Sitting down with Fehrplay and Jeremy Olander of Pryda Friends

While Pryda Friends began as an outlet for Eric Prydz to release his music, the label has since evolved into a platform of burgeoning talent. The label doesn’t boast many names, nor does it inundate the industry with releases — rather, Pryda Friends is a label dedicated to a few select artists, bringing only their best creations to light. In the past year and a half, two names have come to define the sound of Pryda Friends: Fehrplay and Jeremy Olander. Dancing Astronaut had the chance to sit down with both Jonas and Jeremy in a unique double interview.

It’s the Thursday before the launch of Pryda Friends’ inaugural tour with Fehrplay and Jeremy Olander. Jonas and Jeremy stand behind a kitchen counter, methodically whipping up drinks for a host of friends as if they were serving up hand-picked tracks behind the decks. A mojito for one, a Whiskey Sour for the next, and a beer for the petite girl in glasses.

There was a buzzed exuberance in the air as my fellow DA editor Matt and I sat down with the Pryda Friends’ protégés.

DA: So what’s it like being on Pryda Friends?

Jeremy: The whole profile of the label is something we can associate with; it’s hard to find a label that has the brand and feeling that his does.

Fehrplay: I don’t know of many labels that have such few people but are still great labels. It’s from Eric Prydz you know, so right there you have a stamp of quality… and it’s definitely picking up.

DA: How closely knit is Pryda Friends? How often do you see everyone?

Fehrplay: Obviously we live apart from each other, across the world. But… next year, we are looking at everyone living together in LA, sharing a studio.

Jeremy: It’s hard when we’re all in different countries, I’m in Sweden, we keep in contact over Skype.

DA: What is the culture of the label like with Eric Prydz at the head?

Fehrplay: From the start, Eric told us, “we don’t want to interfere with your style.” In many ways, though, it does, because he will approve your track or not. You know where it has to go to be a part of Pryda Friends.

DA: How does Eric feel about you releasing music on other labels?

Jeremy: He’s opened minded, he’s usually our first pick though. Pryda Friends is our core label.

Fehrplay: My last track, “Phantom,” Eric said, “if you want to go somewhere else, you can go somewhere else.” I told him there’s no other place I’d like to have it.

DA: So how did you guys become familiar with Eric’s music?

Jeremy: I started sneaking into his shows.. there was this club in Stockholm, 300 venue capacity… everyone big played there: Steve, Sebastian, Eric, Tiga. I wanted to see Eric because I was really into his music. I tried to get in and the bouncer said “no you gotta be 23” and let all my friends in… and then I tried again, and again, and he kept denying me. And then I saw Eric with his entourage and I was like f*ck should I ask him? So I went up to him and was like, “dude I really want to see you, can you help me out?” And he said “Yeah, fine come with us!” So I went with his whole entourage right past the bouncer.

Fehrplay: In Norway we have this graduation party, russ: the second biggest party in the world. You graduate and you party for 17 days. Everyone has these busses with incredible sound systems and you meet around town. I was a DJ back then… you know really cool [chuckles]… I had this track by Pryda, I believe it was ‘Armed.’ I didn’t know Pryda was Eric Prydz, and I played it and I couldn’t get it out of my head. I needed to find out who this guy was, and then I found out it was Eric Prydz: the same ‘Call on Me’ guy. And I discovered this whole new world of tracks. After that I was a huge fan.

DA: What are you guys excited for about this tour?

Jeremy: I’m looking forward to playing with someone I know, to hanging out during the tour.

Fehrplay: We’re a team now, we’ve got our manager here!

DA: Any plans to collaborate while on tour?

Jeremy: We started on one already! We’ve got some great ideas going.

Fehrplay: Definitely going to be something done this year. It’ll be a fusion of our styles.

DA: What can we expect from the tour? What message are you trying to send?

Jeremy: The scene in the US is really oversaturated with the same kind of thing over and over again. We want to show that there are other sides to progressive music. The real progressive music is being pushed aside by what’s on Beatport.

Fehrplay: I flip through the tracks on the Beatport top 10 and it inspires me to make more of the music I like. I really want to show people that there’s more to the genre.

Jeremy: Listen to Digweed, or Sasha, when they did their first US tour, back in 2001. That’s proper progressive music.

Don’t miss the Pryda Friends tour with Fehrplay and Jeremy Olander as they make their final stops in Chicago and San Francisco.

Categories: Music