Interview with Avicii at Marquee Las Vegas’ 1st Anniversary Party

Interview with Avicii at Marquee Las Vegas’ 1st Anniversary Party

6 January, 2012 | 11.01AM

• Written by: Tyler Jensen
• Filed under: Music News: avicii, interview, las vegas, marquee

Located in The Cosmopolitan hotel in the heart of the Las Vegas strip, Marquee Nightclub and Dayclub is a sprawling 62,000-square-foot venue with a 40-foot LED DJ booth, costumed ballerinas and stilt-walkers, and a heart-pounding Funktion One sound system with 32,000-watt subwoofers. MTV News has called Las Vegas “the new Ibiza,” and between the completely sold-out venue, synchronized scantily-clad ballerinas, and dazzling decor and staging, Marquee is a glowing example of Sin City’s new look. Jason Strauss, managing partner, was on hand at Marquee’s first anniversary party with Avicii on January 2nd to tell us about the about the club’s meteoric rise and to announce several exclusive residents in 2012, including Above & Beyond, ATB, Benny Benassi, Chuckie, Dirty South, Erick Morillo, and Kaskade.

We sat down with Avicii before he took to the booth to talk about 2011 and to get his take on the state of electronic music in Vegas.

BEATPORTAL: You had a huge year in 2011… what were some of the biggest highlights for you?

AVICII: I would say how well ”Levels” did. That was amazing for me personally. Just to hear when I play it, people chanting it. I’ve never experienced anything like it. So that was the biggest highlight of the year. Gig-wise, I would say probably EDC in Las Vegas. That was amazing. Like 80,000 people, just jumping at the same time.

When was the first time you played in Vegas, and how do you feel like the scene there has changed since then?

The first time I played was at Wet Republic and since then it’s been exploding.

When was that?

That was when - I remember because the guards had to escort me in and out of the club [editor’s note: he would have been 20] - I think it was April, 2 years ago.

How has Vegas changed since then?

Well EDM’s been blowing up. I mean its been blowing up all over the US. But Vegas has been so, what do you call it, it’s been so easy to see the change. Because now every line-up they have here is just ridiculous. They have everyone playing here, and all the time; it’s all year around. They have the biggest line-ups in the world.

Is a Monday set different from a weekend set, or is it always the weekend in Vegas?

I mean it is always the weekend in Las Vegas. Monday is more of an industry night here, so they’re the ones getting to play around a little bit more.

“Levels" is one of the year’s biggest songs, even though it was only just recently released. Why did you hold off so long on putting it out—was that an intentional strategy to build anticipation?

I think we were just looking for the right label for that track. There were so many people interested in it, so we just kept getting new offers, you know, that kept dragging it out.

And how long was it since you finished it until it was released?

About a year? Yeah, about a year.

I wonder how you came to use the Etta James sample in “Levels"—did you write the song around it, or did you write the track first, and then realize how well the vocal would fit?

I found it through the Pretty Lights track ”Finally Moving.” That track’s amazing and I had loved the vocals from the first time I heard it. I wanted to make it into something I could play, so I could do whatever. And when I made the “Levels” track at first it didn’t have that vocal. I think it was supposed to be a remix first, I cannot even remember which song it was for. I think it was a T-Pain something. [Laughs.] I could be wrong, but I remember I was working with another vocal and I was like, “No, I wanna do something else with this track.” And I tried that Etta James vocal over the track just as a bootleg first. We were going to find another vocal for it, but then we started playing it and the reaction just got so big with that particular vocal, so we just stuck with it.

Pretty Lights – Finally Moving [Pretty Lights Music]

You’ve just had Skrillex remix “Levels.” Are you interested in trying your own hand at dubstep?

Oh… not that interested personally. I have nothing against it, it’s just not really my style. I mean, I think Skrillex is super talented, and the remix was amazing. I think we’re actually going to do a collaboration together. We talked about that, we just have to find the time. But for me to personally try dubstep, I don’t think so. But you never know, I might be changing…

Finally… what’s next? Any upcoming releases or collaborations you can talk about?

Yeah I have a lot of releases, I just don’t know which ones I can tell you about and which ones I cant. I have so much material, and looking at the schedule right now, almost the whole year is lined up; 2012 is going to be a really busy year. So hopefully I keep doing what I’ve been doing this year.

Well thank you so much, it’s been a real pleasure. I’m looking forward to tonight.

Yeah, tonight is going to be fun. Happy New year.

Photograph of Marquee Las Vegas’ one-year anniversary celebration used with kind permission; see Marquee’s Flickr stream for more images.

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