Alesso opens up about Avicii & the stresses of touring

Now several months following Avicii’s tragic death, several of artists have spoken upon the subject, giving their outlook and personal point of view on the situation. Plenty memorialized their friend and contemporary at festivals across the globe, while others have taken to various outlets and social media with the goal of empowering artists. However, only the bravest and closest to Avicii have conducted interviews publically addressing the harsh realities and circumstances of the situation. In a recent interview with NY Post in the lead-up to New York’s unspoken close to festival season, Electric Zoo – Swedish star, Alesso spoke out on Avicii’s death and its impact on him as an artist and person.

Opening the comments from Alesso, the DJ mourned Avicii’s loss saying,

“It’s a terrible, terrible loss, not just for the dance music world — I think the whole world knew who Avicii was.” The Swede continuted on to say, “I see a lot of myself in him, ’cause we come from the same city, we went to the same school, we knew each other…We used to be close and then we both had our own careers.”

Unfortunately, the load and burden of constant touring on top of Tim’s personal circumstances with previous alcohol-related issues and further personal issues including depression and mental health proved a burden much too steep for the artist. In fact, Tim initially retired from touring in 2016 before being persuaded back into touring. Nonetheless, Alesso comments on this “glamorous lifestyle” artists like Avicii have lived saying,

“We’re basically these guys staying at home making music in front of a laptop, not being that social,” He continues to say, “People come up and say, ‘Oh, you guys have the best life. You just tour all around the world, stay at fancy hotels, DJ and make money…But then we also experience pressure, and expectations, and stress and all these things.”

Nonetheless, to all artists across the globe, Alesso stands strong in acknowledging that both mental health and knowing your personal limits comes first and foremost in this stress-filled lifestyle.