| DJ Sets ::Eric Prydz
N0. 40 RATED DJ IN THE WORLD ON THE
DJ LIST
On September 13th Erick Prydz joins forces
with Data Recordings to bring you his hotly-tipped summer
anthem ‘Call On Me.’ Commandeering a vocal from
age-ripened rocker Steve Winwood’s ‘Valerie’,
the first time Winwood has given clearance for one of his
tracks to be used, Swedish-born Prydz loops it into what promises
to be the biggest funked-up house monster of the season. Lola’s
what
Starting life as an mp3 in the hands
of only a select few DJs ‘Call On Me’ has spread
like wildfire, surfing label bidding-wars and dodging a spate
of bootleg rip-offs along the way, to eventually land in the
hands of Mr Winwood himself who liked the track so much he
re-sang the vocals. Prydz began making music at the tender
age of 9, and was so fanatical even at this early stage, that
a lack of equipment was simply a minor obstacle in his quest
for stardom. He developed a habit of breaking and entering
in order to “borrow” his school’s keyboards:
a habit that soon landed him in a Swedish reform school. But
this set back merely strengthened his resolve and, buoyed
by encouragement from influential friends such as Steve Angello,
Prydz was soon producing tracks that found their way into
the record boxes of some of the worlds most high profile DJs.
Influenced by the production quality of the ‘first
generation’ of Stockholm talent, such as Håkan
Lidbo and Adam Beyer, the Prydz sound is a merging of his
love for Depeche Mode, early-electronica and a catchy 80’s
melody with the stimulus of artists such as Alexender Kowalski
and Underground Resistance. Working from his (literally) underground
studio in the heart of Stockholm, Prydz creates hard-hitting
tunes, with a firm foundation in funk but what sets him apart
from the crowd is his talent for hooks and melodies.
After the success of an initial release on EMI, Eric moved
to the label’s flagship dance imprint Credence and released
the hugely successful “EP1”. By the time “EP3”
came around, Eric had developed into one of the hottest names
in house music. Word of his production skills soon spread,
making him one of the most sought-after remixers on the scene.
His work for the likes of Junior, Positiva and Ministry of
Sound found favour with DJ’s including Seb Fontaine,
Judge Jules and Pete Tong and his remix of “Miracles”
even added The Pet Shop Boys to his long list of admirers.
The Story Behind The Bootleg:
Two years ago Eric and producer friends Retarded Funk were
working together in the studio when they hit upon the idea
of using Steve Winwood’s ‘Valerie’ as the
basis for a dance track. Armed with a CDR and keen to test
it on the clubbing public, Prydz passed a copy on to DJ Falcon
during one of his UK gigs, who immediately made it a regular
fixture in his sets. Eric couldn’t have anticipated
the stir the track would have: fans clamoured for more information,
only for it to be uploaded to an internet site, assumed to
be the follow-up to Thomas Bangalter & DJ Falcon’s
‘So Much Love To Give’ and wrongfully attributed
to them.
As demand for ‘Call On Me’ grew an enterprising
distributor downloaded and pressed up the track under the
guise of Thomas Falcon ‘Valerie’. This went on
to trouble the German DDC Chart, in a guise no different to
Eric’s own version, apart from the addition of an acappella
vocal from French band Phoenix. Meanwhile Eric spent his time
producing his own version and eventually gained all important
clearance from Steve Winwood to use ‘Valerie’.
Prdyz’s hard work paid off when Winwood not only gave
clearance for the sample to be used exclusively by Data (the
first time he has ever done this for any of his songs), but
also went back into the studio to re-sing the vocals!
So on September 13th ignore the imitators and pick up ‘Call
On Me’ as Eric Prydz releases the original, legal version
on Data Records.
N0. 40 RATED DJ IN THE WORLD ON 
