bal DJ/producer superstar can’t be easy. This month has seen him juggling
wedish House Mafia’s last ever show at Ultra Music Festival to shaking off s latest Beatport chart topping remix of One Republic’s If I Lose Myself, hat with us after stepping off the stage in Chicago. Alessandro Lindblad ough. The Swedish charmer hardly broke a sweat during his hour and a half plethora of progressive house bangers such as Ivan Gough, Steve Mink and his own productions, Years, Clash and City of Dreams. While playing ut crowd of 3500 fans, we almost thought that the 87-year old historic d begin to collapse, because the crowd didn’t cease raging and jumping for well; however, and the shy Swede, surrounded by an entourage of fellow as as cool as ever and unphased by the craziness around him. Having to schedule, we skipped the small talk and got right down to business. Laidback Luke mentioned the rise from the studio to the DJ booth of
eferenced a short conversation you guys had in Brazil in front of 50,000 volved as a DJ since then?
ff on the road and when it comes to everything from DJing to producing to . It’s been going really quick but you learn a lot when you’re on the road for th. I’ve learned a lot more stuff, how to bring a show, how to connect with n the microphone. When it comes to music, I feel like I’m still learning a lot have a little more control on it now.
DJ and performer have you developed any pre-set rituals that help ; any good luck charms?
moke cigarettes; that kind of calms me down sometimes. Maybe I can do a er drunk while I’m on stage. Breathe and relax and remember that when e tonight they’re [the crowd] are all here to see you. Have that in mind, do n.
skills are essential, or should people try to get into the scene starting g?
and doing a show, everything goes hand in hand. You can’t just produce oing to walk up on stage and know exactly what to do. It’s something s, I think. DJ-wise, I learn new stuff every day but I feel a lot more secure oday. I know more what to do and when to play my songs. Like tonight, I ong, If I Lose Myself and there’s a reason I finished with it. I didn’t finish latest song; I did it because it’s a song I think that you want to hear at the g you can learn unless you’re out there. You also need to watch other DJ’s ther performers, not just DJ’s. See how they present their show, how they d get inspired from people that have been around for years.
I lose Myself entered at number one on the Beatport Top 100 Tuesday?
o number one. That’s amazing. That happened like two or three times edish House Mafia, then it was an Eric Prydz song, and then me, which is a mething that I didn’t expect at all.
ation come about?
Lose Myself” a few weeks before it was going to be released. It was still a d, but I just heard it and I was like, ‘Wow this is One Republic’s best song next big thing.’ I just felt like there’s something I could do with it; I can put ake a good collaboration. It doesn’t really feel like a remix, it feels more alked to the label and before they released the original I sent them my
w, this is great; we’re going to release the original first, but we think that o be big too, maybe bigger!’ So they said ‘Let’s give it a try and see.’ So, it’s really well in the States.
mors about you, Sebastian Ingrosso and Otto Knows combining into a wer trio. Is there any truth to this?
. We’re not going to form any kind of DJ group or anything like that. We’re bel, the Refune label which is a really cool, still underground. It’s not ance music but not big for the commercial market so we’re not forming en to be really good friends, push each other’s music and work together.
re are so many successful artists and producers in Sweden? Is there er?
Swedish people inspire each other a lot and we’ve kind of built this Swed- e sound, you can almost hear it. You can hear when it’s a Swedish producer. ncholy emotional feeling, still strong, and it has a message all the time; hat. It’s because of hard work as well. It’s boring as fuck sometimes in n the winter. It’s dark, basically, eight months a year so, I lock myself in hs when I’m not on the road. I’m also working with Otto Knows. He comes
I always try to bring something new, whether it’s a new song or a new mash-up or a new way of mixing; switching records and mash them up together. Whatever it is I try to always bring something new to the table that people haven’t really heard. They’re still going to appreciate it but maybe they’ll be like, ‘oh wow he did that this time.’ When I come to festivals like Electric Zoo in New York, I’m prepared. I’m prepared because I kind of know what to do. I feel like I know what to do because at festivals like Ultra or the Electric Zoo you only have like one hour and fifteen minutes [to play]. I can’t just go out there and wing it, just play a record or whatever. I’m not that kind of DJ. I want to go in there and know exactly what to do because when I leave the stage I want to know that I gave a 100%. To do that, for every show, I think that you should always bring something new.
After witnessing his high-energy set, perhaps the most impressive thing of all is how much Alsso has improved and how far he has come after starting only a little over three years ago. Yes, it can be argued that he has had a lot of help from his fellow countrymen superstars and his mentor Sebastian Ingrosso, but talent is talent and that’s something one cannot deny about Alesso. This was also very clear tonight. During the final minutes of his show when he dropped an excellent mash-up of his hit, Calling (Lose My Mind) and Don’t You Worry Child by Swedish House Mafia, he reached a perfect point where audience participation was at its highest and so was his ability to take command over them. He then proceeded to close his set with If I Lose Myself. With the entire room singing along, we were reminded of the epic-ness of this record as we realized that Alesso has fully come into his own, a talented producer turned DJ who can now command a crowd with masterful precision.
WORDS BY JAMES KABAT
to my studio and I show him things and he plays his records for me. We inspire each other and help each other out, same thing with Avicii. I know Tim really well. Before he became big I heard his stuff and got inspired by his music. Maybe Sweden has a really good feel for good music, I don’t know.
It started with Abba, then Ace of Base…
Yes, Abba, Robyn, Roxette, Lykke Li, there’s a lot of Swedish artists and producers. Now there’s a new group called Icona Pop… they’re amazing.
There is so much hype right now about Daft Punk; even my mom knows their new album is dropping this spring. How do you think their nu-disco sounds will impact the scene, which is skewed towards progressive and electro house right now?
Well I just hope that people will understand it. I think that people will but I really don’t know what’s going to happen. If I knew that would be awesome but I think it’s going to do really well since they’re Daft Punk. It’s impossible for them to make a bad record. They’re amazing producers and always have been. I’m a huge fan and I think that everybody in the electronic dance music scene is a huge fan of them. I don’t really know what’s going to happen. Even if America doesn’t really understand it, I think it’s still going to be in that category of winning Grammys; that’s the least that’s going to happen. When that album comes out it’s going to be different from every- thing else in a really good way and it’s disco too, which is awesome.
Your set at Ultra was pretty epic. Tell us about the Pressure (no pun intended) of playing before the last ever performance of the mafia. That must have been an incredible feeling. What was the crowd’s energy like? Best show you’ve ever played?
It was definitely one of the best shows I’ve ever played. There was a lot of pressure since it was right before their final show. There were a lot of people there to see everything and it was a big thing. I think it went really well and I’m really happy about it. It was a lot of pressure but it was still so much fun and I was just enjoying it the entire time.
Since the dance music scene has become more commercial, DJs are drawing a lot more attention for having pre-recorded sets. How important is it that you and other DJs have a keen ability to read the crowd? What is that one track you throw down that is guaranteed to get the crowd hype?
It’s very important to read the crowd. Even though I had a show here tonight and all these people were here to see me, I still analyze everything when I come in to the venue. I start with the records I planned to start with and I go from there. I pretty much know what I’m going to play. Nothing is ever prerecorded for me. I haven’t done that, hopefully never will. But yeah, that’s what I do, just analyze and see what the crowd is into. It’s easier depending on different situa- tions, like at Ultra. I was analyzing a lot there because there were a lot of people there to see me but they were also there to see other DJ’s because it’s a festival and a lot of big DJ names were there. I understand what to play after ten minutes, I feel like I do.
You were recently announced as a headliner for EDC London and Electric Zoo. With the most anticipated festival season in history on the horizon, are there any you are excited about in particular? How do you make each performance/set different and special?
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