It’s nearing 8pm, the sun is setting on the Fontainebleau just like any other warm, spring Thursday evening in South Beach. Steve Angello steps out of Arkadia’s poolside entrance, hurries to a nearby cabana, and responds with one rushed yet firm “I’m multitasking” to the few trying to earn his attention. He takes a seat and flips open his laptop simultaneously, wasting no time before jabbing at his keyboard. Blocking out the chatters of his team and the bass of Sunnery James and Ryan Marciano’s closing track that radiated from the Size Matters stage nearly fifty yards away, he puts finishing touches on a mix that he’d been preparing mere moments earlier. It’s his first time being outdoors in Miami, having spent the first three days of his stay locked in the studio, and his focus is radiating as if he never left.
This isn’t the Steve Angello of old, and the few added inches to his hair isn’t the difference maker. He’s six months without a drink, sober and clear minded, and the looming final show of Swedish House Mafia is only one of the major enterprises on the Size head honcho’s agenda. Amongst his plate of tasks, accomplishments, and family matters, the ten year anniversary of his record label is approaching, and Steve takes the time to reflect on the past decade, reveal the inner-workings of his current projects, open up about fatherhood, and to glimpse into the future.
“We’re launching X. It’s going to be a lot different, it’s going to be a Size sister label. It’s going to be a lot different from the Size release — I’m going to focus on the techier stuff and the more beat driven stuff.” – Steve Angello
Commanding Size Records with monstrous hits for nearly a decade, Steve will let his Mescal Kid persona bleed through with the launch of his sister label, X. After Trent Cantrelle’s “Nice & Close” was featured as the opening track for Steve’s Essential Mix, it has been revealed as part of a two-track EP that will serve as the inaugural release from his new tech imprint. Cantrelle’s Nice & Close is the perfect outing to set the tone for the beat driven sound X will embody and is set to be released on May 6th.
Saturday, April 6th marks the 10 year anniversary of Steve Angello’s first release for Size Records, his own Simplicity EP. As the label approaches this monumental date, it’s also on the brink of its 100th release. Dancing Astronaut will be celebrating all week with interviews from Wayne & Woods, Third Party, AN21 & Max Vangeli, Junior Sanchez, and finally, Steve himself. Kicking off our “Ten Years of Size” series, we present our top 10 Size Records productions released over the past decade.
Ex-Swedish House Mafia member? It’s going to take a while before that one starts rolling off the tongue. Rather call him Who’s Who, Mescal Kid, Size head-honcho, or better yet, Steve Angello. Coming off a Miami Music Week and the final Swedish House Mafia show, Angello is now free of the dot spots and arena tours, ready to show the world what he will offer as not only a born-again solo artist, but an entrepreneur in the electronic music scene. Equipped with groovy house favorites and nearly ten unreleased Size Records productions, Steve took to Pete Tong’s Essential Mix with a two-hour set that revealed individualism and vision for a new era. (more…)
With the annual Size Matters pool party manned by Steve Angello set to take over Miami’s Fountainebleau tomorrow, we take a look at the 2010 event and recognize how much has changed over the past three years. Without a pool party for his own brand, Afrojack had opened for Steve in 2010 after releasing “Pacha on Acid” via Size Records. Standing among a DJ booth and production settings that are far less complex than modern arrangements, Afrojack closes his set with “Hide & Seek” and introduces Steve Angello, who had just begun heating up with Swedish House Mafia.
Before uniting with Axwell for Swedish House Mafia, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso went under many different alias’ as a duo, including Fireflies, General Moders, Mode Hookers, Outfunk, and The Sinners. Their most recent moniker, Buy Now, released “Bodycrash” in 2008, sampling the 1978 disco chart-topper “Let’s All Chant” by The Michael Zager Band. The track was premiered on Pete Tong’s BBC Radio 1 show in late 2007 and won gold at WMC 2008. Dirty South went on to remix the track, which was featured in his Phazing Radio Show 005. It’s certainly been a while since the Swedes have released a production as dark as “Body Crash,” but 2008 can always be revisited.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Best of Instagram is a feature from Dancing Astronaut that showcases our favorite pictures from our favorite DJs on Instagram each week. This week, we’ve got gems from Skrillex, Pasquale Rotella, Dillon Francis.
Junior Sanchez and Steve Angello have recently joined forces to launch Junior’s Brobot imprint in coordinance with Steve’s Size Records. The label may be brand new, but the relationship between the dance music masterminds dates back several years. Sanchez made his way to Size for releases in the past, most notably in 2010 with “Where You Are,” a production that Steve himself took to the next level with an Angello-branded edit. Out of the books of Morillo’s Subliminal style, the track features Harry Romero, Alexander Technique, and Shawnee Taylor on vocals, resulting in a bonafide dance floor killer that one Swede couldn’t keep his hands off of.
Harry Romero, Junior Sanchez, & Alexander Technique ft. Shawnee Taylor - Where You Are (Steve Angello Edit)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Best of Instagram is a feature from Dancing Astronaut that showcases our favorite pictures from our favorite DJs on Instagram each week. This week, we’ve got gems from Steve Angello, Nervo, A-Trak, and more.
Dance music revolutionary Junior Sanchez steps back into the limelight with his new imprint, Brobot. The project comes via Steve Angello‘s Size Records, and together the two producers hope to continue extending their brand of electronic music. Not offended by the categorization of the “EDM” acronym, Sanchez believes dance music needs a return to basics, re-aligning itself with art and experimentation once again.
“Brobot Records is a purely art driven project, where if I love it, I’ll release it. I want to empower and showcase fresh new talent and release new and more experimental music from my peers, while also providing a home to release my own material.”
Influenced by Steve Angello himself, Sanchez revealed in his mini-documentary Junior Sanchez – The Past, The Present & The Future that Angello told him that his Size Records imprint was inspired by Cube, Sanchez’s former record label — making the partnership an easy decision. To celebrate the momentous occasion Junior is giving away “Acid Fire” as a free Facebook download, marking the first Brobot release via Size Records.
Junior Sanchez – Acid Fire
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
