FROM STOCKHOLM TO MIAMI

This article was created by a Miller Music Journalist. Miller Music journalists applied to become writers via the Miller Genuine Draft Facebook Page and were chosen based on their love of dance music and their ability to bring us the latest news, insight and opinion on a range of genres, events, artists and releases.

Want to submit an article? Please send a direct message via the Miller Genuine Draft Facebook Page.

There was a time... Stockholm was the place. Where the foundations of house music were evolving and strengthening like no other place in the world.  

The emergence of SHM was spontaneous and was never intended to have a pre-conceptualized sound. These three world-class DJs listened to people’s desires and cared about fans enough to build their unmistakable style around them. It was built in the moment, day by day. Their songs and performances, which dug so deep into people’s souls and senses, transcended ages, races, continents, genders, and all barriers, almost without intending to. 

They are to the electronic music scene, what the Rolling Stones are to rock & roll. They stirred up all existing and predicted sounds to create the most difficult but valuable asset for an artist today: a unique identity. Steve Angello, Axel Hedfors and Sebastian Ingrosso have the ability to sell out Madison Square Garden in 9 minutes and perform for over 60,000 people in Milton Keynes Bowl – they had the world at their feet. 

Funny, emotional, and riddle-fuelled were the teaser clips launched in early April to announce something that all SHM and EDM fans were waiting for: the movie that would bring us the reason behind their split. These clips re-awakened the passion we all felt once (and still feel) for these Nordic legends, and the hope and desire to see them back together.

This brilliant movie is a tale, from start to finish, of best friends and aspiring DJs who became world dominating super stars and, without doubt, an inspiration for many of the artists whose careers are booming right now. Although you can experience how their success was gained and chart topping record after record was released, the story concentrates mostly on their one last tour after they decided, in 2012, to end the group.

Of course, all conflicts and character impasses are unravelled, leaving the feeling of an intense Ingrosso-Angello relationship. Two radically different, but still complementary personalities conflicting against each other, was probably the right amount of dynamite necessary to ignite the explosive split. Ingrosso being the most impulsive, funny, outgoing and eccentric of the three set the spiritual pace of the band and tended to conflict more with Steve Angello than with the mature, reasoning and stylish Axwell.

These guys blended well as friends and accomplices when they created SHM, but didn’t communicate or discuss their problems, and held back for so long that they couldn’t stand each other any longer. Keeping their careers together would have killed their friendship forever. Although this movie leaves you with a bittersweet sensation and mixed feelings, the love for SHM lasts throughout the entire movie. They showed the world how to experience every concert and every second of their lives and careers to the very edge, fearlessly. 

If you are an aspiring DJ or producer, this film will help you understand that to be successful you need much more than just a lucky strike on a PC. Determination, aspiration, hard work, character and talent are just a few ingredients of the SHM recipe. Steve Angello, Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso are three dedicated family guys who forged their own path by respecting, praising and waving the flag of house music high. 

Leave the World Behind (Official Movie Trailer):

Words: Santiago Peña Gómez