Interviews

I’m really, really excited about doing L.E.D, its great playing in London obviously because it’s my home town and we don’t get much chance to do that plus its 10 years since the last time I played in London so I can’t wait!

 

 

I always make sure to check out the other acts when I play at festivals, it’s one of the great things about being at a festival!

 

The line up for L.E.D is really good, there’s a lot of people on the bill that I want to check out. I saw a bit of Aphex Twin at Rockness as I’ve been a fan of Richard’s forever really and it was such a fantastic show with the lazers going off everywhere and it was just really exciting.

 

I’m also looking forward to Goldfrapp and Friendly Fires on the Saturday, I really like the way the acts have crossed over on the Saturday and the Friday’s also interesting with Soulwax and Calvin Harris.

An intense electronic music experience.

Not really, if you can get the right people to go to the festival then you can get just as good a crowd in the North as the South.

 

I would say that from city to city crowds definitely differ, for example if you play in Paris you can’t expect the same crowd in Barcelona.

Plenty of sleep before you go because you won’t be getting any when you get there!

 

Wow! Well the big answer to that is no, we definitely never expected the response to the albums that we received and to respond to Sasha, in my eyes Sasha is a DJ that has always kept a considerably high standard, he’s always been an absolute brilliant DJ and even though it can be easy for a DJ to get lazy Sasha has never done that and its nice for him to say that about Leftism.

 

 

We were real perfectionists when we made our albums and we worked ridiculously hard and spent far too long on them which I think helped.

 

As far as them being timeless and all the relevance that they still seem to hold, I don’t know what the explanation is for that, maybe we just got it right. We just made a record that we would want to listen to and we were very hard on ourselves and wouldn’t let anything out that we weren’t 100% happy with.

 

It was exhausting but also very satisfying. It’s very difficult to describe how to make records but our interests were so very wide we were always looking for the next thing and we never sat back and wallowed in anything and maybe when you put that together it works. It was also an exciting time for electronic music; I think its hard these days to do that because so much has now been accomplished.

It’s become very familiar. When we brought out our albums it was very new and we were coming out from an indie/Blur/Oasis time and we were real alternatives to that.

 

Now there’s quite merge between dance music and rock and that is really exciting but as a result it’s no longer a new thing it’s an established thing. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s just times change.

 

Someone will come along again though, and make a completely new type of music and there are already people such as who are expanding dance music and bringing out new variations of dance music.

When we made our first album we just wanted to make cutting edge music, we weren’t interested in being popstars and being on the front of a magazine and although that happened, we didn’t plan for it. We always wanted to be in the background and just make real exciting music.

Experience! As soon as you’re up on stage, you get it all back, as soon as you’re there the adrenalin hits you and you forget about being tired and you power through because it’s so exciting.

 

I’ve never had worries with tiredness, I’ve got a great group of people around me that are excited about doing the show and the energy of the show keeps us going. As long as everyone’s happy you don’t worry about energy levels.

I’ve got some wicked people that I’m working with now that I’ve brought in and they’re great to work with and be around because they’re so enthusiastic and they push me and we push each other. Its just all about the music and I never quite know what’s going to happen when I get on stage as the band always do little things that are unexpected.

Well at the moment we’ve got original vocalists from the albums including DJUM DJUM, L16 and Cheshire Cat. As far as John goes he’s on tour himself so it’s hard to get hold of him but we will just have to wait and see.

 

Well we spent quite a lot of time making the tracks relevant and bringing them up to date on the drum side which has appealed to a younger audience. I think our determination in the late to make something exciting and new can still be heard in our music and that has rubbed off on the listeners.

 

Having a young crowd is one of the reasons I decided to do this again, I would get people coming up to me much younger than I am who had just got into the two albums and I could feel that they were into it and it was still relevant.

 

Its great having that young audience out there and I can tell that some songs may not be recognisable to them but they will still follow it on stage and thats great to see.

It’s been a hard year, and I’ve put a lot of work in but it’s been a great year so far, and I’ve met some great people including my band.

 

As far as the rest of the year’s concerned I’m really looking forward to my tour in the Autumn and there’s a chance to go abroad again later in the year.

 

This year’s already gone far beyond my expectations; I’m very pleasantly surprised that it’s going so well because I didn’t know how it was going to be perceived. I spent so much time on it because I didn’t know until we arrived on stage how people would take it and whether it would fall on its face! Luckily its going great.

Well there is definitely a dubstep element to the albums and it would be great to bring more dubstep elements into our tracks because we were always into that half time beat. Its reggae basically and we were always influenced by that.

 

It is odd because even recently the BBC featured Phat Planet during the coverage of one of their World Cup Games and I’ve had loads of people contacting me about that. Also Africa Shocks seems to be getting a lot of airplay over this World Cup period so its amazing that it still has that relevance. It’s also exciting because I know that I can now take even more tracks from my albums and play them live and make them even more electronic.

 

I’m really excited about L.E.D because it’s the first one and I like the challenge. I’m going to work extra hard to make sure it’s a memorable day and I also love the concept of it being in a park in London as I’ve not done anything like that before.

 

 

I’m planning on playing a few tracks off my new album and also some of my favourite electronic music as well as some new music I’ve been working on that no one has ever heard before.

 

 

That was crazy, the moment they told me I couldn’t play I was so frustrated but at the same time, after 30 mins and they said I could play I knew what was going to happen and after the first kick it was already going off , it was amazing.

 

 

Of course, it’s a big thing! And because I’m going to be playing some new music it’s going to be really interesting to see how people are going to react to it especially because it’s a UK show and the UK audience has such a massive club culture. But L.E.D I’m ready!

 

Well I’m really happy with the response I’ve been getting in America with the tracks I’ve recently released. I think this is my contribution to the scene, opening a lot of doors for people in the community not just for myself but for other artists in the industry. I think America is really opening up to dance music and music is definitely moving in that direction and the music we’re making is now migrating from Europe over to the US and back again.

 

I’m going to carry on until I can’t, I love DJ’ing. People say ‘are you going to just produce now’ but no way. Everything I do and all my inspiration comes from the club.

 

I love both, they’re both so different. Festivals are all about the energy, they’re crazy it’s like a big rush whereas in a club I’ll usually play a much longer set and I can see people’s reactions to the tracks.

 

Well I’m living the dream already working with all the big artists that I have recently. I’m not even living the dream as a producer but as a fan too, I’m just really excited about everyone I’m working with at the moment and I really hope its lasts!

 

Well you know I first think as a DJ about making people dance and making the DJs happy but if the songs really strong then it can touch people who are outside of the community and aren’t even into club music. If a song is good it doesn’t matter if its rock or pop or hip hop. If it can touch people’s hearts it will succeed.

 

I think that’s why I’ve had so much success with One Love and other productions with artists like Kelis, Pharell, the Black Eyed Peas, Madonna and the other artists that I’m working with.

 

I’m just trying to keep that formula. I’m a DJ first and I’m trying to keep it that way even if I work with a pop artists I really want to keep it in mind that I want to make people dance.

 

Well I’ve just done a new record for Flo Rida called ‘Club Can’t Handle Me’ which is out now and I have some other really cool collaborations coming up but I’m sorry I can’t tell you about them yet!

 

 

I’m actually exactly the same in the studio as I am on stage. I’m always jumping around, getting excited. The artists I work with always laugh at me because I get so excited making tracks. It’s always been about making people dance and then drawing emotion from the track then writing the song.

 

 

Well it always starts with a track because I’m a DJ first and foremost and I start off trying to make something that will get people dancing and then I’ll move on to the melody and then the lyrics.

 

Get ready to party, its going to be crazy I’m so excited to play in the park and play at the first L.E.D festival, just get ready and party and go crazy and get ready for all the crazy things were going to do!!

 

You are playing the Friday of the very first L.E.D festival, how does it feel?
Great! Looking forward to playing in London again! Just hoping for some nice weather!

Can you tell us some more about your heart show that you will be bringing to Victoria Park?
Well, it is a 5 x 5 meter LED screen and with help from my video techs I want to give the audience something back! A more synchronised show with a visual impact. I just want to bring something to the table and develop it as it proceeds. And hopefully people will like the music and the show.

Your Brixton shows have been incredible, how does it feel to have such a loyal UK fanbase?
England has always been an important place for me and it’s fantastic to see the crowd excited and loving what I love to do! It gives so much energy and that makes me want to continue to do music.

What does 2010 have in store for Axwell, can we expect any big hits?
Haha, well I always try my best to deliver and fulfil the fans expectations, and I have some tracks that I personally love.  “Nothing But love (for you)” will be out soon and the hype on the internet have been amazing!  I try my best and I hope it’s enough to get the crowd going!

Will you be making time to see anyone else on the L.E.D line up this year?
My schedule is more C R A Z Y this year! I am even doing a couple of days with 2 shows on the same night! But it would be nice to hang around when Sebastian Ingrosso is playing without having to work myself! Haahaha.

Travelling around the world must be amazing, but do you get time to see any of the countries?
Before, when I did 2 maybe 3 gigs per weekend id could try to take some time to walk the streets in a new city. Maybe see a friend. But now when I do 4-5 shows a week it’s hard to keep up with work. So every chance I get in the hotel or on the airplane I need to focus on making music. Otherwise I won’t have any tracks to play next year!   

You also have your own night in Ibiza, will you be bringing a bit of the Island fun to L.E.D?
Is a special thing to travel to Ibiza and visit a place like Pacha. The vibe, the weather and listening to the fantastic music. And that’s hard to take to another place, but I promise to try and make everyone as hot as they would be in Ibiza.

In the Cream arena you are joined by lots of your friends, Ingrosso, AN21 & Kim Fai just to name a few, can we expect one big party?
It’s always a big party! That’s what keeps the spirit alive! I am going to book a big suite so the after party will be at my place!

When you began DJing/Producing did you ever envisage getting to this stage in your career?
I dreamt about it but maybe I didn’t dare to think it could be true one day. But at the same time I believe that success comes to those who work. Sometimes it’s harder, but if you fight for what you believe in and do what you like, the road forward will give you opportunities and if you make the right decisions, it can even take you further.

What did you originally set out to achieve when you began?
I just wanted to do music. I didn’t want to do anything else. And if I could pay the bills by doing just that… I would be happy!  Getting to play these big shows and Djing on clubs is amazing and great fun to do, but it also gives me the opportunity to continue to do what I wanted to do since I was a kid. And that’s more music.

Can you tell us in 3 words what the show will be like at L.E.D?
Heart-pounding, sweaty & fresh!
 

L.E.D is going to be mental, we’ve got Professor Green in our tent which I’m really excited about and the rest of the line up is very London centric with the festival being in East London so there’s a lot of urban stuff in there with Shy FX, Zinc and the Boy Better Know crew which includes Wiley and Skepta and is a really serious grime act.

 

Aphex Twin on the Main Stage is something I’m really looking forward to, that’s going to be wicked. When I do my own arena I actually try to be a presence in there and support the artists and catch up with everyone and have a chat with them in there. The whole point of the Annie Mac Present’s party is the chance to see DJs I really wanted to see and book the DJs that I wanted so I don’t really need to go anywhere else. Everyone I want to see is in my own tent!

Well the music I play is all over the place, I play jungle and dubstep and because so much music is fusing and interchanging I even played grime the other day because that’s getting quite dubsteppy. I guess what I play you could call UK bass music which circles everything from electro stuff to the UK funky stuff to jungle and dubstep. Its bass heavy music and I also always throw a bit of disco in as well.

 

When Leftism came out, that to me was the album that taught me about techno, I would have been 15/16 and I was so into that record I was addicted to it. I saw them live at Rockness and I was really nervous because I loved the record and didn’t know how it would transfer today live because it could have been considered too retro or too old for the audience but it really stood up against all the other headliners and artists that I’d seen and I was delighted to see the crowd getting really into it. The soundsytem that they used blew me away even if you haven’t heard their album before you can’t not love the show and they are going to be amazing at L.E.D on the Main Stage.

 

Wet wipes, some sensible shoes obviously such as a wellies or some sort of boots that goes over the ankle, a big thick hoody for the night, some sort of jacket with a lot of pockets and I always take shades, I can’t go to a festival without them. I also always have ciggies and I about five lighters because I always lose them. Chewing gum is an essential as well and a compact mirror as there’s never any mirrors in the portaloos. I try to take my phone charger with me in my bag too in case there’s a chance I can plug it in somewhere.

The likes of DJ Mehdi, Justice and Busy P are great, their whole ethos is to kind of open the DJ booth up and get everyone to muck in and have one big party and that’s why they set up the Club 75 group because they were always playing together anyway and that’s probably one of my favourite times playing alongside someone. Also I played b2b with Toddla T in Newcastle recently which was great as we play a lot of the same stuff and Fake Blood. Any of the above are my ideal people to play with.

 

Well I worked behind the scenes for the while as an Assistant Producer on Zane Lowe’s show, kind of just learning the ropes and I’d done a bit of presenting at college and on some local radio shows but a lot of it was luck. I’d always made it known to Radio 1 that if a broadcasting slot came around then I would be up for it, and I started working on a few shows, but not as me it was more using my voice for different shows but then a slot came up for a dance show and they were looking for a girl so I was like ‘Hi, I’m here!’ and they gave me a chance. Its getting the chance that is the hardest bit but once you get it you can prove your worth.

There have been so many amazing moments, I’ve been lucky enough to travel all over the world with Radio 1 presenting my show from Miami, New York, Exit festival in Serbia and even from a tiny old man’s pub in Northern Ireland so I’ve had some amazing opportunities. I think in terms of memories the best moment would probably be the first show that I ever did for Radio 1 and the first link did. I played a High Contrast track and had to do a link straight after and I had such a mixture of fear and excitement, its definitely my favourite moment.

Oh yes lots! I’ve never cursed *touch wood* but there’s been plenty of times when you get your words mixed up or you mispronounce something. I once said that David Cameron was the leader of the ‘Conservatory’ Party and some mistakes that you make, if they caught by the wrong DJ will get aired all over the station.

 

Yes he’s the one who usually plays my mistakes!