Swedish DJ says music darker, harder since move to sunny Los Angeles

Eric Prydz — Friday’s headliner at XS nightclub — tells us a pretty little story about moving his Swedish family to L.A. last year. It changed him.

“Last summer, when I did the Identity Festival tour, we had a 10-day break when I stayed in Los Angeles.

“It was one of those nights — summer, L.A. — and me and my best friend just had a walk around sunset. We sat down at this taco place, drinking tequila. We got really drunk, and around 6 o’clock in the evening, I looked around.

“The sun was still out.

“I said, ‘You know what? We should move here.’

“I called my girlfriend, really drunk.

“I said, ‘It’s great here. We need to move to L.A.’

“She said, ‘OK.’

“The next day, we spoke again.

“She said, ‘Were you serious about what you said last night?’

“I said, ‘(Expletive) it. Yeah. Let’s do it.’

“A few months later, we got on a plane and got ourselves over here. It doesn’t have to be much more complicated than that.

“We love it. Here, it’s summer the whole year round, almost.

“She was like me. You knew you had the long winter in front of you in Europe. The thought of spending that time in California was quite appealing.

“I thought sunny weather and climate affected my music — that I would make more happy-sounding music — those kinds of big melody-sounding things.

“But it’s been quite the opposite since I’ve been over here. My music is just getting darker and harder, and more stripped down.

“I think it might be the Northern European Swede in me trying to compensate for all the nice sun. I need dark and cold in my life, as well.

“I’m still making melodic and happy tracks. But 90 percent of the new stuff I’ve been making is pretty serious stuff.

“We have a daughter. Having a kid will impact you in a massive way.

“Normally, as a touring DJ, you’ll be on the road for 300 days a year. I don’t really want to do that. I want to spend as much time as I can with my family. It will impact the way you tour. You just need to plan stuff a little bit better.

“When you’re touring, you play your ass off.

“And when you’re home, you don’t do anything other than the dishes, and the swing with your kid.”

Doug Elfman’s column appears on Page 3A in the main section on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. He also writes for Neon on Fridays. Email him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.