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 We went to see how 2009 is going for Swedish Trance producer Akesson. The future looks promising for this young electronic talent and his new single is on its way...
Björn Åkesson was born in 1986, in a town called Lund (southern Sweden). He first noticed electronic music in the middle of the 90’s when he heard music from a videogame called Wipeout 2097. With artists such as Future Sound of London, The Prodigy and Orbital the interest grew. The “Akesson” project made a big impact on Above & Beyonds radioshow ‘Trance Around The World’, in early 2008 the track ‘Perfect Blue’ was introduced to the world as ‘Tune Of The Week’ by Armin van Buuren on his huge radioshow ‘A State Of Trance’. Both Sunchaser and Perfect Blue was very well recieved by the trance community and appeared on several big compilations mixed by world class DJ’s and released by huge recordcompanies such as Sony BGM, EMI and Ministry Of Sound.
i:Vibes: Bjorn, thanks for taking some time to talk to www.ivibes.nu. How is your summer going? What is your favourite trance track of the summer and why?
Akesson: My summer is going very well! My favourite track of the summer has to be Aly & Fila – Khepera because it’s so summery and uplifting, really puts me in a good mood! I start every day by hearing this tune!
i:Vibes: You are from Sweden. What was your childhood like and at about what age did you get your first taste with trance music?
Akesson: I grew up in a normal Swedish family with no special type of musical background. I was about 13 years old when I first got in touch with trance via and older friends from school.
Before I started to listen to electronic music I always dreamed of being a rockstar performing infront of thousands of screaming fans. I hope one day to live this dream, but without the guitar I guess!
i:Vibes: Are you a fulltime producer or do you go to university?
Akesson: I’m not a fulltime producer as some may think, I go to the Lund university where I study computer engineering. Hopefully one day I can become a fulltime producer! This explains why I can’t keep putting out so many productions so often.
i:Vibes: Besides making music, what other profession would you like to have later in life?
Akesson: I’d like to be an engineer which is what I study to become!
i:Vibes: What was your first record/CD that you bought? What made this track so special for you?
Akesson: The first CD I bought was the wipeput2097 soundtrack which was different from any other music I’ve heard before, it was inspirational and fresh!
i:Vibes: Who were your early musical inspirations?
Akesson: The chemical brothers, prodigy, future sound of London, Orbital was the first real inspirational music. I also loved the music from videogames as well.
i:Vibes: How did you get your foot into the Swedish dance scene? Did you go the usual route of sending out demos or did you make the breakthrough in a different way?
Akesson: I never really sent out any CD’s or had any big connections in the Swedish scene. Basically I made good tracks and talked to as many people as I could. In Sweden, and most likely in the rest of the world you either got to have the right connections or produce big tracks to get the gigs. For me it feels better to build a name and receive gigs from that, you can never rely 100% on other people. Produce and make a big name and the gigs will come, that’s what I would recommend!
i:Vibes: Is it difficult for Swedish trance musicians at the moment with all the house an dtechno music that has been popular in the last few years? What is the current state of the Swedish trance scene?
Akesson: There is a Swedish trance scene? Haha, seriously though, trance is basically dead in Sweden. There are a few small clubnights here and there, but usually not so many people shows up. The biggest trance events in Sweden is on the legendary Mondaybar cruises which takes up over 2000 people a few times per year. House and electro is very popular here though, you can hear house at most commercial clubs/pub in Sweden. But trance, maybe one day it will become big again!
i:Vibes: How would you describe the Akesson sound in 2009?
Akesson: Still uplifting but will work a little on a techier and perhaps proggier sound. I’ve been doing too many melodic trancers of late which follows the same pattern. This year I will try to expand my sound a bit. I guess you have to wait and see
i:Vibes: How could you describe your uplifting sound in one sentence?
Akesson: Energetic emotions flowing into your ears.
i:Vibes: “Sunchaser” is really a beautiful piece of music? What inspired you to make this breathtaking track?
Akesson: Well I think it was spring and the summer that inspired me for this track. I don’t really keep in mind on what exactly that inspire me to make music. Usually it’s feelings, I just try to live for the moment and create whatever floats my mind at the time being.
i:Vibes: Was this a difficult track to make? What was the hardest thing that you had to do to get this track perfect in your ears?
Akesson: Yes, making this track was a b**** mostly because of my very slow computer. I spent a lot of time mixing this track and getting the levels perfect. There was a lot of problems that kept popping up and my slow computer didn’t make it better. I reached a frustration out of this world, but in the end it was really worth it. What comes easy is not worth having!
i:Vibes: The atmosphere in the break of “Sunchaser” is unforgettable. How important is the perfect atmosphere in a track for you and is building that perfect atmosphere something that can take a lot of bleeding to do?
Akesson: It’s everything, if you don’t have an atmosphere you have no direction to build the track. Although the atmosphere can grow throughout the process of the creation, but the atmosphere is really what profiles the track. Building a track without atmosphere is like
i:Vibes: Do you have a certain way how you go about producing a track in the studio? Some guys look for a bassline or melody or the main structure. How do you do it. Is it always the same or does it depend on mood or the track?
Akesson: I always start with the main theme. Once I get that done I know how to finish the track. Previously I always made the intro first and the theme later which resulted in lots and lots of deleted projects and in consisted tracks. Get the theme right first and you have 50% of the job done right there!
i:Vibes: What is your most prized possession in your studio that you can´t live without besides your PC?
Akesson: My studio monitors which seems to be only model left in this world.
i:Vibes: “Perfect Blue” was released on A State Of Trance. Do you feel more pressure producing something innovative as you are able to release on the best trance labels in the world?
Akesson: Yes, whenever people ask me about new material they tend to say “well I hope it’s just as good as perfect blue of better.”
Even though I love hearing compliments about perfect blue, I feel uncomfortable with the pressure and obsession about this particular track. I don’t want to make the same type of track over and over. I do my best when I produce music but if I won’t allow my tracks to be less successful as perfect blue, I will only release one track each 5 years.
i:Vibes: “Perfect Blue” is another stellar trance track. Is there a special story behind this track? I mean how perfect can blue be?
Akesson: No specific story to be honest. The name described my feelings at the moment, blue is a word that can describe a type of sadness. Since that sadness was the inspiration for the track I thought it was perfect. Therefore “Perfect Blue.”
i:Vibes: You are also a remixer. What is the most important thing for you in a remix?
Akesson: The most important thing is to make a remix that has my view of how the track should sound. Today you see so many releases having 4-5 remixes that basically just sounds the same, what’s the f****** point? There is no way to stand out that way. Whenever I remix a track I aim to have the best mix of all, I want to stand out and show people that I actually put my mind and soul into my productions. Whenever I remix a vocal track I make new background music, whenever I remix an instrumental track I try to change atmosphere. Either people hates it or loves it. But in the end, at least I made a difference!
i:Vibes: Above & Beyond seem to think very highly of you as they introduced “Sunchaser” in Trance around the world. Would it be a dream to release on a label like Anjunabeats?
Akesson: Yes it would since Anjunabeats is one of the few quality labels out there. What I like about Anjunabeats is that they promote their artists very well. If you keep signing your tracks to them they will take care of you as one of their own.
i:Vibes: I really like your remix “Hello World” for the German boys Store & Forward which is featured on the Talla 2XLC Technoclub volume 30. The sounds in the break ae really touching and the climax euphoric. What was the most difficult thing in getting this remix perfect?
Akesson: Oh it’s on the compilation? Didn’t know that. This remix was not that hard to remix because I decided to make it similar to the original, just more pumping since I was the only uplifting remixer in this pack. The biggest problem was sound selection, but I think it turned out pretty ok!
i:Vibes: Your upcoming releases are “Flavour Park” and “Without you”. What can we await from these tracks?
Akesson: If you loved my previous tracks you won’t be disappointed. One of the track is like Sunchaser, very summery and uplifting. The other track has a more emotional and simple feel to it. It’s a bit hard to describe in words, but to me it’s a good pack!
i:Vibes: Do you think that you could change your sound/style form trance and go in another direction one day?
Akesson: Yes definitely, I always try to change and improve myself, not only in music but also as a person. Right now I feel young and energetic and that’s how my music sounds. I think I will always have a weak spot for trance and produce similar minded tunes all the time. But I’m an open person and might go another direction one day, but for now, it will be melodic music for a long time!
i:Vibes: What is your opinion of the German trance scene? What artists do you respect and like?
Akesson: The German scene is responsible for a lot of my influences so it’s a scene I always admired and respected. As it is today I really like alex morph, paul van dyk, stoneface & terminal, kyau & albert and duderstadt. There are many I haven’t mentioned. It’s sad however that the German scene is not as big as it used to be, hopefully that will change.
i:Vibes: What are your five alltime favourite tracks?
Akesson: Flutlicht – Icarus
DJ Eco – Light At The End (Lost World Remix)
Chicane – Saltwater
The Chemical Brothers – Hey Girl, Hey Boy
Jurgen Vries – The Theme
i:Vibes: What are your hobbies?
Akesson: Videogames, soccer, gym, partying and I love the sauce! I also love programming and going for walks to clear my head, got to love those walks!
i:Vibes: Thanks Bjorn for the chat! Good luck with your music!!!
Akesson: Thanks for the interview!
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