Aloe Blacc Reflects On Working With Avicii On “Wake Me Up” [VIDEO EXCLUSIVE]

The famed Swedish DJ and EDM star, Avicii, died on Friday afternoon in Muscat, Oman. Musician In an interview with uInterview.com just a few months ago, Aloe Blacc reflected back to what it was like to work with Avicii on the 2013 hit song “Wake Me Up.”

Blacc explained how the song was about his growth in music and how he wanted to evoke fans’ emotions with his lyrics.

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“I wrote down in my notepad ‘Wake me up when it’s all over’ and got in the studio with fantastic musicians and producers and had a chance to write the entire story down and it touched the world in a fantastic way,” Blacc told uInterview exclusively. “It’s one of my favorite songs to sing.”

The song originally started off as an acoustic song, however Avicii was able to turn it into a radio hit.

“Avicii, after we finished the acoustic version… in a couple of weeks he souped up a monster jam that took over the world,” Blacc said.

When Avicii and Blacc released the song, it reached international popularity and was critically acclaimed. The single has peaked at number one in 22 countries, as well as reaching Top 10 in six other countries. In North America, it was the first dance/electronic song to stay over a year on the Billboard Hot 100 List. It also sold over four million copies in the United States, which was also the first dance/electronic song to do so.

Following Avicii’s death, Blacc tweeted that “meeting him changed [his] life”.

Watch the “Wake Me Up” music video below.

Full interview transcript:

Aloe Blacc Recalls Working With Avicii

Aloe: “Wake Me Up” was a song that I was writing about my growth in music. I came from a very obscure, indie scene as a hip-hop artist, and then I started listening to folk singers and singer songwriters and wanted to evoke emotion in my music the way that they did. So when I started writing songs, I never expected that I would eventually be traveling the world to sing to audiences across different countries, but it happened. I wrote down in my notepad, “wake me up when it’s all over,” and got into the studio with some fantastic musicians and producers and had a chance to write that entire story down, and it touched the world in a fantastic way. You know, one of my favorite song to sing.

Avicii, after we finished the acoustic version in the studio with Mike Einzinger who’s on guitar, he in a couple of weeks souped up a monster jam that took over the world.