Two years ago, Avicii’s body gave him an ultimatum: slow down or the show stops.
He was scheduled to appear at a club in Dubai, but he couldn’t do it. Gall bladder pains, a ruptured appendix and urgent surgery took precedence instead.
Read this also: Avicii announces retirement before Dubai gig
In 2015, he cancelled a slew of American gigs, too. He released a hopeful statement, saying he wanted to grow up “normal — or as normal as it gets.”
Born Tim Bergling, he’s now 26 years old. He signed to a label when he was only 18. His career reached peak crazy at 21, when he dropped his debut album, True. And then at 24, his second album, Stories. Around those two bookend milestones lay more chaos. Grammy nominations. Tours. Top 40 hits (Levels, Wake Me Up and Hey Brother to name a few.)
As far as lifestyles go, it was anything but normal. In the shadows, there was Tim, the boy. In the spotlight, Avicii, the machine.
On April 1, the Swedish DJ makes his comeback with a balance of both. He launches his international tour at Dubai World Trade Centre. This time, he’s healthier, happier and, in a way, more human.
Avicii lets his guard down as he speaks to tabloid! over the phone, chatting from sunny Malibu about self-care, mundane routines and finding his groove amidst all the noise.
What do you have planned for your Dubai gig?
I’m still figuring out what to play in general. I’ve taken such a long break now. Dubai is going to be my second show, I think, coming back. I haven’t played in a long while, so it’s definitely going to be something really cool, because it’s going to be the first of whatever I’m planning to play.
Coming back into it after a break, does it take a couple of shows to figure out what you’re doing?
I mean, not noticeable to anyone else but me — but to me, yes, for sure. It’s the same kind of nervous feeling that I had when I started out... [that] kind of comes back. But only until I press play on the first song. It disappears.
The last time you were meant to perform here, you faced some health complications. How are you feeling now?
I’m doing great. Especially now, too, when I’ve taken some time off. I’ve really had the time to focus on a lot of the everyday stuff that I honestly hadn’t had the time to focus on in like, eight years. Because I’ve just been going. And when I haven’t been touring, I’ve been in the studio or doing interviews or something else — there’s always been something. For instance, before, I hadn’t properly set up my email routines. And it sounds ridiculous, but when you add sixty or seventy of those different routines that almost every functional adult human being has, it becomes a problem. I really needed to take a step back, re-figure out just in general how I should do this going forward, so I wouldn’t feel overworked, so my health wouldn’t suffer.
What’s this year going to look like for you? Are you going to focus more on touring? Is there a third album in the works?
Honestly, 2016 is me, I guess, focusing on myself. Just learning: what kind of music do I want to do in the future? What do I want to do on stage in the future? Those types of questions, which aren’t easy to answer, even though I spend so much time thinking about it. It’s constantly evolving. I learn something new and I see something new, and I want to include that [in my music].
Is it scary when people have an idea of what Avicii is, and what Avicii sounds like, to break away and do something different?
That’s what I used to think. I felt like that for a while. I almost felt trapped in whatever music I was making and whatever the music was at the time. But then I just took a step back and realised that — I mean, I shouldn’t be complaining about anything. Everything is in my power. If I wanted to make some other music, it’s no problem for me to do that. If other people don’t like that…
It’s almost like I’ve gotten to a place [that] I’ve seen other artists [reach] — where they’ve all constantly been saying that the music is what matters to them, and that they don’t really care what other people think. I’ve wanted that for so long. But I think it’s finally starting to happen, a little bit. I’m more and more starting to realise that I have to first and foremost truly focus on what I want.
In terms of music, what direction are you going in now?
It’s a little bit of a mix — it’s more like True, my first album, than Stories. It’s not done yet … I’ll still be writing the songs together with the guys who sing, and together with all the writers. I’ll still produce them. But I’ll try to produce them more the way I would do a remix, almost. Basically try to fit everything into a dance floor environment. Stories was more of a songwriter environment for me. I’m jumping back and forth [between those two].
At the end of 2015, you shaved all the hair off…
Yep!
How are you liking the shaved head?
I love the new hair. It’s been so much less maintenance and work in general. I’m not sure whether I’m going to [grow it] — I think I’m shaving it [off] now again, but I’ll be going back and forth between short and long hair.
You’ve been doing this, full-on, for five or six years. Does it often feel like it’s been longer or shorter?
If I think of a certain event, [like] the first club show I did, it feels like it was 25 years ago. At the same time, a lot of the things I’ve recently done … it feels like I’ve only been doing it for a second. In one way, I guess, because I went from when I was 18 and started touring straight away, I skipped that experience of getting your first apartment, college, all of that. And by having missed that, one part of me is still — or has been, still — 18. The first four years when I was touring, that was definitely the case. One part of me definitely wasn’t progressing the way it should. Because I wasn’t in those same situations, you know? I never got to get that experience. Then I kind of figured out how to make up for that.
*Tickets are Dh395 on platinumlist.net. Show is 21+ only.
