Axwell

Axel Christofer Hedfors (born: December 17, 1977), better known by his stage name Axwell, is a Swedish DJ, record producer, remixer and owner of Axtone Records. He is a member of Swedish House Mafia along with Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello. He is a two time DJ Awards winner and in 2013 he was placed 19th on the DJ Magazine Top 100 DJ Poll.

Early Life
Axwell's interest in music appeared at an early age, having taught himself to play the drums by age nine. Four years later, the 13-year-old exchanged his drums for a computer so he could create each element of his music independently. Axwell released limited copies of a techno/hard trance EP on vinyl under the name OXL in 1995. During his teenage years, he was also active in the tracking music scene under the moniker Quazar, releasing acid techno tracks made with FastTracker 2 and NoiseTracker.

Beginnings
Axwell began his career remixing songs by other artists, his first official remix being released in 2000. Some of his most notable early remixes include: Usher's "Burn" (BMG), Room 5's "Make Luv" (Positiva), Clipse & Faith Evans "Ma, I Don’t Love Her" (RCA), Stonebridge's "Put 'em High" (Hed Kandi), N*E*R*D's single "Maybe" (Virgin), and more recently Hard-Fi's "Hard to Beat", Deep Dish's "Dreams", Pharrell's "Angel", Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous" and Madonna's "Jump".

2003 saw Axwell recording for London-based label suSU (the UK home of Masters at Work) under the guise of Starbeach. The track was called "Get Naked" & featured the vocal talents of D'Empress (from Mutiny). This was followed up by his version of Evelyn Thomas' classic "High Energy". In the autumn of 2003 Axwell's "Wait a Minute", featuring the vocals of Nevada, was released on Soulfuric's sub-label Device. This song was a club smash that gained support from the likes of Pete Tong, Junior Jack, Kid Creme.

Breakthrough
By late 2004, Axwell released "Feel the Vibe", which was re-released through Ministry of Sound in 2005 with new lead vocals from Tara McDonald who also wrote the song as "Feel the Vibe ('Til The Morning Comes)". McDonald's voice and writing helped secure the track as a radio winner and this track became one of the biggest cross over dance records of 2005. It was a breakthrough record for both Axwell & Tara McDonald. It peaked at #1 in UK Dance Singles Chart and #16 in the UK Singles Chart.

Alongside his original productions, he collaborated with the Swedish producer Sebastian Ingrosso on "Together". Axwell's most successful release of 2005 was "Watch the Sunrise", with Steve Edwards on vocals (famous for Cassius' "The Sound of Violence"). The track reached #3 in UK Dance Singles Chart and BBC Radio 1 Dance Chart. In between Axwell's productions he also found time to create Axtone, his own record label.

In the spring of 2006, Axwell and Steve Angello, under the Supermode alias, remixed Bronski Beat's "Smalltown Boy", producing "Tell Me Why" which was released under the Data label. Later, he teamed up with Eric Prydz and produced the tracks 123 and 321 releasing them under the alias Axer. In August 2007, Axwell teamed up with performer Max'C to create the track "I Found U", which made it to #6 in the UK Singles Chart.

Swedish House Mafia
On 12 August 2007, Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso played the Main Room at Cream Amnesia under the alias The Swedish House Mafia as part of Radio 1's Essential Mix Ibiza. The group which officially formed in late 2008 had been performing shows like this for some time along with fellow Swedish DJ Eric Prydz however Prydz decided not to join the group, describing himself as a 'control freak' in the studio who can't abide collaboration, even with close friends. In 2007, the trio released their first single together, "Get Dumb", however this was credited under their individual names.

In 2009, Axwell released "Leave the World Behind" with Swedish House Mafia. The song featured vocal from Deborah Cox and was again credited under the group's individual names. In 2009, Axwell chart number 14 on the DJ Mag poll.[14] 2010 saw Swedish House Mafia release their first singles credited as such. The two singles, "One (Your Name)" (featuring Pharrell Williams) and "Miami 2 Ibiza" (featuring Tinie Tempah), were commercial successes becoming a top 20 hit in many European countries. These songs were featured on Swedish House Mafia's debut album Until One (released 25 October 2010) which acted as a studio and compilation album as it contained much of their own work (as a group and individually) as well as the work of other producers as well. On 13 June 2010, Axwell released his own studio/compilation album entitled Axtone Vol.1.

In February 2011, Axwell and Dirty South's remix of the song "Sweet Disposition" originally by The Temper Trap, received a nomination for the 53rd Grammy Awards in the category for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical. Meanwhile, in May, he released "Save the World" with the rest of the Swedish House Mafia. The song featured vocals from Swedish singer John Martin and has gained certifications across Europe including 5× Platinum in Sweden.[17] The DJ Mag polls saw Axwell chart at number 12 this year.[18] Towards the end of the year and the beginning of 2012, Axwell continue to work with Swedish House Mafia releasing two more singles "Antidote" and "Greyhound". He also worked with Flo Rida on the American's fourth studio album Wild Ones, co-producing two of its most successful singles "Wild Ones" and "Let It Roll".

On 24 April 2012, Axwell released his remix of "In My Mind" by Ivan Gough and Feenixpawl featuring Georgi Kay on Beatport. It was nominated for the 55th Grammy Awards in the category of Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical. In June, the release of Usher's Looking 4 Myself saw the second album which Axwell co-produced with the songs "Numb" and "Euphoria" with the latter receiving a remix from the entire Swedish House Mafia. In September, Swedish House Mafia released their most commercially successful song which again featured vocals from John Martin. "Don't You Worry Child" became a top 10 in many countries gaining muti-platinum awards in many also. This along with previous solo and group work from all Swedish House Mafia members featured on the trio's second and final album Until Now which was released on 22 October 2012.

Axwell Λ Ingrosso
Axwell joined forces with Sebastian Ingrosso, debuting their new collective at the 2014 Governors Ball Music Festival in New York City - their new group named Axwell Λ Ingrosso,[24] this followed the release of their debut EP X4. One of the songs from this EP, "We Come, We Rave, We Love", was the final version of a song started by Swedish House Mafia and was played frequently during their One Last Tour. A single, "Something New" was released from the EP in November of that year.

In November 2015, Axwell released his first solo single since the formation of the group entitled "Waiting for so Long". 2016 saw Axwell continue to release music as solo artist as well as adding vocals from Pharrell Williams to "Dream Bigger". His solo releases included the singles "Barricade" and "Belong". The latter received a VIP remix later in the year, and the first was later to feature on the duo's debut album, More Than You Know. 2016 also saw Axwell remix Ingrosso's track "Dark River".

In early May 2017, Axwell released the first single from his second EP with Sebastian Ingrosso under their collective entitled "Renegade" with the EP and its title song, "More Than You Know", being released in the latter parts of that month. The song was a commercial success, becoming a chart hit gaining certifications in many countries. In July, Axwell perform at Tomorrowland under Axwell Λ Ingrosso which were one of the headliners for the event. October 2017 saw Axwell release his long-awaited remix of Pauls Paris's 2013 song "Make Up Your Mind", and on 8 December 2017, the duo's debut album, More Than You Know, was released. The album contained all of their previously released music and their new single "Dreamer".

Swedish House Mafia reunion and Axwell Λ Ingrosso hiatus
On the final weekend of March 2018, Axwell performed at Ultra Miami 2018 as Axwell Λ Ingrosso. The same festival also saw Axwell perform as Swedish House Mafia as the group reunited after a five-year hiatus on the festival's 20th anniversary.

In August 2018, Axwell Λ Ingrosso announced that they would be going on hiatus in order to focus on the Swedish House Mafia reunion and 2019 tour. On 22 June 2019, Axwell announced that his record label, Axtone Records, would launch Axtone Academy, a music academy which would pair aspiring producers with some of the label's veterans to help young musicians into the music industry.