They say that in hindsight everything is more obvious – a saying that sounds resoundingly true in the Swedish House Mafia saga.
Sebastian Ingrosso, Axwell and Steve Angello reached the promised land in 2012 at the height of an EDM boom that broke out in the USA. But rumors of a broken dynamic in the group led to their breakup, which rocked the dance music community to its core.
And as the members of Swedish House Mafia explored solo ventures, the group's distance eventually established itself as an axiom that their once-harmonious relationship had become irretrievably sour.
"We're not best friends anymore, and that's the truth," Ingrosso claimed in 2014 in Leave the World Behind, a charged documentary that recorded the band's last tour.
In an open interview with BBC News, the Swedish House Mafia reflected on their split nine years ago.
Sebastian Ingrosso, Axwell and Steve Angello from the Swedish House Mafia in Pacha Ibiza in 2011.
Wikimedia Commons
"We were exhausted, we were tired," said Ingrosso. "So of course there was tension and irritation."
"Now that we're a bit older and smarter, we look back and realize that we needed a break," he added. "We had to miss each other. We had to miss making music together again."
The first semblance of reconnection came in 2017, the group said as they sat down for dinner in Stockholm. "A friend of ours said, 'Come on guys, you need to get together,'" Angello recalled. "And we thought, 'Okay, let's have dinner, let's just talk.'"
Axwell, Angello, and Ingrosso ended up staying up until 4 a.m., remembering their lives on the street and sharing experiences during their breakneck rise to the top of the EDM.
"All the memories we shared were the disasters!" said Ingrosso with a laugh. “You know when someone made a mistake, or someone missed a flight, or someone overslept. Those were the memories we all had. "
Steve Angello, Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso from Swedish House Mafia perform at Café Mambo Ibiza in 2011.
Kevin Dougans / Wikimedia Commons
Now that the Swedish House Mafia comeback is in full swing, they are preparing to embark on a massive world tour in 2022, their first in 10 years. The tour will essentially act as a vehicle to expand on their upcoming debut album Paradise Again. Details about the record are rare and the guys have not yet announced a release date.
"We started when we were 15 or 16 years old and that's all we've done all our lives," said Ingrosso of the band's tour. “So it's something like your backbone. I can't wait to get on stage. "
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