“Maybe heaven right now is a devil or angel away, that won’t change.”
It wasn’t too long ago that Swedish DJ/producer Alessandro Lindblad, better known by his stage name Alesso, was named one of the “EDM Rookies to Watch” by MTV. Lots of changed for Alesso since then, and he’s no longer “the next big thing in dance music” (to quote Madonna), but rather, the big thing in dance music. Till this very day, the duration in which the self-taught took to gain recognition around the world is considered short by many people.
Alesso has played in numerous major music festivals around the world including Coachella, Creamfields, Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC), and Tomorrowland. In fact, just this year, he cinched a main stage set at Tomorrowland 2016, undoubtedly a big boost to his career. It’s easy to forget that Alesso is only 25 years old!
Alesso released in first EP in 2010 but it wasn’t until 2011 that he got the attention of one “mafia” – Sebastian Ingrosso of then top DJ/producer trio Swedish House Mafia (SHM). Sebastian had contacted Alesso and later went on to become his mentor, introducing him to DJing and helping him with production The first track that he released with the help of Sebastian Ingrosso was “Calling” (later renamed to “Calling (Lose My Mind) with an additional feature from OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder).
It reached #2 on the Beatport charts.
Later that year, Alesso made the Top 100 DJs list at #70. At that time, he was only 20 years old. A year later, he climbed the ranks and made it to #30 on the Top 100 DJs list. By the time 2013 rolled by, Alesso achieved his highest ranking on the Top 100 DJs list, at #13.
Aside from “Calling (Lose My Mind)”, almost every other single that was released by Alesso also went on to make waves including “If I Lose Myself”, “Under Control”, “Heroes (We Could Be)”, and last but not least, his remix of “Pressure” by Nadia Ali, Starkillers, and Alex Kenji, which was one of the most played EDM songs of 2011.
“Everything went really fast. Within a year, I noticed I was getting booked and doing all these shows. . . . I did shows in New York, Miami. It just got bigger and bigger, and within two years I was playing all these major festivals,” Alesso once said of his seemingly overnight success. He was the scene’s latest sensation and everyone (Calvin Harris, Usher, David Guetta, Theo Hutchcraft) was making a beeline to work with him. The dance music world was his for the taking.
In 2014, Alesso became the second EDM producer to sign with Def Jam Recordings after Afrojack. A year later, he released his debut studio album via the label, titled, “Forever”. Alesso said of the album, “It’s been an indescribable journey to get this album together. I’m so proud of it, it’s very personal to me, it’s a dream to me that this has come together and I do what I love every single day. I hope my fans will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it and all the memories and emotions that went into every song. Thank you to everyone who helped me on this incredible journey and this is just the beginning.”
Undoubtedly one of the most celebrated DJs/producers of his generation, he will be turning it up this month at the 2016 edition of IMS Asia-Pacific in Shanghai, China. Alesso will discuss how working with local Asian artistes is an important way for him to connect with local audiences.
IMS will also showcase the stories behind some of the biggest stars emerging in Asia, such as Asia’s Pop Mandarin Queen and vocalist Jolin Tsai, leading underground Thai DJ Nakadia and 17-year old Chace, who’s global profile is rapidly rising after collaborating with Yellow Claw and becoming the first Chinese artiste to ever play Tomorrowland.
Alesso will be joined by other global artistes, thought-leaders, and industry figureheads to explore the growing influence of electronic music and the issues, challenges and opportunities that face the industry globally and in Asia.
Interested? Get your IMS Asia-Pacific badges here. Meanwhile, more details for this year’s speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.
For more information on IMS Asia-Pacific, visit their website or Facebook page.
Sources: Rolling Stone, Universal Music / Feature image: The Sun.
