The man behind Avicii: Meet Ash Pournouri

He is without a doubt one of the greatest people in our scene, some people consider him even the largest brand in the game. Yes, we speak about none other than our beloved Avicii. We’re all familiar with his countless hits, privy to his sold out shows and jealous of the success he saw with his sophomore album ‘True’. You may have also heard about his good friend and manager Ash Pournouri, but how well do you actually know Avicii’s “forward thinker”?. Avicii himself once said that he wouldn’t be here without the support of Ash that helped him build his entire career.

Ash is the founder and owner of PRMD Records, as well as At Night Management, the successful brand, which not only made Avicii big, but also propelled the likes of Cazzette and ‘Albatros’ producer AronChupa to stardom. Rumours has it that the two legends Axwell /\ Ingrosso are about to join his management as well.

Nextshark sat down with the man behind Avicii and in the process, learnt a significant about their relationship.

Everything started back in 2008 when Avicii was just 18 years old.

“After my kid was born, I found this kid Avicii from Sweden. I didn’t know his age, but I really loved his melodic comprehension, and could sense a talent that was rough and unfinished. We met for coffee and said we should do a remix together and see where that takes us. I explained my vision, which he didn’t 100 percent share at the time. He was still in school when we started working together, and didn’t know anything about the business. I told him, ‘I’ll teach you how to DJ, you focus on music and I’ll help guide you.’ It was very unplanned and natural how the partnership came about, and I look at it as my baby, though he is the brand.”

Before becoming an influential person in the music scene, Ash had already discovered his entrepreneurial qualities early in highschool.

“I used to have a sick routine where I studied law in Stockholm Monday to Wednesday, then promoted a club Wednesday night in Stockholm, then took the night bus to Oslo in Norway where I went straight to work to run two restaurants and a nightclub Thursday through Sunday, then hop on a bus back to Stockholm and go directly from the bus to school again. And so it went … As a promoter you have to be creative and hustle, I guess. So if anything, hustling was being creative with marketing. And in being creative, I used to convince big brands to provide something for the club, like fragrance samples that I distributed on the night, and I would brand the whole night like it was that big brand co-hosting it. Main thing was I made sure everyone had a sick time though, so it was all good and all win-win.”

When asked about his plan in life, Ash gave an brilliant answer.

“You can have dreams and wishes and visions and goals, but the moment you think you can stick firmly to a plan, it’s over. Solid? Not the least. Life deals you and you have to navigate with that. You can’t ever control the world, so no point in trying. You can have dreams and wishes and visions and goals, but the moment you think you can stick firmly to a plan, it’s over. You will most probably fail if you can’t be flexible and maneuver obstacles on your path to your goals. John Lennon said something I love: “Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.” A vision is important so you know where you want to be, but firm plans are overrated.”

What is the secret to success?

“Hard work, and conviction that what you’re doing is right.”

Ash also commented on Deadmau5, who ignominiously passed comments at the management superstar.

“I never take that stuff personally. How could I when I never even met the guy and he knows nothing about me or my business and is constantly getting his facts wrong from rumors and other haters. I do my thing, and people can say what they want. Tim’s been dealing with his share of haters too, and in the beginning it used to phase him. I told him the taller a tree grows, the more wind will hit it. That’s life. I take Joel’s attacks as flattering — who else would put the time into seeking month-old tweets and starting a rant off of them, and then when confronted not even ask you the question to your face like an adult — I think he secretly likes me. His online persona probably works for him, and who am I to hate on that? It’s his thing.”

The busy man surely has some project for the future right?

“Lots of stuff going on! Mainly value-driven projects that help the industry and Sweden as a country, but also artists like iSHi and Cazzette who are about to blow up in different parts of the world!”

Ash Pournouri has also ranked in this years Rolling Stone’s “50 most important people in EDM” 28th!

Read the full interview here.