Remembering Avicii ◢ ◤ 5 Tracks That Shaped My Life as a A DJ

Posted by DJ Roodz on April 23, 2018

On April 20, 2018, Swedish DJ and producer Tim Bergling, known by his stage name Avicii, passed away. For a moment, time seemed to stop across the globe as DJ’s, music makers, and music lovers processed what can only be described as a devastating loss. Avicii was one of the champions of EDM – his iconic track, “Levels” brought dance music to the mainstream. He was by no means a one-hit wonder. Avicii followed up with such hits as “Wake Me Up,” “Silhouettes,” and “Waiting for Love.” His 2013 collaboration with Nicky Romero, “I Could be the One,” under the name NickTim, was a festival anthem. I still vividly remember listing him without hesitation as one of my biggest influences in my first interview.

It goes without saying that Avicii’s legacy will live within his tracks. So, I wanted to share five songs that influenced me as a DJ:

Girl Gone Wild (Avicii Remix)

This was the first non-radio Avicii track that I had ever heard. In my freshman year of college, I had made friends with some guys who threw parties at every opportunity, and Avicii’s “Girl Gone Wild” remix never failed to make an appearance. I never knew the title, or the artist – it was just “that one with the dope drop.” When I found it on YouTube, hearing the drop took me back to nights spent getting people to sneak us booze as we tried to figure out how to get into the local bars (sorry, Mom).

Dear Boy

“Dear Boy” will ALWAYS have a special place in my heart. The very last time I played at Pacha NYC, I opened up my (first ever) headlining set with this track. As fate would have it, Black Ivan was playing the set before me, and DJ Cue and Arkitec (known back then as HammerHeadz) were playing after me. We literally partied the night away. Relive the set:

Dear Boy (Avicii by Avicii Remix)

To me, Avicii by Avicii is one of the most interesting projects ever undertaken in dance music. Avicii took his hit-filled album True and remixed it in its entirety! Around the time I heard this remix, I was getting into with tropical house music. Kygo was starting to get big around that time. He filled in for Avicii to close at Ultra Miami. I heard the”Dear Boy” remix on the Ultra Livestream and instantly fell in love. It’s still one of my favorite tropical house tracks to sneak into a set.

Lay Me Down

“Lay Me Down” came up on my Pandora station as I was walking across campus one day. The song was so atypically EDM for the time. While everyone tried to make a better drop than everyone else, Avicii decided to set himself apart and write a song that didn’t focus on the drop. It was more of a song, with its own progression, ebbs, and flows. It bothers me that this one didn’t go further on the radio.

My Feelings for You

“My Feelings for You” takes me WAY back to my high school days: bad hair, braces, and ripping music off of YouTube because I didn’t know better and in doing so I thought I was some sort of cool hacker and beating the system. I don’t really have much to say about this tune, but I will say this: if it comes on, stop talking and turn up the volume.

Let me know some of your favorite Avicii tunes, bootlegs, and remixes in the comments! He will live on in our hearts forever. ◢ ◤