Avicii: Sweden’s Best Export

By Alif Omar Mahfix  •  in Interview
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You’ve been quoted saying you’re not the next David Guetta and some people like making that comparison. Does the association come with a negative connotation to you or do you just generally dislike being compared to anyone, really?
No, it’s not a negative association. I mean I love David both as a person and everything he’s done for house music. He kinda opened up the mainstream to these sounds and the synths in a way. I just don’t consider my music or the Avicii brand similar to David or anyone else. I really just wanna keep my style unique

Despite the whole issue with Leona Lewis sampling your track without permission, we thought she sounded pretty good on it. Would you ever patch things up between you and her management and perhaps work on an original material?
I don’t think so. I mean, I don’t have a grudge at all. [Laughs] but I don’t think that would be happening anytime soon.

You’ve been releasing big singles, but there’s no album in the works. And you once mentioned that releasing albums seemed unnecessary now. Don’t you think having albums seal your permanence as an artist better than just singles? There’s an ephemeral quality to singles, we think…
Actually I do plan on recording an album. But they’re definitely unnecessary. It’s all single-oriented now. People just like everything in general, they don’t have the time for albums and things are moving so much faster now with digital downloading and it makes singles much easier to make. But I am planning to release an album sometime next year. Beginning of next year I’m gonna take a couple of months off and work. We’ll see if they end up becoming singles or not but I’ll definitely have a lot of studio time.

Hopefully it’ll be enough for an album. I’m doing it more as a personal dream rather than it being a market play or to gain anything from it that way. I think it’s so important for me at least that if I release an album, every single track will be like a single. Like high quality tracks and I wouldn’t have any unnecessary filler tracks.

What’s with Sweden and the amount of quality dance acts? Is there something in the water? Rebecca & Fiona told us it’s because it’s so cold out there that there’s nothing better to do than just play around with the computer.
I think it’s cause you get a lot of inspiration from other artists there. You see how many producers and DJs who had made it before, I mean, that’s how it was for me. I was listening to Eric Prydz and Swedish House Mafia and watching what they were doing. It gave me the realisation that this is possible. That if I actually work hard enough, I could actually make something of this.

What’s a Swedish export you’re particularly not fond of? We’d wager it’s Ikea…
[Laughs] Nothing, really. I’m never home anymore, so I get nostalgic when I see a lot of Swedish stuff around. I’m actually proud of Ikea. We’re taking over the world!

On the flip side, what’s a quintessentially Swedish thing that you’d love to see spread around the world? ‘sides yourself of course.
I would have to say snus. Which is something like a chewing tobacco, but it doesn’t drip or get gross like chewing tobacco. I find it to be a great alternative to smoking. I want it to be everywhere in the world because I hate always having to order it from Sweden.

Heineken Thirst is going to be your first time in Malaysia. What can we expect from your set?
I’ve had some time off in the past couple of weeks. And I’m gonna have even more time off before I hit Malaysia, so I’m definitely coming with a lot of new tracks. As it is I have like 5 new tracks since the last few weeks. Basically a lot of stuff that people haven’t heard before, and edits of stuff that people have listened to.

Don’t you ever stop working?
[Laughs] Nah, I don’t know. I’m actually working right now between interviews.

What do you expect from us, the fans?
I’ve heard really good things from other people who’ve played in Malaysia. Even my agent says it’s a really cool place to play, so I’m actually really excited to be coming down.

We won’t disappoint! 

Avicii is set to perform at Heineken Thirst 2012 on Saturday 8 December. Get more information on ticketing details at www.myticket.my and general info at www.facebook.com/heineken.

More on Avicii at www.avicii.com.