Swedish House Mafia were warned last year that to attempt to launch their own even in the face of Miami's Ultra Music Festival was to do the unthinkable. Yet, Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso persevered, delivering the tented Masquerade Motel party right on South Beach with 12,000 people in attendance and hundreds more watching from beyond the motel's gates.
Now, in addition to their own label parties this week in Miami, a two-day Masquerade Motel mini-festival lies ahead for the Swedes at Grand Central Park, and fans will be pleased to hear that SHM plan to go even bigger in 2012.
"Last year, we did the beach party Masquerade Motel," Angello told us when we caught up with him at Las Vegas dance mecca XS nightclub. "We did about 12,000 people. This year, we do Friday and Saturday. Great park. A little over 10,000 each day.
"We were limited last year," he continued. "We had a timeslot to work around, and we could only put a few artists on. It was an amazing event. But this time, it's stretched over two days and we can do more artists and bigger productions, which is gonna make the event, and experience, a whole lot better. So we are all super pumped!"
Fans have recently gotten a taste of SHM's latest single "Greyhound" through a canine-inspired music video (a partnership with spirit giant Absolut), and Angello is equally excited about their upcoming music.
"There's always a new Swedish House Mafia song in Miami," Steve confirmed, smiling. "There will be some new music there and some other goodies.
Angello was also proud to reveal that his label, Size Records, will be hitting Miami hard this week. At his Size Matters MMW closing party Sunday at the Fontainebleau hotel, brother AN21 and Max Vangeli, Junior Sanchez, "Troll" producers Qulinez and Tim Mason are among the performers debuting new material.
"AN21 and Max's album is ready," Steve revealed. "Great collaborations. It sounds amazing. And then we have Third Party that just delivered [their] 'Feel' record, which is a really big record. Qulinez just realized 'Troll.' Wayne & Woods are new artists. It's just great new music, and we are having a blast."
Also making a debut at Size Matters will be a new augmented-reality app, which will treat fans to additional artist content meant to deepen the overall user experience. As Steve assured us, the digital frontier remains a constant source of inspiration.
"The augmented-reality app is something fun that we wanted to do," Steve said. "I think moving with technology is important especially because you get inspired by that. So it's always fun to push and see where we can take it."
Swedish House Mafia play Miami's Grand Central Park on Friday and Saturday. You can catch Axwell at his Axtone night at Amnesia on Wednesday and at the Surfcomber on Sunday. Fans can catch Sebastian Ingrosso at Refune Presents: Calling Miami on Thursday and his post-Masquerade show at Amnesia. Catch Steve Angello at Space on Saturday and his Size Matters party Sunday.
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