Guaranteed anthem from the on fire Swedish producer coming live and direct from Musical Freedom
Mikael welcome to DMCWORLD! Well let’s kick off with this monster of a new tune, ‘I Found You’ on Tiesto’s Musical Freedom label…tell us about the tune and how it came to get signed to his label…
“Thank you Dan, pleasure to do this! ‘I Found You’ is a track I made together with the French super talent Nico De Andrea, the vocalist Yasmee and the hit machine songwriters Moises Modesto & Duane Harden. It´s a very emotional and strong record for me, it combines raw basslines and euphoric melody parts with strong vocals and a distinctive arrangement, built for big clubs and festival shows. Tiesto signed it as my second track on his label, the first one was ‘Out Of Control’, another emotional yet more commercial record which is really starting to take off on the radio all over the world. Tijs has been supporting my work for a long period now, so it was just natural for me to jump on the Musical Freedom-train!”
Right let’s go back to the beginning of your career and your teenage years – who were the early artists that first got your ears twitching towards dance music?
“Oh there are almost to many to name. Tiesto of course was a big inspiration to me, Armand Van Helden, Stonebridge, Eric Prydz and Axwell were the the ones who really blew me away so massively that I just couldn’t keep myself away from starting to make my own music.”
You famously became the youngest ever DJ to reach the finals of the Scandinavian Music Convention up against the likes of Eric Prydz and Axwell. What was that experience like?
“That was of course a very big deal for me and something I never expected. It almost felt undeserved, standing there next to them, but at the same time it felt really good to know that someone as new and young as me actually stood out in the big DJ world.”
I love the honesty of your biog…laying claim to the fact that your home country of Sweden has arguably produced some of the dance scene’s most exported performers in recent times. Who have been the producers in your mind that have really stood out over the last decade – and what have you learnt from them?
“Yeah there must be something in the water in the Sweden cause people keep popping up, haha! To be honest i get inspired by everybody from time to time, even though my sound might not be the most Swedish sound that came out of our little small country.”
Soon after the competition you were working as a resident tour DJ for Ministry of Sound – what were some of the highlights of that time?
“It was a great experience, got me some well needed international experience, I got to play alongside and open for a lot of big artists which was a very big deal for me. To see how they work, mix and act gave me a clearer image of what I needed to do to be like them one day.”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
1. Mikael Weermets & Nico De Andrea ft Yasmeen – I Found You
Might be egoistic, but it’s one of the strongest tracks in my sets right now
2. Mikael Weermets vs Bauer & Lanford – Out Of Control
While I’m on the egomaniac run I might as well just throw this in there too!
3. Promise Land & Chuckie ft Amanda Wilson – Breaking Up (Bartosz Brenes & Tony Romera Remix)
AMAZING dancefloorstuff from up and comers!
4. Deniz Koyu – Bong
Whatever my friend Deniz touches turns to gold, and this tears up just about every place on the planet
5. Knife Party – Bonfire
When you need your crowd to headbang like never before, this is the record to play
6. Nicky Romero & ZROQ – WTF
Probably the safest card on my stick, will get any crowd jumping in no time
7. Marco V – Solid Sounds
Armed with a bassline and some solid trancy chords, a lot of battles is won
8. Swanky Tunes & Hard Rock Sofa – Here We Go
As I’m a sucker for the 303-stuff, this always makes me scream and jump
9. Zedd ft Matthew Koma – Spectrum (Deniz Koyu Remix)
Again with Deniz, one of the most well produced records of this year
10. Mikael Weermets vs Kenan & Kerim – Bounce
If you’ve been to my shows over the last months, you’ve heard me play this record. Its a beast. Trust me
Anthem of the summer?
“For me it has to be the SHM monster that is Greyhound. A work of art that shows that you don’t need a big pop chorus to make everybody lose their mind
in an instant. Extremely well produced, well arranged. It has attitude all over the place, and that’s what I love!”
Tell us about your radio concept that you launched in 2011 – what does the show consist of?
“My radio concept is a bit different from the others, I always try to do a show that feels like a real DJ set, I’m not just lining up the Beatport Top10. What I play in my radio show is stuff that you might just hear on one of my live shows. I´ve been blessed with guest mixes from some of the biggest names in the business and we are now reaching over 20 countries every week, its an AMAZING feeling!”
What has been your best festival experience of 2012?
“Festivals are always something special, so it’s impossible to say which one was the best, but Tomorrowland and the Machac Festival in Czech Republic was out of this world. I still have a few more to go though, so I´ll get back to you on that!”
And best club night?
“Oh wow, there´s been so many this year, so its impossible to just name one. I had a some amazing shows in Brazil, France, Croatia, Sweden and Germany, but if i have to name one, the show I did with Tiesto at Pacha Ibiza was one for the history books. It was packed until the very last minute and it felt like I could have kept on playing for 10 more hours!”
What is the best and worst thing about living in Gothenburg?
“The best thing is that my family, friends & studio is here (my life). The worst thing is the airport, I always have to do 34234234 connecting flights before I reach the place where I’m actually playing. I need to get my ass more famous and rich so I can get one of those fancy private jets like daddy Tiesto has!”
It’s your birthday – who are the three DJs you ask to come and play at your party?
“As the opener, I would like to have Loco Dice – the number one deeper DJ in the world. He always kills me and has me jumping on the floor like theres no tomorrow! After that I´d put mister Tiesto on to put on his Dutch smile and those killah skills of his before I´d let Eric Prydz finish it off with some 3 hour melodic murder.”
Tell us about your studio set up…
“Very basic at the moment since most of the tracks I do are done in hotel rooms nowadays haha! Back home I have a lot of stuff in the studio, some analog gear, some killer Genelec 8050 speakers and some other geeky toys. Most of the elements of my tracks is from the logic ES2 and the ESP, and the plugins I use are mostly from Waves, Softube, PSP and Soundtoys.”
What dream producer or vocalist would you like to get in the studio and make some music with?
“There are two vocalists I´d kill to work with – Flo from Florence + The Machine and of course the stunning Adele. Production wise I wouldn’t say no to sitting next to Eric Prydz or Axwell for a day. (So I could steal all their sounds while they were on the bathroom, of course.)”
What is your guilty pleasure record – a record you shouldn’t love but do…?
“David Guetta – ‘Love Is Gone’.”
What is the strangest request you have ever had from a clubber whilst DJing?
“Oh, there are some real nasty stories, but I´ll save them for another time I think! Just recently I was asked by a girl to let her under the table while I was playing and…”
Not many people know this, but Mikael Weermets is really good at…
“FIFA on Xbox. I dare you to challenge me!”
What is coming next from you studio wise?
“Tonnes of new remixes and tonnes of new originals on Musical Freedom, EMI, Big Beat, Spinnin among others. I have some stuff lined up, but if I told you I´d have to kill you, and that would be so sad.
Who is the coolest person on your mobile phone?
“My celebrity list is actually growing by the minute nowadays, but they are all in aliases so even if I gave it to you, you would never find out!”
And finally – what is the record that changed your life…
“Roger Sanchez – ‘Another Chance’!”
“Thanks for having me, and thank you everyone for the support, love, airplay, hugs and hands in the air! Without you, none of this would be possible! Thank you!”
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