February 5th might as well have been called Eric Prydz day because the dance music world was completely consumed by Eric’s debut artist album, Opus. Besides just releasing his blockbuster album, Eric also played the entire album from beginning to end for his final Beats One Episode of the season (so he might be back?). To top things off he got formally inducted into Pete Tong’s Hall of Fame. Somewhere in between he managed to sit down with none other than his loyal Reddit following for a 3 hour AMA session. We sifted through the comments and rounded up the best tidbits for you below.
He could still release “Sequence One” which was part of the rescore of the movie Drive
“It was a really cool project and i loved to be part of it! i can do what i want with that track so it might see the light of day in the future.”
What his track “F.A.T.” stands for?
I can’t remember!
Why 2015 saw so many more releases than usual:
“I needed to clear the pryda vault out a bit. Its not fair to the hardcore fans to sit on all this music.”
When he would might retire:
Retire? I’ll never retire!
On that rumored collaboration with Deadmau5?
“Who knows”
On technology in EPIC 4.0
“With every EPIC show that we do, we always try to move away from what we’ve done previously. We want to use the latest technology that we can get our hands on, and one up what we’ve done before. EPIC 4.0 is no exception, and I think it will be the best show I’ve done to date.”
What’s better, a festival set or a club set?
“Go to the festival set for the main course and the club set as dessert. They’re both equally important to experience!”
His favorite era in music history:
“1988 summer of love baby :)”
Will he ever try to bring holograms back to an outdoor festival?
“Depending on whatever technology I can get my hands on. I’ll definitely try again! The weather can be a big factor, though, regardless of the tech at my disposal.”
His most mysterious 4th alias, Tonja Holma, will make awaken in 2016
“The Tonja Holma project is something that you will hear and see more from in 2016 :)”
Why the epic track “We Are” didn’t make it onto Opus
“It’s not finished yet”
Whether Melbourne aka Mortal Combat ID will ever be released:
“I might give it away for free at some point, who knows.”
His other biggest passion (why he might someday open a restaurant)
It’s true, I do love cooking. I make really mean lamb chops haha. Love to barbecue in general! As cooking is a big passion of mine, I could see that being a possibility.
Why he named his album Opus
“I liked the idea of naming the album after the track ‘Opus’, as it would turn some heads – people would think I would be referring to my “magnum opus”, which I’m not.”
The oldest tracks on the album
“Tracks like Moody Mondays and Last Dragon…I started working on them around 2006 I think.”
The time his remix was used in a Gucci commercial
“This was at the same time Avicii became a model for Ralph Lauren and when Gucci contacted me I was really excited but after our initial meeting they decided they only wanted the track.”
There won’t be an Opus remix album
“I don’t have any plans for a remix album, I don’t think it needs that.”
On how he decides when to play new music for the first time
“It’s different every time. In general, I always do everything on the fly – I’ll basically go with the flow at every set. So if I feel like dropping a track that I never have, I generally just will. However, at super big sets, like EDC for example, I always try to play new material.”
His opinion on tropical house
“I’ve never been a big fan of putting labels on music. I like some of the stuff that Kygo has put out, but I don’t really see the point giving music a new name just because you put steel drums in it.”
How he decided which tracks to put on Opus
“We had multiple listening sessions and we (me and my manager) went thru hundreds of tracks. At first, we narrowed it down to 30, and then from there we chose the final 19. Obviously I knew tracks like Liberate, Everyday, Generate, and Opus had to be on there.”
On Swedish House Mafia and whether he keeps in touch with Axwell, Steve Angello, and Sebastian Ingrosso
“I spoke to Seb just a few days ago, living in LA it’s hard to keep up with friends on the other side of the globe but I try and do my best.”
How he decides whether a track is Pryda or Eric Prydz
“I flip a coin…”
How long will EPIC 4.0 shows be?
“No, the sets will be 2 hours long, as with all previous EPIC shows. MSG was a standalone event, a one time only show, not a multi-night event. I hope you understand that this is production led show not a club show, the amount of work that goes into every EPIC show is crazy, especially as we are planning for every show to be unique and different both musically & visually.”
On the direction of electronic music in 2016
“Electronic music is constantly evolving and changing into different directions. Over the past the 10 years it’s been a really organic thing, and I think it’s been pretty difficult to predict. Who knows where it will be in 5 years. It’s never been a big concern to me, however, as I have always felt that I’ve been on my own little quest.”
What would he play as the final track at his final ever show?
“my final track would be Pryda – Human Behaviour”
