We recently had a chance to catch up with Adrian Lux after his amazing set at I Love This City (San Diego). We asked him about his tour, his music and his personal life. He was an absolute blast to speak with.
The 26 year old Swede hails from Stockholm and his first full length album dropped in April. He’s seen massive success with Teenage Crime, Boy and Alive, has been remixed by the likes of Avicii, Axwell, R3hab, and Hardwell and took over the clubs with Eagles, a collaboration with Sander Van Doorn. His uplifting music blends house, techno, indie and rock. Adrian Lux has been rapidly rising to fame. If you aren’t already acquainted, we at Festival Zoo would like to introduce you to Adrian Lux:
Festival Zoo (FZ): You’ve just done a show in Orange County, you’ve just done a festival in San Francisco and here you are in San Diego. What’s California been like this weekend? How does California and the rest of the U.S. compare to other place you tour?
Adrian Lux (AL): Well I just finished a tour in Australia and that was a f*cking massive tour. But actually, it’s been really really good out here. All the club shows turned out really well, and the festivals have been really good as well. I’m just glad that it’s been catching on all over the world.
FZ: How about the east coast? Some of our readers want to know when you’ll be out there.
AL: Well, I don’t know yet, haha. I’ll be back here a lot this summer, I can tell you that. And I’ll probably be [on the east coast] too. I’ll definitely be in Miami soon. It’s crazy how Miami and Las Vegas are so big right now. They’re like Ibiza number 2 and 3!
FZ: We’ve heard your dream show is at Pacha in Ibiza. Any luck scoring that gig yet?
AL: I think I’ll go there soon. But I don’t know. It’s all secrets right now!
FZ: Let’s talk about your music for a bit. So, everyone wants to know everything about Teenage Crime. I’ve read it’s an autobiographical song in a way. Tell me everything about it.
AL: Haha yeah. Well, the content of the lyrics, which I’m writing as well … I don’t know if anyone knows that … it was like a period in my life that inspired that song. It was a period where me and my friends were always going out, feeling like the warriors of the night and you don’t want the night to end. There aren’t that many lyrics because I wanted people to get the chance to interpret the song for themselves, so that the song can mean something for another person.
FZ: Yeah that’s definitely a time that most people can relate to. So you’ve had a good slew of other releases up to your album which dropped a month or two ago, what’s it been like getting the album together and getting everything released?
AL: It’s been a long time. It’s been fun doing, but it’s so hard for me because … when you’re doing only singles, you have to do the best thing for every song, so when I had to do the album I was thinking the same way. I didn’t want to put something out that wasn’t thought through. So I tried making 12 really good songs.
FZ: So it took you about 2 years from your first release to get your album out, and it took one of your idols, Eric Prydz, 8 years to get his album out….
AL: Haha yeah that’s crazy! His just came out…and that’s a f*cking good album. I play that sh*t all the time.
FZ: Besides yourself of course, who are you looking forward to seeing or who have you already seen this weekend across the I Love This City festival?
AL: Oh man, yesterday was crazy with Tiesto and Guetta and those guys. The line-up was so massive, but I think Skrillex is one of the best live performers. I’m not a dubstep dude, but he is for sure f*cking insane. I’ve seen him in Stockholm; he’s a super nice guy and what he does on stage is just crazy.
FZ: With dubstep blowing up in the United States, dubstep’s really bringing electronic music to the masses in the U.S., what do your thoughts on the genre or the electronic music scene as a whole here.
AL: Dubstep… I was listening to that so many years ago, right, when it was big in England. So like, this is just crazy that it’s blowing up here now. It’s a cool genre, but it’s obviously not … well, I play some dubstep stuff sometimes… It’s cool, it’s like the new punk rock or something.
FZ: I’ve got a few more questions from our readers … I don’t know how else to phrase this one, but he asks “Ask him how cool his name is”.. So I guess …
AL: Very cool. haha. You’ve got your answer.
FZ: So your second name is Adrian, how’d you come up with Adrian Lux?
AL: Lux … do you know the movie The Virgin Suicides? Do you know the character Lux played by Kirsten Dunst? So I thought, ‘that’s cool.’ I kind of took that in a way. There’s a scene in that movie where they’re sitting in a field somewhere, so I thought ‘if I am going to make music, I want it to fit in this scene.’ I didn’t really think about it that much, but it felt natural and it stuck.
FZ: Outside of DJing and producing, what do you enjoy doing for fun? What are some hobbies of yours?
AL: Haha oh man, I don’t have any time for anything anymore, which sucks. I like food, I like hanging out with my girlfriend, and the ordinary stuff, like having breakfast at home, which is very rare these days. Lately I’ve been thinking about getting into some new hobbies because I need something else to do.
FZ: Do you ever miss ordinary life?
AL: Yeah but I’ve been doing this for so long, not necessarily on a professional level, but just doing clubs and stuff … I mean, I don’t know what an ordinary life is anymore. I used to have an ordinary job … I worked in a skateboard shop for so long. And that was fun, but I still DJ’ed on the side.
FZ: Here’s a question you probably hear all the time: What’s in the water in Sweden? How come there are so many talented producers coming from Sweden?
AL: It feels so boring saying this all the time, but it’s the winter. It’s so f*cking… it’s retarded boring, 8 months a year. If we had this [San Diego] weather, there wouldn’t be anything coming out of Sweden. We have the best Summer, but the winter is terrifying, it’s terrible. There’s nothing to do but sit in the studio… and the water.
FZ: What’s the best way for your fans to follow you?
AL: The usual, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram stuff. I’m there like 24/7 posting new stuff, getting people excited, to go to the shows. [Sending a shout-out] is the cool thing to do after a show.
FZ: Our last one is one we ask everyone here at Festival Zoo: If you had a pick an animal that best represents your party style, which animal would you pick?
AL: Oh my god haha. I just got the Koala in my head because they are so laid back and awesome. Actually, I don’t know if I would say Koala because they’re high all the time, they just sit in a tree! My party style, I dunno man. I guess I could see a koala dancing to some of the funky stuff I like.
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