Smooth Criminal

The Swedish tech-house DJ/producer Adrian Lux, born Prinz Adrian Johannes Hynne, has a secret past as a model. “It's actually a lot of hard work modelling,” he of the sharp cheekbones maintains. “I never did it that much. It seems like a very easy job – but you can be really good at modelling and I don't think I was [laughs]. So, for me, choosing music wasn't a very hard decision.” Hynne didn't need to deprive himself of food – “I'm, like, super skinny,” he says – or work out for clients such as the Swedish department store Nordiska Kompaniet. It was “just posing for hours” that bored him.

The Stockholm native was already DJing in high school, favouring hip hop and reggae. He'd make the inevitable move into producing with early singles like Strawberry (accompanied by the very bloggable Rapclash Remix with MIA's charge Rye Rye). Hynne's big break came in 2010 with the epic Teenage Crime, featuring the vocalist (and Sebastian Ingrosso protégée) Linnéa Martinsson, aka Lune, and issued on Axwell's niche Axtone Records. It'd be a mega hit here in Australia, clocking up platinum sales and voted number six in the triple j Hottest 100, which absolutely stunned him. “I hadn't ever been to Australia before, so that was a huge surprise for me. I actually never expected anything; just always hoped people would enjoy my music. So every time something good happens, it's a bonus for me. Right now there are a lot of bonuses!” A Teenage Crime remix appeared on Swedish House Mafia's 'album' Until One. Along the way, Hynne remixed Britney Spears' Hold It Against Me, though, according to him, his most recognised tweaking is that of PNAU's Solid Ground. 

In fact, Hynne was destined to pursue the creative arts, both his parents in the field, mum a fashion photographer and filmmaker and dad an old punk rocker. “We share a lot of musical taste,” Hynne, who plays guitar, says of the latter. “He's very talented and so it's always good to ask him about stuff.” Still, Hynne declines to identify his father. What stories has he told him about his own career? “A lot of good ones – not every one, though. [He has] lots of recommendations on what to do and what to avoid.” Hynne is more forthcoming about his guitar playing. “I'm not good at all, but sometimes it works. I actually took lessons when I was about ten years old, but then I forgot about it all. But maybe some of the chords stayed in the back of my head.”

Last year Hynne toured here for the first time with the eclectic Parklife 2011. “It was really good. It was one of the best festivals I've played at.” He bonded with some of the other acts, especially the Swedish contingent, Little Dragon and Lykke Li, members of whose band he knew previously.

Hynne has just released his self-titled debut through the US Ultra Records and, in Australia, Ministry Of Sound (digitally only). “It's a personal album. I tried to make it not just a bunch of singles, but actually as an album and something that will be maybe nice to listen to. I'm very happy with how it sounds now. I worked mainly with friends, as I always did – like with Teenage Crime, Linnéa was singing; she's a friend of mine. I have some guest artists as well. But, overall, it's a personal album.” The album takes in his recent hits Teenage Crime, Boy (with his girlfriend Rebecca Scheja's outfit Rebecca & Fiona), Alive, Fire and Burning. What has he made of the reception in Oz? “[It's been a] great response so far. I love the people and DJs in Australia – always supporting!” In the meantime, Hynne has remixed Lana del Rey, arguably pop's biggest (and most divisive) breakthrough artist of 2012. “It's a collaboration remix from me and my friend Blende [aka the UK-based Johan Klereby],” Hynne explains. “We are really proud of this remix. It came out really great and I get huge reactions when I play it.” Has he had feedback from the chanteuse herself? “Yes, we have. It's coming out, so I guess she likes it.”

Hynne is also involved in a reality TV show, Heartbeats, together with dance music pals Nause and Albin Myers, that will reveal more of his personality to fans. It's screening in Sweden at the moment. “[You'll see] the many sides of my DJ life. You will also get to know me, my friends and the people I work with. We tried to make it very diverse, but still fun.” Doing 'reality' certainly paid off for Queensland's Stafford Brothers – and even SHM with their 'doco' Take One. 

Sweden has again emerged as a hotspot for dance and pop music with acts as disparate as Avicii and Alesso and the electro-pop Niki & The Dove, finalists in the BBC Sound Of 2012. Robyn has even covered Teenage Crime (check it on YouTube). And, naturally, Hynne has heard her version. “I was proud to hear her sing those words. She is an inspiration to a lot of people. I grew up listening to her, so of course that was big!” Hynne nominates as his favourite DJ Swede Eric Prydz, who, alas, limits his touring due to aviophobia. (“It's kinda fucked,” Lux says.) And Hynne does feel part of a movement, something distinctly Scandinavian. “There's sort of like a melancholy in Swedish music that kinda comes back all the time with Swedish artists, 'cause I think it's a thing that we're good at.” Outside of club music, he listens to “a lot of indie, pop, rock kinda stuff... It can be chill or ambient music or maybe like some Tegan And Sara or The Naked And Famous.” Hynne hasn't abandoned his hip hop, either. “I'm a huge fan of Drake. [I] just saw his show in Stockholm, truly inspiring,” he raves.

Hynne is currently Down Under touring with Groovin' The Moo and also playing solo club dates. “There will be a lot of new tracks. I will make this set very personal, just [play] things I like or a lot of friends' stuff and a lot of my own kinda beats and, of course, a lot from the album. I'm working on that right now, making a really good show. So that will be nice to play.”