Avicii
Avicii
Tim Bergling, better known by his stage name Avicii, is a Swedish electronic musician, DJ, remixer and record producer. Avicii was ranked third on DJ Mag in 2012 and 2013 and has been nominated twice for a Grammy Award, once for his work on "Sunshine" with David Guetta in 2012 and once for his song "Levels" in 2013. Some of his most famous songs are "I Could Be the One" with Nicky Romero, "Wake Me Up", "You Make Me", "X...
NationalitySwedish
ProfessionDJ
Date of Birth8 September 1989
CityStockholm, Sweden
CountrySweden
House music originated in America, and it has always been around, but I guess it just got a tighter hold on Europe and other parts of the world.
I always used to travel without a passport case, and because of it I think I'm four passports in. I bought this small Tumi case to protect my new one, and it works really well, not just for protecting it but also for keeping credit cards and small stuff. I just throw it in my bag when I'm traveling, as opposed to stuffed in my pocket.
I grew up listening to a lot of Ray Charles and '60s rock, thanks to my father, and then my brothers got me in to KISS and whatnot, so I guess that's where I got my first taste for music.
Obviously there is stuff that I wouldn't play in a club that I play at festivals, and vice-versa, but my sets are still dominated largely by my own music. I think that's what makes me stand out a bit. My music is also festival- and club-friendly, so it generally works out well.
My dad has always been a big Ray Charles fan, and I've grown up listening to all kinds of music.
I've always had a fascination with making your own music but never have been skilled enough to play the instrument, so to be able to make music without the ability was awesome.
I always just sit down at the piano and make the main hook—what I want the track to be about melodically—and then I’ll build everything else around that. But growing up, I did not play any instruments.
I've tried plenty of telephones. I tried to get into the Samsung Galaxy and the Blackberry, but the iPhone is just too easy to use. The camera takes clear pictures and the phone itself looks great. Like all Apple products, it kind of just makes sense.
I'm good at melody - I'll write the top-line melody and ideal words I want to go with it. But I'm not that good at writing lyrics. I bounce those back and forth with songwriters or someone who can sing.
I'm a DJ. I get the party started.
I've always been a producer - that's how I see myself first. The DJing came second as a way for me to be able to perform.
When I started working on electronic music, that was after the rave period. I haven't even seen that part of it that much.
I don't really look at the charts at all. If anything, I try to out-do what I've done before. I try to make music that I like and I trust my own judgement with what will work with a wider audience. If you compare yourself to the charts, you lose perspective on what you're doing and why you're doing it.
If I wanted to make a quick buck, there's far easier ways of doing it. What I want is to provoke people. If you want a hit song, all you need to do is rewrite an old song. It might have been proven to work, but you won't be remembered the same way.