Avicii: A Legacy of Inspiration

The most important things in life are the little things. Searching for love, finding yourself, and discovering your inspiration is not little though, right? In the quest for peace, we turn to music. We attempt to blur our surroundings for a few moments so we can purely distract ourselves from the goals we have not reached, yet. However, one DJ left his fans a legacy that he believed will carry along with them—hope, love, and the ability to inspire.

Tim Berg, also known as Avicii, is a Swedish DJ. Berg’s career lifted off when he started leaking his music to dance music blogs. His influence came from Daft Punk and Steve Angello. He soon got the attention of Tiësto, a popular DJ known from the Netherlands, with his melodic and catchy sounds. With the help of Tiësto, Avicii was given the opportunity to perform in front of a live audience, which also allowed him to showcase the music he created. After countless hours and dozens of original/remixed tracks, Berg finally received his first mainstream release. In 2010, the Ministry of Sound aired his track, “Seek Bromance,” which quickly became popular throughout Europe.

By this time, DJs were only concerned about how big the ‘drop’ was. So, Avicii decided to take an alternative direction with his dance music. He chose to use live instruments in his shows using instruments such as violins, guitars, or saxophones. Through the instruments, he created melodies and sounds that revolutionized the route of EDM. In 2013, Berg released his studio album, True, and quickly sky-rocketed to fame. He booked shows in Ultra Miami, Tomorrowland in Belgium, and started multiple tours around the world to showcase the appealing instrumental inspired album. The following year, Berg released The Days / Nights EP, which left him an open road to create his very last album in 2015, Stories.

We would think that Avicii is just another DJ attempting to gain fame, but it was quite different for him. His end goal was to reveal his feelings through his music and to reach out to his fans with deep emotions. With a successful career like this, who would want to give it up? It was upsetting to know that he performed his last show in 2016 at Ushuaia, Ibiza. However, through a genuine letter to his fans and to everyone he has worked with, Berg mentioned that he will “..never let go of music..” and “..will continue to speak to my fans through it.”

Avicii, if you’re reading this, and I think I say this on behalf of all your fans, we miss you. Thank you for the music you shared with us. They will stay forever in our hearts. We look forward to the day you start releasing music again, but most of all, we hope you live a life full of adventure and happiness.

His Vision of Inspiration:

“Silhouettes”: Avicii’s track, “Silhouettes,”  was inspired by the use of instruments and melodies. The music video itself presents a powerful message to the world—to be proud of who you are and move forward with your life because, in the end, that is all that is going to matter.

“Broken Arrows”: The “Broken Arrows” music video creates a sense of hope and to never give up. The video was inspired by Dick Fosbury, a gold medalist of the Olympics in 1968. He created a new jumping technique for the high jump, called the ‘Fosbury Flop,’ which is widely used by athletes today.

“Feeling Good”: Besides that awesome Volvo we keep seeing in the video, “Feeling Good” has beautiful lyrics and an alluring sound of soul, jazz, and blues. The song is Berg’s re-interpretation of Nina Simone’s classic soul record of the same name. The melodies tie perfectly together with the lyrics and represent Avicii in a way the EDM scene never expected.

 “Waiting for Love”: Finding love is important to most of us. Whether it is from family, friends, or your spouse, love makes life possible. According to Simon Aldred and Avicii, finding love will take you on an unexpected adventure where you will encounter friendship, happiness and the love of your life.

“The Nights”: “The Nights” is one song that will remind you what you’re missing out in life and bonding with the one and only- your father. This video tied in the daredevil extraordinaire Rory Kramer, who used his father’s words as in inspiration to all of us– to let go and live your life, because you really only live once. Thanks to Kramer, Avicii, and the beautiful lyrics of Nicholas Furlong and others, everything tied in together to make this video a perfect piece of inspiration.

“My path has been filled with success but it hasn’t come without its bumps. I’ve become an adult while growing as an artist, I’ve come to know myself better and realize that there’s so much I want to do with my life.”