The Huffington Post recently sat down with the Swedish superstar, Sebastian Ingrosso, to talk about the present, the past, and the future of electronic music. We’re at a strange point in the “scene” where commercial house is at an all-time high for popularity; but on the other hand, an all time high for haters. I don’t mean haters in the typical sense of what you think when you heard “haters” come out of 50 Cent’s mouth. It’s people hating poppy house and, to be honest, how terribly unoriginal some music has become.
Depending on who you are, you may, or may not, put Sebastian Ingrosso in this category. But what’s the criteria? Big Hits? Synthy Anthems? Vocal Remixes? Making Money? Working with successful corporations? If that’s how you classify it, then yes, he would be amongst that group.
But what about people who you respect? Who are pioneers? Who want to work with their best friends? Who will do anythings to put a smily on their kid’s face? Who become happy from making others happy? Who ignore the negative opinions of others?
If you answered yes to both sections, you may be at a crossroad. Sebastian Ingrosso is responsible for everything listed above. He made a track for a Disney cartoon that some people scoffed at, but he made it because he and Axwell‘s children love Disney cartoons. I’m sure he’d make a thousand songs no one would ever hear if it put a smile on their faces. You may still call that selling out, but I’d call it being a good father. This was just one thing I learned about Ingrosso from his sit down with the Post.
Don’t expect too many more vocal remixes either. According to Ingrosso, he’ll be making vocal tracks right from the beginning. He’s also very involved in the production on vocal edits.
I’m pretty involved, when it comes to some bits. When they write, they are amazing, so I’m involved in the last tweaks, like “Can you change that lyric? It’s a little cheesy” or “Do you think you can do that phrase one more time?” Just fine-tuning, I guess, but I’m pretty involved. I must be, because I have a vision also. I’m actually too involved so far.
I also found out that John Martin had no previous background with electronic music, but rock music. Apparently he liked the energy that was put into the tracks and wanted to get involved.
To put yourself in someone else’s shoes for a moment; imagine you and two of your friend all produce similar music on your own and have successful careers as individuals. Wouldn’t it make sense that you say, “Hey lets collab together and make some tracks?” If you answered “no” then you don’t like your friends or you’re a dick. They just hung out together and wanted to make some hits and things just spiraled out of control with success and fame. He talked about that he thinks SHM was positive on his career, and it was. They all gained some new fans from each other, and some fame from the world.
Another thing I really respect about Ingrosso is his ability to stay out of drama. You can’t open social media without someone trying to call someone else out for being main stream, or a “button pusher” or having bottle service fans. It get’s annoying.
I don’t see the point, to be honest. I don’t think that back in the day, Prince, Michael Jackson and Madonna were like “fuck you!” For what reason? Music is here, and if you don’t like it, don’t punish it — don’t listen to it. It’s very easy.
Well said, sir. Well said.
This next point is something I struggle with everyday. You’ll hear ten releases that all sound like they’re from the same artist. Obviously people have slightly different tendencies, but a lot of it sounds the same. This is where SHM gets a bad rap. They really started the whole synthy anthem house songs that became so successful other artists, and faux artists, wanted to jump on for all the wrong reasons.
There’s one thing that I’ve become interested in, which is that not too many people in dance music stand out. We’ve kind of becoming like a fist, you know what I mean? We have Skrillex, he stands out. We have other people, and I hope we stand out, but not so many do. They’re kind of just copying each other, to the point that even I — and I work in this genre — am like, “Who is this release from?” There must be a little bit of a change soon, and people need more profiles and character in what they do.
People can hate Skrillex too, for whatever reason, but he’s unique. He thought in an abstract mannor in a very scripted genre. He made something different.
If you are a fan and are worried that they’ll never be friends again, smile. They are all still very close, and will continue to make some music together. You can catch Ingrosso at his residency at the famous outdoor venue Ushuaia in Ibiza. He comments how Ibiza has changed from the hippy haven it once was to small dance floors catering to rich VIP members. He’s been going to the real Ibiza for over 12 years and longs for it to get back to it’s roots.
Ushuaïa is the only place that still has that vibe — it’s an open air pool party for 6,000 people and it’s just amazing.
Love him or hate him, Sebastian Ingrosso should be respected as a pioneer for house music, a DJ, and, more importantly, a person.
No reason to hate him really, it’s all about the music if you don’t like him or SHM, listen to something else, a new genre is being born right now and there’s plenty of classic stuff that, you might not have even considered.
Go pick an Essential Mix, someone your curious about or just by random, see what happens.