Avicii interview on Stereosonic.com.au
Avicii
Sweden is so hot right now, what with pop stars like Robyn, dance heavyweights Swedish House Mafia, and, yes, True Blood’s Alexander Skarsgård. Yet in 2011 there’s a new contender for DJ superstardom in Avicii (Tim Bergling). Avicii will be in good company when he hits Stereosonic 2011. ”It feels like half the line-up are my friends,” he rhapsodises. “There’s a bunch of people I’m really excited to see.”
Avicii lately teamed with David Guetta for the euphoric (and credible) Sunshine on his blockbuster album Nothing But The Beat, having previously remixed One Love. He’s also DJed alongside the Frenchman at Pacha in Ibiza. “He just contacted us and said, I have this melody hook and it’d be really cool if you could finish it or we could do a track together. We jumped up at the opportunity, just because he’s a legend. It’s a honour to be able to work with him. He’s just super supportive all the time as well.”
Remarkably, Avicii, his handle inspired by the Buddhist equivalent to hell, just turned 22. The Stockholm native ventured into production on hearing Axwell’s smash Feel The Vibe (Til The Morning Comes). His first key record? 2008′s Lazy Lace, which originated as a remix of the theme from the ’80s Commodore 64 game Lazy Jones. Avicii made a bigger splash with Manman, overwhelmingly winning the Pete Tong Fast Trax competition – it’d surface on the Brit tastemaker’s Bedroom Bedlam imprint. He next issued Sound Of Now via Australia’s own Vicious. Tong deemed 2009′s Ryú an ‘Essential New Tune’ (Avicii fan Laidback Luke even did an edit). Tiësto approached him to tweak Escape Me. Last year Avicii blew up in Europe with the playful Bromance under his Tim Berg alias. A vocal incarnation, Seek Bromance, mashing in Samuele Sartini’s Love U Seek and signed by Ministry Of Sound, crossed over into the UK charts – and crashed into the ARIA Dance Top 10. (Check out the quirky videos.)
Such is Avicii’s versatility that he’s collaborated with the Swedish tech-houser John Dahlbäck on a tune. (It might surprise some that he digs DJs like Luciano and Joris Voorn.) From the outset, Avicii has been buoyed by the support of the wider Swedish electronic community, including the vet Eric Prydz. “It’s not that big a country, so everyone kind of knows each other.”
Avicii’s sound spans house, electro, techno, progressive and trance. “I’m just trying to do exciting work, the kind of music I like, but I’ve never tried to please anyone else,” he says. “Luckily, there’s a bunch of people who like the sound as well!” Avicii keeps tabs on dance music culture. “At the moment I would say dance music is going darker – it’s going more electro, with dubstep and everything evolving,” he notes. “I’m not sure where it’s gonna be in a couple of years, but I think dance music is getting more divided into harder electro stuff and then the more melodic house stuff.”
Avicii is industrious. Earlier this year he presented the mix compilation Strictly Miami. A remix of Daft Punk’s Derezzed materialised on Tron: Legacy Reconfigured. And Avicii isn’t only transcending the many different dance subgenres, but also dance itself. This lover of the groove and the melody, who has an EMI publishing deal, is reaching into the pop sphere. Aside from remixing Little Boots and Robyn, he has a triumphant production credit on Leona Lewis’ clubby Collide. Avicii is eager to produce more pop but, being an in-demand DJ, that’s proving a challenge. “I barely have time to produce my own records,” he admits. “[But] I really like doing pop tracks – and I like to do all kinds of music. So hopefully in the future we’ll have time to do more pop productions.”
Does Avicii have any plans for an album? “I wouldn’t say ‘plans’. It’s in the pipeline, but it’s a time issue as well. We’re so busy touring at the moment, there’s just no time for it. But it’s definitely an ambition and a big dream of mine to be able to finish a proper album.”
Regardless, Avicii reveals that he has “at least” 10 tracks ready for release – and fans may hear them at Stereosonic. “I think almost half my set is probably gonna be unreleased stuff – it usually is. If I finish something, I have to play it straight away… I can’t just sit on stuff.”