MTV Records: Axwell λ Ingrosso Talk Vinyl, Laser Swords & Being In The Studio With Kanye West
Axwell λIngrossoareone of the planet’s biggest dance acts. Comprised of two-thirds of Swedish House Mafia, the duo - Sebastian Ingrosso and Axel Christofer Hedfors – are gearing up for a big year. The pairreleased a new EP, 'More Than You Know, 'this week(May 24),and a string of live shows spanning across the globe happening right now. (You can see them at Creamfields this August.) But, for the third episode of MTV Records, we wanted to move the focus back to the duo’s past and their experiences with vinyl in their formative years.
“Going to record stores was a huge part of our lives," Axwell told us. "Before MP3, before everything, we used to carry around vinyl to go to every show. It was pretty heavy on the travelling situation.”
“I always had bruises on my shoulders,” Ingrosso added.
The duo continued to reminisce: “Do you remember, Sebastian, when you were DJing with vinyl and you were nervous, and you had to put the needle on the record? You were shaking," Axwell said.
"That was a big problem that we don’t have today because, 1, we’re not so nervous anymore, and, 2, you can just press play.”
Elsewhere, the pair spoke about their love of UK subcultures, the incredible one-take session with Tinie Tempah that led to ‘Miami 2 Ibiza’, and laser swords.
WATCH 'MTV Records: Axwell λIngrosso' below:
As is the way with shoots of this size, we couldn’t include everything the pair told us in the final video. MTV Records isn’t a movie, after all. Despite this, we thought it’d be a shame to not include Ingrosso’s storyabout a collaboration that didn’t quite materialise with one of this generation’s most celebrated artists: Kanye West. Read below...
“Yeah, [Kanye] came to my studio actually," Ingrosso said.
“Kanye West was in Stockholm because he’s into fashion and he wants to work with Swedish fashion brands. I’d just landed from LA, and I got a text saying, “you’ve got to get to the studio right now”. So I went down and opened the studio, and he [Kanye] came there with Virgil, who has the fashion brand Off-white, and who works with him creatively."
Ingrosso continued: "I played [Kanye] some beats and he loved one of the beats, but then I didn’t have a microphone in my studio because I gave it to a friend when I was in LA for three months.
“It was a Saturday or a Sunday so I couldn’t get a hold of him or a microphone. So we [myself and Kanye] never recorded and he said, “Come with me to Milan tomorrow” ('ed – as you do') and I said, “I can’t, I have to go to Ibiza because I have a night on Monday and this was a Sunday. ('ed – again, as you do'). Next time!
“[Kanye] was a really nice person, just like any other person, especially in the studio. He was taking all the music in, and having it inside [his head]…he was not really a loud person, so to speak.”
'Huge'' thanks to Container Records for having us. You can find this record store – which, yes, is inside a shipping container - at Pop Brixton, 49 Brixton Station Rd, Brixton, London, SW9 8PQ. Make sure you check it out. '
'Listen to your ''favourite'' tracks no matter where you are with the MTV TRAX music app. No ads, no limits, no monkey business. Download it now for FREE at mtvtrax.com.'