Some people are lauding DJ Sneak for lending a hand to their demise. Even he thinks its because of him!
Of course, there are haters:
This is what I know. I heard Axwell's High Energy in 2003 and it blew me away. After hearing a couple of tracks through his aliases, in 2006, I purchased Steve Angello's Ministry of Sound Sessions compilation and it blew me away. I started digging and found collaborations between Angello and Ingrosso and they blew me away. Angello and Ingrosso were childhood friends who grew up sharing a passion for music. Being part of the Stockholm scene, they met Axel Hedfors aka Axwell. Along with Eric Prydz, these Swedish producers were making waves at the same time and became dubbed the "Swedish House Mafia" by Radio 1 DJ Pete Tong. I remember listening to the radio show when it happened. Prydz' sound was not exactly in line with the rest of them, and so he decided to distance himself from being labelled as a member. The trio would appear sometimes on the same bill, but the name caught on. I would YouTube so many interviews of these guys, always wanting to know what they were going to do next. They started DJing together, playing each other's productions, but it was not until March 2009 when we would hear their first production together along with Laidback Luke. I've said this before, I remember Pete Tong having exclusive first play of the track, I was sitting at my desk trying to get school work done, and my ears were peaked. "Leave the World Behind" featuring the vocals of Canadian R&B artist Deborah Cox basically floored me. This track remains as one of my all time favorite dance songs EVER! (posting this version cause there is too much talking in the official video haha)
I always call WMC 2009 the event that changed dance music. Of course David Guetta contributed a great deal to the movement as well. His album, One Love, was a crossover hit, and also released in 2009 (and featured contributions by Sebastian Ingrosso).
After that turning point, SHM's train was full steam ahead. Debuting their SHM only-produced track "One" in 2010, working with British rap artist Tinie Tempah for "Miami 2 Ibiza," making a crossover hit "Save the World" which met controversy from critics (myself included!) which they responded as refusing to be pigeon-holed by anyone. Collaborating with dubstep outfit Knife Party to make Antidote, and collaborating with Sweden's Absolut Vodka for Greyhound earlier this year.
Headlining their own night at Pacha Ibiza, branching away from Ultra to create their own Miami event, performing in Madison Square Garden, chronicling their journey through their documentary "Take One" are just a few of their feats. Beckoned by popular recording artists to help produce their work (notably Kylie Minogue, Will.i.am, Flo Rida), helping kickstart careers like AN21, Max Vangeli, Alesso, Qulinez, Thomas Gold, bringing along friends Dirty South and Calvin Harris along for many rides (yeah, before Calvin made that Rihanna track!) their success spread like wildfire, and so did their name. I would go as far as to say some people new to the dance music scene would not even know the guys individual names, only that they were listening to SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA.
Juggling the SHM brand with their solo acts as well as supporting the members of their respective labels (Angello with SIZE, Axwell with Axtone and Ingrosso with Refune) could not be easy, and I want to believe that that is why they will no longer be touring together. Axwell has a son, Angello has two daughters, and Ingrosso has a daughter with another on the way. Often times they tweet about #familyfirst, acknowledging that it is a priority in their lives. So that may also be a reason for not touring together. Being able to cater to their own schedule rather than having to take two other members into account. I know a lot of long-time fans felt they were missing out on productions from the guys themselves which they came to know and love, before the SHM phenomenon exploded, and so in a way, it could be a good thing. Maybe new Buy Now or Supermode releases!
But of course, with huge success comes the critics and the haters who prefer to see them go down rather than concentrating on their own lives. The controversy that surrounded Steve Angello saw a lot of his fans turn on him. Many people started to say "they were good before, now they make commercial stuff." And then DJ Sneak, a heavyweight in the industry, decided to make it his personal mission to slander their name and work. They have become the group many love to hate. Ingrosso made a statement to Rolling Stone magazine about comparing what they do to the Beatles. I personally did not take it as him making a declaration of saying they were as big as the Beatles, but of course haters are going to interpret what they want. Because if they hate you, they won't ever give you the benefit of the doubt. Surely members of the underground who often vocalize their disdain for the group will be elated by the news, as if it is some type of victory.
There are still a lot of questions. Is it only the end of touring? Will they still produce together? Don't forget that Ingrosso and Angello are life-long friends. Axwell was one of Ingrosso's best men at his wedding. To say it is the last tour ever makes it seem it is a break up. To dissolve the group seems so absolute. I wish they said they were taking time off instead, because people immediate equate break up with conflict among them. I hope that is not the case. I'm really sad because I never got to see them together. I still have yet to see Sebastian Ingrosso live either. The good news is they are not dead, just possibly going to concentrate on their solo careers. Perhaps they felt it was the time to nurture their individual ideas instead of being part of a collective. Its their lives, they can do whatever they want, even though it makes the fans sad. There is no doubt they will keep producing, the three of them bleed music. But it is possibly the end of an era created by a joke of dubbing a bunch of Swedes "a mafia."
No past tense for me: WE COME WE RAVE WE LOVE
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