Q&A: EDC 2016: Axwell Ingrosso grows up with the culture of Electric Daisy Carnival

Few acts owe more to Electric Daisy Carnival than the Swedish duo Axwell Ingrosso. Their former group, Swedish House Mafia, was perhaps the defining act of the 2000s EDM era, with singles such as “Don’t You Worry Child” soundtracking a new culture on the American festival circuit.

After that trio dissolved at the height of its influence, Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso debuted almost immediately as a duo (minus former bandmate Steve Angello), taking a looser and livelier approach while still playing to the biggest crowds that EDC can offer.

The Times spoke with the two performers hours before their set. They talked about growing up alongside Electric Daisy Carnival, how Bruce Springsteen fits into EDM, and how getting older in dance music means trying to revive the good old days of being wild and free.

In Swedish House Mafia, you were the standard-bearers for EDM culture in the U.S. How have you grown as artists over the last 10 years of playing EDC?

Ingrosso: That first EDC in L.A. blew our minds. That was first time I felt like, “OK: America, big crowds, this music, big production, this is something I’d never expected. That was the birth of this whole thing.”

Axwell: That was our first American experience for real. We’d only played clubs in Miami back then. Our first EDC, we’ll always remember that. America came late, but they made up for it with size. It’s been great being part of the EDC journey and culture.

You’re now two years in this current project, which is a long time and yet not so much, given you’re transitioning from a huge act. Does it feel like a different world?

Ingrosso: It doesn’t feel that long ago, but when we look at our Spotify playlist, it’s like wow, it has been a while.

Axwell: We’ve lost all concept of time, really. But the idea for this project is to make a lot of music. In Swedish House Mafia, we didn’t make a lot of music. It was just six songs, pretty much. But now in two years, we’ve already made nine or 10, and it’s like [pantomimes thumbing through long playlist] — wow.

I saw the Swedish House Mafia documentary, and while you went out on a big note on that last tour, it was clear there was a lot of tension toward the end. Do you feel like you’re in a better place now?

Ingrosso: It’s a so-much-healthier situation. We can balance our family and tour. Everyone we work with, we all have fun. It’s little family now and it feels really good.

Axwell: In general, there’s much more balance in our lives.

Ingrosso: If we can call this balance, I mean, this is still nuts.

Axwell: But how we live, how our day is spent, it’s not crazy. The machinery moving us around, it’s smooth and more similar to normal lifestyle. Musically, whenever Swedish House Mafia released a song …

Ingrosso: It had to be biggest song of year every time. And we succeeded a bit.

Do you feel like you’re better songwriters now? “Something New” almost feels like a Bruce Springsteen song.

Ingrosso: Thank you, yeah, we got a little inspiration from old Bruce on that.

Axwell: Back then, when Swedish House Mafia came up, there were like three people making dance music. If you compare it to now, it’s on a new level. “Something New,” we’re extremely proud of that song, its an evolution for us.

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How have you changed your approach to playing live?

Axwell: You just have to take that chance. It’s easy to fall for a quick fix, but we must take time to calm down, and have a moment of love. And then they can rage.

Ingrosso: It’s dynamic. We want people to feel something, not just “my calves are big from jumping up and down.”

Axwell: We see the difference. When we play something that connects to hearts, there’s a difference. Our idea was to play our own songs as much as possible. For every song we make, we want every song to send out a certain feeling. If it’s to rage, “Can’t Hold Us Down” was made for that. Then “Dream Bigger,” when we want a feel-good, come-together feeling. “Something New” sends out an emotional journey vibe. We want every song to send out something different.

How do you accomplish that when you’re playing to big festival crowds like this?

Axwell: It’s more of the size that changes our approach. If it’s a smaller club, certain music doesn’t fit. It’s too harsh and intense. But tonight, nothing is too intense. You’ve got to have music that fills up size.

Does it ever get normal, walking out and seeing audiences that size?

Ingrosso: It never gets normal, I guess.

Axwell: In one way it gets normal: I’m not intimidated by it.

Ingrosso: It’s a weird thing. Put me in room with four people I don’t know, and I’ll [ruin] my pants. But put me in front of a crowd of 75,000, I’ll make them [ruin] their pants.

Do you feel like you’re better DJs now than you were in Swedish House Mafia?

Ingrosso: I’d say 100%, even beyond what I thought. I thought we were great before. But now we’re going back to where we started, playing different music and BPMs, it’s started to get fun again. Like when we played Pacha [nightclub] in Ibiza [Spain] from 4 to 7 a.m., we can drop “Sweet Dreams” and then Michael Jackson. It’s cool to go back to that vibe.

You’ve done all the biggest things you can do in dance music — written pop hits, headlined the largest festivals. What’s left?

Ingrosso: I would like to try to make much more music, maybe in some more styles. We’re too good to make just one thing.

Axwell: We’re always chasing new sounds. That’s the only thing left, to learn new things about music and music-making. We’ve done everything in terms of the material world; now its down again to love of music.

Ingrosso: When you’re young, you chase stable, mature songwriting. But when you get older, you chase the kid in you, to stay open-minded.

Axwell: When you’re older, the more you know, the more complicated it gets. You have to bring yourself back to that innocence of not knowing anything. But we can do that, forget everything. If you go out at night and get hammered, you can bring yourself back to that place.

august.brown@latimes.com