There are few DJ’s who succeed in hitting the heady heights of DJ superstardom, however, Eric Prydz is one such artiste.
This Swedish DJ/Producer du jour is responsible for some of dance music’s biggest tracks, including last summer’s anthem Pjanoo and has fast become one of electronicas most indemand producers.
Taking time away from his busy schedule, we sat down with the man of the moment, ahead of his highly anticipated Cream Easter performance.
You’ve got a new album out this year, tell us about it?
"The album has been an ongoing process for the past 5 years. I always had the ethos that it will be finished when it’s finished, I didn’t want to rush it and now it’s finally getting released!
"It will be out this Summer which is perfect timing because the album is very much a summer album.
"It’s very melodic, emotional and it’s very good, I’m really proud of it. As its music that I’ve made over the last 5 years, some of it is old and some very new but I don’t feel that any of it is dated."
You have a number of brands including Cirez D and Pryda, is there one in particular you prefer?
"Cirez D, Pryda and the other brands are still all Eric Prydz. It’s just that the big singles like ‘Call On Me’ were released under Eric Prydz.
"Tracks like ‘Pjanoo’ and ‘Proper Education’ were actually released on Pryda first but through the massive support they received from the club scene they then crossed over to become Eric Prydz singles."
Speaking of Pjanoo how did that track come about? How do you feel about it being a summer anthem?
"Pjanoo is a track I made over 4 years ago and I remember making it very quickly. I had a show the same day in the UK and I took the pre-mastered track there expecting it to go off massively. I knew it was something special but when I played it I didn’t’ get the reaction I expected at all. The club just didn’t get it.
"I completely forgot about the track and it was almost 2 years later when I was playing a Boxing Day party in Stockholm with all my friends that I found the CD in my bag and thought I would play it again.
"When I played it the club just exploded. Someone filmed it on their cell phone and put it up on You Tube and that’s when people just started going crazy for it.
"It just shows that releasing music is all about timing, you can have the best track in the world and release it at the beginning of the year to get nothing then release it again at the end of the year and get a number 2 single! After ten years in the industry you start to get used to this!"
Can we expect more tracks like this from the album?
"Definitely, there’s a lot of tracks that have the potential to be summer anthems, there’s a lot of feel good, melodic tracks on there but again it’s all about timing so we will have to see how people react to it over the year.
"There’s a lot of amazing Swedish talent around at the moment. We’ve got AN21 playing in the Courtyard how do you feel about his success?
"Yeah I remember AN21 when he was just a little 10 year old! He was always hanging around us when I was over at Steve’s place with our friends. Steve has always been a big influence on him and as they have the same interests it was kind of natural for him to begin to produce his own music.
"He’s actually been producing for a long time but it’s only been in the last two years that he’s become more well known. He is definitely going to blow up big, as Steve Angello’s brother, people will naturally want to see what he’s about and once they hear his music they will be pleasantly surprised because he is really talented."
What artiste or DJ is one to watch?
"DJ wise I’ve always been a big fan of John Digweed and Sasha. I admire any DJ that uses the tracks in their sets as bricks and builds a bigger thing out of it rather than playing one track after another that any DJ can do.
"In terms of new talent there is a new guy called Acki Kokotof. He’s Greek but has been living in Sweden and his music is really forward thinking. Every time he plays a track it blows me away. He hasn’t got a record deal yet but there’s a lot of interest in him and he’s definitely one to blow up in 2010."
What would you say is your dance record of the decade?
"Hard question, there’s so many good tracks from the past ten years I don’t think I could pick one track!"
What can we expect from your performance at Cream this Easter?
"I have so much new music that I’m so eager to try out. I’ve taken the whole of January off to make music and I’ve got new tracks I want to play as well as some new remixes including Faithless’ new single which I’m itching to play out because I’m really happy with it.
"Also after holding them back for so long I’m keen to get out the new tracks from the album."
What do you think of the Cream Liverpool crowd? Have you got a favourite Cream Liverpool moment?
"I would have to say the birthday last year was amazing; I had such a good time. Liverpudlians are so up for it, it’s scary! I actually had a camera crew with me to film the whole set so there’s loads of good footage on my You Tube channel."
Eric Prydz performs at Cream’s Easter Special @ Nation, Liverpool on Saturday 3rd April Bank Holiday weekend, alongside Steve Angello, Mark Knight, Gareth Wyn, Kim Fai and Dorian Paic. Tickets on sale now: £23.50+BF / www.ticketline.co.uk / Tel: 0844 888 4401
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