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Interview with Avicii + Video

Avicii talks Miami, music, and Penguin.

Swedish producer and DJ Avicii burst onto the music scene at the tender age of 18. In 2010, his single 'Seek Bromance' was a House hit and he played at Club Space in Miami for the Winter Music Conference before he was even old enough to legally drink there. This year, the Scandinavian wunderkind won for Best Break-Through Artist at the International Dance Music Awards. We caught up with Avicii between gigs on his current world tour.

How was your Miami Music Week?

'This year’s MMW was definitely the biggest experience I’ve ever had for sure! Playing the main stage at Ultrafest and winning the IDMA were of course, the biggest highlights for me!'

You've just done a mix for Strictly Rhythm. What else can we expect from you this year?

'Yeah we just released the ‘Avicii Presents Strictly Miami 2011’ compilation which was a big honour for me to do! There's loads of other stuff coming up this year, both collaborations with singers and other producers but I don’t know what I can and can’t say yet!'

You recently released a version of  'Sweet Dreams' titled 'Swede Dreams'. What came first, the idea for the name or the track?

'The idea! My manager Ash [Pournouri] actually came up with the name.'

What will be your next release?

'Hmmm I don’t know actually, Ash handles all my releases and we have so much stuff so I don’t really know what’s up next! I think ‘Penguin.’'

Do you consider yourself a DJ or producer first?

'Well I started out as a producer but I’m almost spending as much time DJing as I do producing nowadays, and I love both equally so it’s really hard for me to label myself as either.'

After UMF, you played a few gigs in Europe, and now you're embarking on a U.S. tour. What has been the most exciting place to visit?

'At the moment I have the most fun in Canada and US! Everyone there is so appreciative of the music and you can tell its growing extremely rapidly!'