Avicii a Swedish DJ/Producer of EDM (Electronic Dance Music) was recently met with harsh criticism from fans. Last Friday night Avicii took the stage at Miami’s Ultra Music Festival around 9pm for his set; he had planned something special for the event that he didn’t tell his fans about. One could understand why a relatively new DJ/Producer who has to compete with a lineup that included every big name DJ in the world would want to change his set up a little.
Over the course of Avicii’s 75 minute set he was joined on stage by Country and Bluegrass artists Mac Davis, Audra Mae and Dan Tyminski as well as three members of the alternative band Incubus. In addition to these musicians Avicii also had Rapper Aloe Blacc, a violinist and guitarist.
His fans who were streaming the music all over the world immediately took to social media blasting the DJ for selling out and wondering what in the world he was doing? His set after all was sandwiched between Cazzette and Tiesto. To bring all of these musical talents into his set was unheard of; almost all the major Dj’s in the world have done it before. But at a conference that not only hosts the who’s, who of Dance music but also fans some people felt it was a risk. But Avicii didn’t think so and yesterday he took to social media to voice his opinion of what really happened and why he choose to experiment with not only his set but his new Album that is due out this summer.
Take a look at what Avicii had to say on his Facebook page.
Wow looks like I stirred up some controversy with my set friday night at UMF. Seeing alot of people who dont understand. My full set wasn’t being streamed, only the last 40ish minutes with all new material from my album.
In a 75 minute set, I brought a 15 minute different breakdown with live musicians to a festival with nonstop dance music for 3 days straight 2 weeks in a row . I really wanted to switch things up and do something fun and different, as I always strive for, and this album is about experimentation and about showing the endless possibilities of house and electronic music. Its about how to incorporate acoustic instruments from different styles and influences you wouldnt expect and still stay true to your own sound and musicality which for me has always been about the melodies and positive energy. I will always produce music that I love and listen to. But my album is certainly not “country”, and people have gotten hung up on an instrument we used for the live cover of a song. Every song on the album is a twist with house and electronic music.
We wanted to make a statement, and theres really no better place to make one than UMF mainstage. People will soon see what it’s all about.
My music is open to anyone who wants to listen to it and I will always stay true to my sound. Love you all who listen with open hearts and open minds. These past few months Ive been so lucky to have had the chance to work with so many talented artists and to bring them there when I launch the album was amazing and they all did an amazing job.
This was my first time performing with a band and I couldnt have asked for more a professional team, I really want to thank @MichaelEinziger and his fiancee, @vatoben and @JoseAPasillasII from Incubus, @Aloeblacc, legend @Mac Davis, @audramae and @dantyminskii for joining me on stage.
I personally feel that Avicii didn’t do anything wrong I mean after all EDM is a blend of many types of music including Pop, Rock, Country, Alternative, Hip Hop, Reggae, R&B, Jazz and just about every other genre of music out there. I seem to remember a DJ by the name of Morgan Page who took a song “The Longest Road” completely re did the song and set it to a dance beat. He was met with HUGE success and it launched his career into the DJ/Producer world. No one gave him slack over making a song that was pretty much forgotten into a hit. You may also recall a certain DJ/Producer “David Guetta” he took tons of jabs from every angle for introducing Dance Music and Hip Hop/R&B and mashing them together. Had he not done that would we have the music we have today? Would Chris Brown, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Ne Yo, Usher be the stars they are today without him taking that leap? Would we have the collaborations we have today?
I tend to think that taking other genres and mixing them up helps the music progress, and sometimes it even creates sub genres within genres. I don’t always like the new music that comes out, I often sit at my computer bored of the same old beat, melody and “effects”. When Avicii and others created new sounds no one critized them for it. In most cases a lot of DJ/Producers copied them, but that was ok because it was a sound that everyone liked. You can not always please everyone especially being a DJ/Producer, but after 2 Weeks of solid dance music I would want to hear something a little different as well.
I support Avicii experimenting with other genres of music and bringing it to his fans! After all isn’t that what we expect of the people who make music, do we really want everything to sound the same?
