The Prydz protege setting the world alight
Welcome to DMCWORLD Jeremy, a quite uplifting story on your rise to worldwide fame – but before we tell the tale, let’s go back to where it began. You hail from Stockholm, one of the leading lights of the dance music world at the moment. However, you actually hated house music at the very beginning, you thought it sounded silly. So what was the style of music that you were into back then?
“Yeah, believe it or not that’s actually true! Back then I mostly listened to East Coast hip-hop and a lot of Michael Jackson. Hip-Hop has definitely influenced me in my sound that I have today and Michael Jackson is as far as I’m concerned one of the most skilled musicians to ever live. I also and still do like film-scores and stuff from the 60s and 70s that my dad used to show me.”
What was the turning point, did your friends try and convert you?
“That was about 8 years ago and the first time it ever struck me that I’ve developed a taste for dance music was when I heard some old Benny Bennasi on the radio. Some of my friends were getting into producing back then too and I moved pretty quickly from ‘rediscovering’ it and actually learning how to produce.”
After your dance induction, who were your early producers/DJs/artists that you first caught the bug off?
“After that I really immersed myself in it and the next step was discovering the whole Swedish movement with Eric Prydz, Adam Beyer, Joel Mull, Cari Lekebusch as well as Laidback luke and some of the early Angello and Ingrosso stuff under their own names and aliases. I recall listening to Joachim Garrauds radioshow as well to discover new music. Digweed and Sasha have and still are really big for me too. Especially though I liked and started following Eric and his development as a producer.”
What were the first great clubs you went to?
“There was one called Grodan(The Frog) Cocktail Club that was crazy! Its a really intimate and small club where they had some legendary parties and invited some of the biggest acts in the industry. I saw Eric there the first time. After the first one I was sold on the Pryda and Cirez D thing.”
How much of a hardship was it to enrol at Stockholm University and start studying Communications, even though your heart lay elsewhere – but it kept your parents happy?
“It did suck because at that time things were actually moving in the right direction. There was just a lot of pressure from my parents and I figured if the music thing doesn’t go as I want it to, I might as well do school and produce during the night. I did have tracks coming out on solid labels but I definitely couldn’t make a living out of it in any way and my mom wouldn’t lay off with the nagging.”
Like so many aspiring producers, you joined the queue of unknowns who would send their latest creations to the big labels and producers hoping that by chance, they would hear your stuff. And somebody did! Tell us the tale…
“After those shows I saw with Eric and discovering him as a producer I was the biggest fan boy ever. I even asked him to help me and a girl get into the club where he was playing. We had some friends in common and at some point my management got some of my stuff over to him that he enjoyed. Before I knew it Eric’s people got in touch and wanted to sign me, which was the most surreal email ever.”
You returned from the meeting with Eric Prydz with a three release deal making you the first ever Pryda Friends exclusive artist and the first DJ ever to be officially endorsed by the chart topping producer. So we are all waiting – did you jack in the Communications studying?
“Haha yeah, after that I pretty much stopped going to the school the next day. Just stayed in constantly and worked on the PRYF007 release, which ended up being Riots/Chronic/Evade. Lots of performance anxiety!”
You immediately went out on tour with Eric. Where were some of the highlights from that mind-blowing experience?
“The thing was that pretty much straight after I was signed the first EPIC show at Brixton was suppose to happen. Imagine that, first big show you play is at Brixton with Funk D’Void, Eric and then Adam Beyer closing. Talk about me being crazy nervous in the weeks leading up to it. I never prepare my sets but that time I just had to do it to get some peace of mind and sleep better. At the end of the day it went really well. Once I got up there and started playing I was fine.”
Your beautiful ‘Norrsken’ is one of the highlights of Toolroom Knights stunning Amsterdam 2012 compilation which is out now. Tell us about the history of this tune…
“I made it early in the summer of 2012 I think you can tell. After a long winter in Sweden you tend to make records like that in anticipation of Ibiza and a generally nice summer. It’s a very euphoric, progressive and uplifting and the first time my manager heard it he said it gave him goosebumps and made him sweat profusely haha. I guess that’s a positive sign.”
Toolroom Records is undoubtedly one of the leading record labels in the world right now, what is it about their artists and sound that makes them so strong?
“I think it’s their heritage, experience in the business having done it for so long and perhaps their versatility. They release everything from more accessible records to stuff from guys like Marco Bailey and Wehbba.”
In between all of this madness, you lived in New York for six months – what did you love and hate about the city that never sleeps?
“The only thing I disliked was paying so much rent every month. Other than that it’s just an amazing city to live in and it does wonders for your creativity. Definitely see myself going back there at some point!”
You made your Ibiza debut in 2011 playing with Eric at Amnesia. Is there a better party destination in the world?
“Even though I haven’t been to Vegas, which some people claim is the Ibiza equivalent across the pond, I have a hard time imagining there’s anything better than Ibiza. It’s absolutely magical and every time your plane touches down you get this special feeling that you don’t experience anywhere else!”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
That would be:
Darin Epsilon & Tom Sela – Lapis Lazuli (Andre Sobota Remix)
Henry Saiz & Marco Marzenit – Sirens Land
Hot Chip – Flutes (Sasha Remix)
Jeremy Olander – Tenfifteen
Jeremy Olander – Riplock
Jeremy Olander – Norrsken
Eric Prydz – Every Day (Fehrplay Remix)
Quivver – Fakes and Bullshit
Manic Brothers – Komplex
Adam Beyer – The Color Out of Space
Your DJ sets take on very much a progressive approach, there is a real ‘building up’ sound to your style. How would you describe your style in 2012 and who are your DJ heroes who have similar styles…?
“As far as DJing there’s really one that stands out for me and that’s Digweed. The best nights I’ve had out have been when I’ve seen him play. The way he’s able to read the crowds, select tracks and build a tension is second to none and to me that’s what a DJ is suppose to be all about. I’m not comparing myself to Digweed in any way here, but I’ve definitely tried to learn from him a lot and still do. I think that regardless what style you play, you can always pick up a thing or two from that man.”
John Digweed dropped ‘Chronic’ on his Transitions radio show and Pete Tong played both ‘Fairfax’ and ‘Rypamont’ for two consecutive weeks before asking you onto his ’15 Minutes of Fame’ segment – you must have known you were in for the long run when shit like that happens…?
“Yeah, that was pretty insane. After EPIC and all that happened my first two EPs came out and did well, it felt like I was in some kind of tornado with one crazy thing happening after the other. Months prior, literally all of it was stuff I only dreamt about. They were jokes that me and my friends used to say, like “imagine if your stuff would be played by Pete Tong?” or “can you believe if you would ever get a track signed to Pryda Friends? When thinking about it now I still can’t believe where I am today.”
I remember reading somewhere that your girlfriend was really worried about this whole DJing business. She was worried that you were going to start drinking Jagermeister from the bottle and have loads of groupies flocking around you…so have you?
“Haha we’re still together and I’m definitely the faithful kind. It hasn’t really been a lot of that to be honest. I suppose there a few more girls that approach me when I play out now but I haven’t gone further than signing some boobies.”
What has been your summer anthem?
“As I mostly play my own stuff in my sets I got to say that ‘Norrsken’ is a serious candidate. Regardless where I’ve played, Amnesia, Russia or Tel Avivi, it’s been doing some serious damage.”
And finally, what is coming next from the Jeremy Olander studio…
“Next up will be my remix of Golden Girl’s ‘Kinetic’ that I’ve got really cool reactions on. Eric played it on his EPIC radio show and it was awesome to be able to sign it. It should be out sometime in November. Overall I’ve been really productive during the summer and my manager and I are working out what we’d like to see as the next Jeremy Olander EP. I also have some Dhillon tracks that hopefully will come out sometime early next year. I haven’t really done a lot of remixes in general but if something cool comes along I’ll definitely consider it. Then there are some super talented guys that I enjoy a lot like Andre Sobota and Richie G. I’d like to do something with them at some point. I’m not good at the whole colabo thing, but I’m opening up to it more. It’s just that I’m such a control freak when I produce.”
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