Axwell's effect: World's biggest dance festival Sensation few days away

One of the world’s biggest dance festivals Sensation is only a few days away and headliner Axwell cannot wait to get here!

Formerly one-third of the musical trio Swedish House Mafia — alongside Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello — Axwell is now a successful solo act, also playing with Steve as Axwell Ingrosso, with hits such as Sun Is Shining and We Come, We Rave, We Love on just about every party-goer’s playlist.

While he has performed in the country before, this will be his first time in the city. “Hyderabad as a city is totally unique. I think everyone here is super enthusiastic and they seem to really appreciate the music. I’m very excited to be part of Sensation and Hyderabad is definitely on the global map with this development,” Axwell says with regard to the city’s growing obsession with EDM.

For Axwell, music has always been his “thing” and he says it’s everything to him, including his inspiration.

“I want to be remembered as an artiste that made people feel things and evolved in an honest and exciting way. So long as people remember the music, I’m happy. I get inspired by everything… But then again I just get inspired while I am making the music itself,” he explains.

Listing Daft Punk, Skrillex and Coldplay as some of his favourite acts, Axwell also adds that “pop” elements are what makes his and Steve’s music different from most techno music.

He says, “Our combined sound, which incorporates populist elements of disco and singalong bands like Coldplay, went international. Obviously we don’t expect a deep techno purist to appreciate our music.”

The difference is telling — joining forces with artistes from various genres, Axwell lists hip hop and R&B artistes as his favourite collaborators. “We knew straight away that we wanted to do something with Pusha T., he’s doing so well at the moment. When we got in touch he got the idea and he sent us exactly what we needed. Pharrell is a hero of ours since way back, and we’ve worked with him on ‘The One’. We brought him into the studio in LA and showed him a track that we were working on he got a vibe on that, he did his thing and then we had to do our thing. It’s great to collaborate with people who add something to the track, they have their own idea sometimes,” he explains.

And while he says Swedish House Mafia is completely in the past for him, Axwell doesn’t rule out chances of a reunion.

“We are able to do exactly what we want, which is a blessing. I think we’re all in our happy places right now. Maybe one day something will happen inside of us that says “boom”. Who knows what happens in the future, we might get a sudden urge for Swedish House Mafia again!”

Axwell also sees a bright future for music in India: “India is very fast evolving country when it comes to festivals and dance music. I think it is here to stay for the next five years for sure with every artist wanting to tour India… The most important thing I continue to look for is music with feeling and identity. So long as those elements remain, I think the music will live on.”