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It may be hard for Axwell to top the success and personal highs of 2007, but one things for sure the talented producer will certainly try.

His single, ‘I Found U’, not only topped every dance chart imaginable (Buzz, Coolcuts, Music Week Dance Chart etc), before crossing into the mainstream eventually peaking at a highly respectable number six in the UK (it also hit the Top 10 in Holland). “Universally the biggest record across the board – played everywhere in one mix or another. It doesn’t seem to offend anyone,” exclaimed Pete Tong who first set the ball rolling by crowning it an Essential New Tune. Radio 1 support was universal with Vernon Kay awarding it his Weekend Anthem, and Zane Lowe the Hottest Record in the World Right Now accolade.

Born in Sweden, but a self-described native of house music, it wasn’t long before his recordings found an outlet on labels like Soulfuric, Guidance, and initially, as the newly dubbed “Axwell”, with fellow Scandinavian artist StoneBridge. “Axwell has found the perfect balance between underground and accessible, not to mention the sound quality, which makes him stand out,” says the man whose Stoney Boy label released his debut single, ‘FunkBoy’, in 1999.

After dabbling with Latin-infused house under the guises of Mambana (with Afro Medusa singer Isabel Fructuoso) and then Jetlag (with vocalist Noel McKoy and co-producer Brian Tappert), Axwell again changed stances. The dawn of the new millennium saw him hone his house sound, and in the process not only his production stature, but also his demand as a remixer. The catalyst his pairing with Robbie Rivera and songstress Suzan Brittan in 2002 on ‘Burning’, a track that would eventually reach the summit of Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Club Play Chart two years later. In 2004 he also enjoyed a pan-European hit with vocalist Errol Reid on ‘Feel The Vibe’; a year later Positiva re-released the song as ‘Feel The Vibe (‘Til The Morning Comes)’ with additional vocals supplied by Tara McDonald. A top 20 UK chart position followed. 2005 also saw him enjoy his highest placed UK chart single with ‘Watch The Sunrise’, sung by Sheffield’s Steve Edwards (the man behind hits for Cassius, Bob Sinclar and Xpress-2) peaking at number three in Dance Singles Chart.

Mix-wise the talented Swede’s been responsible for restyling club and crossover hits for Usher (‘Burn’), Stonebridge (‘Put ‘Em High’), N*E*R*D* (‘Maybe’), Moby (‘Slipping Away’), Deep Dish (‘Dreams’), Pharrel Williams (‘Angel’), Madonna (‘Jump’), Nelly Furtado (‘Pomiscuous’), Bob Sinclar (‘I Feel For You’) and Faithless (‘Music Matters’). His versatility to be able to change from out-and-out disco to rock-infused indie beats, and then wordy hip-hop rhymes, helping propel him to most major label’s first port of call, in the process providing DJs with essential tools for their trade. “Axwell is probably one of the best house music producers in the world,” says fellow Swede Steve Angello and occasional production partner. Together the two retooled Bronski Beat’s ‘Smalltown Boy’ into ‘Tell Me Why’ as Supermode that peaked at number 13 in the UK.

As with Axwell’s raise in profile, similarly a handful of his fellow Swedish dance producers have also raised the bar becoming part of an elite group of hit remixers-come-producers – or the Swedish House Mafia as the press has affectionately dubbed them. Amongst the aggregate are Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso. Axwell collaborating initially with the latter on a remix of Ernesto Vs Bastian’s ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’, before delivering their original production, ‘Together’ – the debut release on his Axtone imprint. Axwell also collaborated with fellow Swede Eric Prydz - the two joined forces to produce ‘123’ and then ‘321’ under their Axer alias for Eric’s Pryda Friends label.

Indeed Axtone is one of the most in demand independent labels with ‘Submariner’ showcasing the underground sound of Axwell’s arsenal winning support from the likes of Eddie Halliwell, Paul Van Dyk and Sander Kleinenberg; it looks set to rival the cult status that ‘Get Dumb’ - Axwell’s all-star pairing with Angello, Ingrosso and Laidback Luke – generated last summer.

Currently in the midst of a DJ world tour that has already seen him enjoy sell-out nights in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, North America, Canada and just about everywhere in Europe. In fact Axwell doesn’t actually return to Sweden until early September and is playing gigs in Mykonos, South of France, Corsica, Poland, Bulgaria, UK, Portugal, Croatia, Italy and of course numerous appearances in Ibiza.

Along the way Axwell has been showcasing his new tracks to the masses. The tracks include a great new single with Bob Sinclar & Ron Carroll called ‘What A Wonderful World’ which looks set to follow ‘I Found U’ to the top of the charts after being picked up by Positva & Defected for a joint release this September. He’s also enjoying the number one spot on Beatport with his Dirty South collaboration ‘Open Your Heart’ and there are two Axwell Remixes out there rocking dancefloors – his remix of Adele’s ‘Home Town Glory has been played by all the top jocks and his recent mix of TV Rock’s ‘Been A Long Time’ was released on Axtone at the end of July.

Source: www.axwell.co.uk

Edited by: Kouros N Nasseri- Sound Planet

Interview By: Kouros N Nasseri- Sound Planet- Tehran

Photos & Publishing: Shideh Amerian

Thank you for the interview; so how is everything?

Thank you for this moment, every thing is great. As you see we are at the -Global Gathering at a nice beach, & we have good audience & good sound, supported by great fans from all over the word & I’m happy to be here.

Can you give us a short biography of your self?

Well I am mainly a music producer, songwriter & DJ. I came on the scene in 2002 with a Latin house project named: "Mambana" - & then around 2005 I moved on to a more original house sound with tracks like ‘Wait A Minute’ & “Feel The Vibe’. Also around this time I started to DJ a lot more & do a lot of remixes for acts such as : "Moby", "Madonna” ,"Usher" & pretty much every body! I had a hit called " Tell Me Why " under the name Supermode with Steve Angello in the Summer of 2006 & in the Summer of 2007 I had a huge hit with the track "I found u” – it reached no.6 in the U.K Charts.

What do you think about the new progression of electronic & dance in the music world & what is the future of this genre?

I don’t know really where it’s going! Obviously people can make this music in their homes and can distribute it very easily through digital platforms like beatport. Not many people want to spend $2000 putting their productions out on vinyl anymore so we see an increase in the amount of releases and a decrease in the quality of these releases. There must 100’s of releases uploaded every day to digital sites, especially in my genre ‘house music’ so it’s really difficult to find the best tracks. But I hope that things will resurrect & people try to pay more respect on the tracks that might be more professionally worked on, otherwise the market will become flooded with poor quality tracks and will reduce the word wide quality of music, especially compared with the 60s &70s when most of the legendary hits were produced. I hope that the musicians spend more on good vocals & not just qualified on base lines.

You have top hits released; especially since last year they are much used by DJs, word wide, do you think you can continue this success?.

House music goes up & down. Before it was the French wave from 1988 & 89, & every body demanded House music. After a while people got tired & Hip-Hop tracks became more popular for a time, but house came back in the charts & I hope this genre will stay healthy as I try to do my best for that style & stay on the map!
Have you ever been in Istanbul before & what do you think about the Global Gathering?

This is my first time in Turkey & it doesn’t feel I’m in Istanbul now, because I’m outside the city by the beach, but I got a good vibe from the audience & I love to be in this area of the world because I like to experience the difference always. I'm in Europe every day & I need to visit new places & its new impressions & I really like to be a more on the Asian part of the world, specially the middle- east.

As the Primary audience of this interview is Iranian musicians, can I ask, have you ever heard about the Iranian music communities before and do you have any comments about that?

Because I have an Iranian wife I`ve always been interested in what's going on in there. I haven’t been there yet, but I hope to go there, one day soon & I always think that there will be a scene of house music out there, regarding the internet. Actually it’s a huge country filled of art & I always wanted to get more familiar with it. So I hope to go there one day & I don’t know maybe play in Tehran! & also for the people who know my music.

It will be an honor! Finally can we ask you to give a message for the Iranian music community especially for the fans out there?

Sure. Thanks for your attention, I feel so close to the Iranian people specially my wife who is originally Iranian & our upcoming child that would be half Swedish- half Iranian & thank you for keeping up your interests in my music & I hope to see you one day.

Thank you for your time & hope to see you soon.