On April 20, avicii, a genius of electronic music, committed suicide and died at the age of 28.
The fall of genius is always a pity, but what makes him leave the spotlight early? Today we're going into the last days of Avic, and maybe that gives us a glimpse into the other side of that superstar.
Avicii
For Avic, death is a belated relief.
On April 8, after a long recording process, a Swedish DJ flew to Oman, east of Saudi Arabia, where he planned to visit his friends in the Omani royal family.
What really excites Avic is that he seems to be finally able to catch his breath from work, but the day after arriving in Oman, he held a conference call with members of the management team to discuss the list of musicians he wanted to work with, who would appear in his newly produced music.
Over the next few days, the meeting continued via email. "All his records seem to be happy, and he loves what he creates." Pelle Sandy, head of Universal Music Sweden, said he was meeting with potential collaborators one by one to negotiate.
Avicic also took photos with the fans he met at the resort and went surfing and sailing with his friends.
So everyone was shocked when the news of Avic's suicide in the Omani royal estate came, the world's top DJ producer has long been known for his House rhythms, powerful pop melodies and handsome Nordic faces, and he became famous at a young age as an unquestioned genius of electronic music.
What puzzled those close to Avicz was that after quitting his touring career, his health and alcoholism had obviously improved greatly.
In response, Avicic's collaborator, Incubus guitarist Mike Einzeg, said: "[His identity determines] he can only live that way of life, no matter where he goes, it will be a huge party." But he finally seemed to have achieved the balance he was trying to achieve. ”
Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger
Born in Stockholm, Sweden, Avicz's mother was a sitcom actress and a businessman. As a teenager, Ivych began to make electronic dance music in his bedroom at home, which was transmitted to the EDM website, which made him incompatible with his peers. According to an executive at Geffen Records, Avicic still used Coldplay as his "gold standard" at the time.
When he heard a friend speak of the Buddhist word "Avici", which means the place of rebirth of a dead sinner in hell, he took it as his stage name.
Avich in his youth
In 2009, Avicic released a hilarious electronic-house single "Ryu" and began traveling to Miami, USA, for electronic music parties. Organizer Luis Diaz said: "He looked like a kid with a baby face. He's nervous, but he's really talented. ”
The real starting point of Avic's career was 2011's Levels, a house single that featured samples from Etta James and eventually sparked a six-figure battle for talent. In the end, Avicci chose Kojima Records, and soon after his appearance fee soared to at least $250,000 a show, and appeared in an advertisement for Ralph Lauren (a luxury clothing brand).
Avicic on the Ralph Lauren ad
With the popularity of electronic dance music and the rise of electronic music around the world, Avicic has become a well-deserved leader, because his music moves freely among various genres.
In 2013, at the Super Music Festival in Miami, Avicz premiered a new song called "Wake Me Up", which actually mixed bluegrass music with the house! He took a band to the stage, including even banjo and violin — and, as you can imagine, boos from fans of electric music.
Just as Bob Dylan took to the stage with an electric guitar on his back and was booed by the audience at the Newport Folk Festival that year, a wider range of fans gave the two pioneers real feedback: "Wake Me Up" sold 4 million copies and topped the 22-country charts.
Avicic at the Miami's Ultra festival
In response to the skepticism of "electronic dance purists", Avic said: "I never felt that I had betrayed anything, because this is the music I have been listening to, and it has always been the type of music I like. ”
Wake Me Up co-singer Mike Einzeger said: "Watching Avicic making music is like watching him play a game, he's too fast. You might think he's actually playing Nintendo, the only difference being that you'll hear voices coming out that change as he shapes. ”
By 2014, Avic had become the world's third-highest-paid DJ, and he was working with big names like Madonna, Lenny Kravitz and Zac Brown, as well as, of course, his childhood idol Coldplay. He also set up a personal brand that sells Avicle condoms in stores in Miami.
"I never dreamed that my music and touring would be at this level," Avicic told Rolling Stone Magazine, "and everything came so fast that I demanded perfection in everything, so I was really, very busy." The workload can be terrible from the start, but I never felt like I had time to slow down. ”
Avicz works with Madonna
This fast pace also consumes Avicles at an accelerated pace. In 2012, he spent a week in a new York hospital with acute pancreatitis because of alcoholism, and Avic said drinking was to help ease the tension of social situations.
In 2013, doctors began advising Avicii to have the gallbladder removed, but the procedure was repeatedly postponed for work reasons and was not finally performed until a year later. "He's really hurting and you might be thinking 'how much pain can it be?' Put it this way, he eats junk food, sleeps on tour buses, and drinks every day. If you do the same for a while, you'll also want to take a break. Pelle Sandy said.
Avic canceled a series of tours and did not return until 2015 to release the album Stories, which was not as successful as the previous album, and the old friend "Pressure" once again appeared at Avicic's side.
"He almost became a walking dead." Dutch DJ and producer Redbeak Luke, who played a major role in Ivy's early career, said he met with Avic once in 2015 and "he became a superman, but he's aged a lot in the last five years." This shocked me. ”
In 2016, Avicic announced that he would never again be on tour, and that in this superstar, great ambition and humility simplicity are two sides of his personality, and life torments him at an accelerated pace when the two personalities are tilted against each other.
When he let go of the pressure of touring, Avic returned to his starting point and began to make music in his own home like a child. He built a recording studio in a vineyard in Tuscany, Italy, with the intention of making a comeback. He changed a record label, changed the management approach, and planned to release three new EPs, the first of which was released as scheduled last summer.
Einzeg felt his change while working with Avic, and he participated in a song recording of one of the more than 300 demos that Ayvic left behind: "He's no longer skinny, he looks healthy, like he's basking in the sun." ”
Before leaving for Oman, Avic invited Joe Janiac (producer, songwriter, and best known for writing hit lists by Tove Lo and others) to his home recording studio in Los Angeles, where the two spent weeks writing a batch of new songs. Avicz was responsible for playing the keyboard and writing lyrics, and janiac was impressed by his state of engagement.
Janiac said: "You can see that he spent a long time figuring out that conundrum and he wanted to take charge of his own life. He seemed to be out of breath, but the most shocking thing was that it really didn't look like the last moment of his life. ”
Before setting off, Avić told Janiac that he would be contacted when he returned from Oman and then the next morning he began packing his bags.
But no one expected that he would never come back.