AXWELL [16:01:08] GRIND IT If the so-called Swedish house mafia has a figurehead, it’s Axwell. Axel Hedfors comes from the same milieu as Steve Angello, Eric Prydz and Sebastian Ingrosso. The trio can be described as today’s equivalent of the 90s Swedish techno posse. But, while at the end of the 90s Sweden’s techno masters had overexposed their looped style, Axwell is determined that it won’t happen to him. Everyone from Judge Jules to Roger Sanchez to Sister Bliss sings his praises as a producer. While Hedfors values such validation, it worries him. “It’s very nice, it’s very nice to hear, but then straight away I feel, ‘And now what? How do I keep myself on the right path’? You feel a little bit pressured when you hear all these nice things.” While Axwell dominated dancefloors with ‘I Found U’ in 2007, he’s been releasing tracks since 1999. Indeed, he may be associated with electro-house - ‘the new trance’ for a few pundits – but in the past he’s ventured into Latin groove under the handle Mambana and experimented with different sounds. The thing is, Axwell is big on collaborating. He cut ‘Burning’ with Robbie Rivera, teamed with Ingrosso for ‘Together’ and, of course, worked alongside Mr Prydz. His growing profile has resulted in remixes for major pop figures like Madonna (‘Jump’) and many more. With a string of successful singles behind him, Axwell is open to furnishing a full-length project - but warns fans of his slow work rate. He’s a perfectionist. Typically, Axwell sits on tracks for two years and in that time they undergo any number of tweakings. Surprisingly, Axwell agrees that the Swedish house contingent have ushered in a new sound. Nevertheless, he holds that this ethos has already been rendered obsolete - by its very instigators. “I think that there was [a sound] a while back. When we first came across, we all had a little something in common. I think that it was very fresh sounding. It was the early days of electro, as it is now. “Some of the sounds we used felt quite innovative there for a while. So, yes, I guess there might have been a special Swedish sound in the beginning. But then what happens is none of us want to stay in the same sound forever, so we all evolve. Then other people take over the old sound and we move ahead. To some people that might suck, ‘cause they want to hear the same sound over and over again. But, for us as artists and writers, we always have to move forward to keep challenging ourselves and to keep having fun and exploring new things.” Cyclone Axwell plays The Met Friday January 25 and Bedroom at the Gold Coast Sunday February 3. back to top ^

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