job, Up In Arms was at a crossroads.
Nato was surviving from recording and mixing for various artists, but now he faced a choice: head back to school, or push further into music.
The final deposit for school was due on the same day Nato was shown an abandoned studio in the basement of Hull Block in Edmonton.
It was a sign.
Leveraging his experience in carpentry to improve the studio, Nato officially opened Up In Arms Studios to the public, in October 2012.
By 2017, Hull Block had pumped out K-Riz’s “Fresh Air”, Evil Ebenezer’s “Howl”, Snak The Ripper’s “Just Giver” and Merkules’ “Scars.”
2012 - 2017
2012- 2017
the sign: Hull Block
Fired from his carpentry job, Up In Arms was at a crossroads.
Nato was surviving from recording and mixing for various artists, but now he faced a choice: head back to school, or push further into music.
The final deposit for school was due on the same day Nato was shown an abandoned studio in the basement of Hull Block in Edmonton.
It was a sign.
Leveraging his experience in carpentry to improve the studio, Nato officially opened Up In Arms Studios to the public, in October 2012.
By 2017, Hull Block had pumped out K-Riz’s “Fresh Air”, Evil Ebenezer’s “Howl”, Snak The Ripper’s “Just Giver” and Merkules’ “Scars.”
The next year, Up In Arms had plans to bring more opportunity to the music makers in Edmonton. That meant leaving Hull Block.
the calder spot
The vision for Up In Arms Studios was to be a place where up-and-coming Canadian artists could record music and make it timeless.
But Up In Arms always consisted of one vocal booth. One mixing desk. One room to work in…
Nato knew he would have to leave Hull Block.
The perfect spot was in a sleepy neighborhood – Calder.
Now he build a studio from top to bottom, his way.
In early 2018, armed with even more experience, The Calder Spot would be stripped to its studs, rebuilt with the highest acoustic and technical specifications, and re-shaped into a music maker’s paradise.
It’s purpose: to constantly churn out memorable, artist-driven, producer based music.
2018- 2021
2018- 2021
The vision for Up In Arms Studios was to always a place where up-and-coming Canadian artists could record their music and make it timeless.
But early, Up In Arms always consisted of one vocal booth. One mixing desk. One room to work in…
In early 2018, an opportunity appeared to realize the original vision of Up In Arms. That meant going back to its roots:
Building inside a house in a sleepy Edmonton neighborhood – Calder.
Only this time there would be no limits.
Armed with even more experience, Up In Arms would be stripped to its studs, rebuilt with the highest acoustic and technical specifications, and re-shaped into a music maker’s paradise.
It’s purpose: to constantly churn out memorable, artist-driven, producer based music of any genre.
Here we are: built for edmonton's music making community
Studio A
welcome to
