Music News: Swedish House Mafia shuns big name artists

cloudinthesky

Axwell, one third of the EDM House group Swedish House Mafia spoke on the future of dance music, stating that he is looking to introduce the world to new artists and that the big name artists are not the future.

Quote:

SWEDISH House Mafia’s DJ Axwell is shunning big name collaborations in favour of the underground scene as he goes solo – to save the future of dance music.

The SHM boys became known for their massive hits. The collective were soon being sought after by big names in the pop and R&B scene who wanted to borrow some of their cool cache.

But now that they are splitting, Axwell, who has remixed for Usher and Madonna, is clear about the direction he is going.

He said: “The big names are not the future. There are more American R&B artists wanting to meet people like us and wanting to learn our world. They want to come to our world and that is all fine but, for me, that’s not what I’m chasing.
“I’m introducing what is new and what new producers and completely unknown singers we have. I’m interested in the new Adele, the new Gotye. Who is the next guy? That is really the future. Just meeting big name people for the sake of it is not what I’m looking for.”

Mainstream pop artists have been only too quick to jump on the DJ bandwagon and Axwell knows a good remixer or producer can make or break a potential hit record.

He said: “In most cases, they leave it up to us and trust our judgement. For someone who eats and lives dance music, it’s easy to know what to do. For someone like an American R&B artist, it allows them to know what should be on a credible dance record. They come from a different world.”

Axwell’s contemporaries on the dance scene, such as Calvin Harris and David Guetta, have been only too quick to take up the offers of collaborations from the likes Rihanna and Kylie Minogue

“It’s a nice thing that we can have all these artists wanting to work with us, but for myself, I do it as a kind of hobby,” said Axwell. “I did a track with Flo Rida called Wild Ones, which went in the charts. It was an opportunity but musically what is inspiring are the unknown artists.”

Axwell and Swedish House Mafia have turned down many who wanted to work with them, including Shakira and Chris Brown, but he blames other work commitments for those.

He said: “We’d love to press pause and work on everything but you have got to prioritise.
“I have my label Axtone, too. It’s not like Shakira isn’t cool. She is cool, It’s just that there was not time for her and also Chris Brown. Chris is extremely good at what he does.”

SOURCE

It's a very interesting read and I spot no lies, tbh.

A short browse around youtube or soundcloud makes it pretty clear how much talent lies in the underground, unknown scene. I'm just glad to see a major producer actively seeking out more of these unknown, unsigned gems.

{headstrong}

Perfect

LadyGagaStan93

I like that they would rather work with unsigned or new artist but tbh I don't think it matters.

Qwerty

He did a track with Flo Rida but turned down Shakira?

Haus

How very hipster of him

He wouldn't work with Chris or Shakira, but they worked with Usher? Ok

cloudinthesky

Quote:

Originally posted by Qwerty

He did a track with Flo Rida but turned down Shakira?

The kween Sia was on that track too though. I think we all know who the more talented of the two is.

Quote:

Originally posted by LadyGagaStan93

I like that they would rather work with unsigned or new artist but tbh I don't think it matters.

I think it matters a great deal. Unknowns tend to have more freedom with their sound, as they're not bound by record labels or a gigantic fanbase who expects a certain sound from them. They're generally more free to create their own style, and they can even be helped along by the simple fact that they're new and fresh. Just look at Carly Rae Jepsen with Call Me Maybe. One of the draws (other than CMM already being a great song) was the fact that Carly was hot and fresh on the scene.

If more producers collaborated with underground, indie artists, it offers them a chance to throw around new and interesting concepts and possibly develop new, interesting sounds.

LadyGagaStan93

Quote:

Originally posted by cloudinthesky

The kween Sia was on that track too though. I think we all know who the more talented of the two is.

I think it matters a great deal. Unknowns tend to have more freedom with their sound, as they're not bound by record labels or a gigantic fanbase who expects a certain sound from them. They're generally more free to create their own style, and they can even be helped along by the simple fact that they're new and fresh. Just look at Carly Rae Jepsen with Call Me Maybe. One of the draws (other than CMM already being a great song) was the fact that Carly was hot and fresh on the scene.

If more producers collaborated with underground, indie artists, it offers them a chance to throw around new and interesting concepts and possibly develop new, interesting sounds.

What I mean to say is that even if they decide to work with all indie or new artist, they still have to get that material out there. It wont become mainstream if people do not latch on to those types of music and actually support them. I'm glad that they are making a clear distinction between what is mainstream and what is not, but I feel that in a sense this only creates music hipsters that complain about the types of music being made. Skrillex went through the same thing when he took dubstep and infused it with electrohouse. Now people call him a "mainstream" artist even though he isn't even given the light of day on the radio.

Truly and technically, none of this matters. If what they say is right, EDM will probably go back to being underground because it'll slowly fade out of mainstream music and what Pop artist want to be on their albums.

Edit: But I would like to see more new faces in the mainstream scene and in EDM

Jabril

Aren't they working with Rihanna?

Tsuko

I'm glad to read this tbh. I like Swedish House Mafia, and as a fan of R&B, I'm fed up of a lot of artists that I like collaborating with these dance producers all the time. It's fine once in a while, but I think pretty much everybody agrees the situation we've been in the past few years has gone way overboard. I just want it to stop altogether now.

I agree a new trend at the moment is "new artists". In the charts recently, so many artists have come out and had a US hit. I think this will be a trend that will continue, and the more established artists might suffer, but if it means Usher stops doing dance songs for all his singles, I'm all for it tbh.

rihannasbe$tfrnd

OH MY GAWDWDDED.

A SHM track with Chris Brown would have shat all over lives.

Tra.cëë

but aren't they working with Rihanna?