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And how about this?
Okay, let's go.
THIS MOVIE IS BASED ON HUNDREDS OF HOURS OF PRIVATE FOOTAGE OF TIM'S LIFE,
FROM THE FIRST TO THE LAST PHOTO TAKEN,
COMBINING NEW RECORDINGS WITH YOUR FRIENDS, COLLEAGUES AND FAMILY.
Can you tell us your name?
A round of applause for Avicii!
Timeless music, that's what I want to do.
That's what I try to do.
- So far, it's been perfect. - It's madness.
Yes.
I've always liked melodies. Always.
When you are wiser and...
These are melodies that go back hundreds of years ago.
In different shapes or forms.
Hello.
I feel like I'm filled with music.
If someone asked you:
"What's your story? Who are you?"
What would be the answer?
The shortest.
I'm... Tim.
AVICII - I'M TIM
Look... that.
It's a hand, isn't it?
- I've seen sex. - No, see? Seriously?
It's been exciting...
I can't hold the camera straight.
Hello. Yes...
Hello...
- My God. - My God! Little...
Hello, little Tim.
I had a fantastic education, without a doubt. I have the best parents in the world.
They always supported me in everything I did.
I never had to ask for anything.
Without a doubt, I have been very lucky indeed.
And I was protected in a way
that I never had to be afraid of anything.
- There! - Mom is filming while we dance.
- Look! - Yes.
Rewind!
You do it, Tim.
You know how to do this.
I grew up in Stockholm.
Basically, my entire childhood up to 19 years of age,
it was between five blocks.
All the schools I went to they were in the same area of Stockholm.
I was,
I would say that from the first to the sixth year, when I was a kid...
I didn't have many friends.
It was just unsafe.
I started making fun of people and to be made fun of from a young age.
He was the class clown.
Making jokes at other people's expense.
- Listen... Tim? - What?
What it was?
And then I moved for a summer.
Because I realized that many people They didn't like me in my class.
Why I heard from other teachers
that people weren't afraid of me, but I was afraid that I would say
something about them or do something like that. And...
I didn't think it would be like that because he didn't say anything to hurt anyone.
It was just unsafe.
It forced me to change completely as a child.
After the summer, I started to be very friendly for everyone.
At first, no one believed in me.
And, gradually, I tried to be nice to everyone.
I've always been interested in music.
I've always loved music. And I always listened to music,
all kinds of music.
I tried to learn to play the guitar.
I don't think I had any resistance to be good enough.
Did you know that regardless than I wanted to do later in life,
it would have to be something creative. That's all I knew.
Ready.
- It's time to... - Stop filming me.
Stop filming me.
So a friend of mine told me about FL Studio.
I've never seen music software.
And I remember downloading it and it was fantastic.
It wasn't like playing the guitar or playing the piano
because I could drag the notes.
I just had to learn...
"What sounds good and what doesn't sound good?"
It was the most important thing for me.
We walked in �stra Real.
It's not a private school,
but it's probably one of the snobbiest schools in Stockholm.
FILIP "PHILGOOD" �KESSON TIM'S FRIEND
Status is important. It matters how you dress, who you get along with.
Tim looked the typical computer guy.
A gamer, I would say.
A nerd, honestly.
A mutual friend introduced us.
I really liked house music and Tim knew how to produce music.
We took a whole weekend, to be alone at home.
I brought my computer and that's where it all started.
Then I think I was with Tim every day for a few years.
Tim was shy, very anxious.
We were more or less opposites.
I was the life of the party. The center of attention. A little wild.
I always tried challenge the limits a little.
But we got along really well.
- Our! Look at this! - Yes.
It went well.
Before Tim moved into his house,
We stayed in his tiny room.
And I can assure you that the smell of sweat and farts...
We stayed there for about nine hours, eating pizza and drinking Cola Light.
And when Klas or Anki came home,
we lied about having the afternoon free or that a teacher was sick.
We missed classes a lot.
They waited until we left the house.
They leave to go to school, but they went to a cafe and waited.
TIM'S FATHER
And as soon as we left,
they would come back and make music instead of going to school.
We talked about everything.
Even about things that would be embarrassing to tell other friends.
Everything was very sincere and open.
If more people showed up, We went to relax on the terrace.
It was the only daylight Tim got.
I've always been nocturnal.
Always.
At night, no one bothers you.
I was just working.
And then I would send my scenes to various house blogs.
And I never thought, at that time, that music was
one real thing you could do.
Because I didn't know how to sing. It wasn't a real opportunity.
And then it was more or less around the time I met Ash.
There is no Avicii story without Ash.
I had some projects of mine, in nightclubs and so on.
I felt like I knew a lot about the music scene.
PARTNER, CO-PRODUCER, CO-AUTHOR
Hi, it's Ash.
Blogs were very important.
There you could listen without buying,
find what's popular and so on.
And I had my eye on some producers.
A name on my list It was someone called "Avicii Philgood".
He sent a message on Facebook saying:
"I'm a prosecutor in Stockholm. I think I can help."
The two of them sat at home producing things together,
Just for fun and without any more ambitions.
Tim even told me: "I'm happy to release some tracks
and learn to be a DJ for parties with my friends."
Something like that.
He was very direct: "If you let me help you,
I'll make you one of the greatest DJs of the world next year."
We gave him a year
to focus on your music and see what could happen.
TIM'S MOTHER
But he doesn't...
I had to survive of pasta and spaghetti,
spaghetti, meatballs and pasta.
I said: "Let's make it happen."
I was 18 and I was impressed.
From that moment on, he started being my agent.
- Listen to this melody. - You already showed me.
No, this is new.
We started making remixes for different artists
at the same time that we made our own music.
It was growing, remix after remix.
Adds beats to the melody and makes the rest of the song rock.
For us, it was the coolest thing ever.
Damn!
When we thought about something, In an idea, we sent it to Ash.
I received four or five emails from us every day, asking for an opinion.
The first step was he responds by email,
and when we try defending our choices, called us.
It's funny to remember every time we argued with him:
"No. You're wrong, man!"
But he was right, obviously. He knew the formula.
He complied, strangely enough. A year later he...
Everything went as he said it would.
Hi, I'm Avicii.
I'm going to play at the Techno Parade on September 19th.
See you there.
I went from being a young man,
a school kid,
straight into a tour.
- What's your name? - Avicii.
Avicii. Okay.
I should have spent more time with him in adolescence, after school
than anyone.
I went on tour with him every day.
Welcome to France, welcome to Paris.
He taught me how to DJ.
Not the technical part. That's the easy part.
Bon soir, Toulouse!
Are you ready for Avicii?
He taught me the mentality, which is so important in a DJ,
the importance of understanding the room.
For me, being a DJ is like take the audience on a journey.
They can't be jumping five hours straight.
They need breaks.
You have to play with emotions and energy and be careful with all this.
Many people who go to the nightclub they may have heard a song
and they don't know much about you. You have to find out what they want,
because people in different places they like different things.
Ash wants to include everything, apparently.
- Your slogan? - My slogan?
- Call him... - "Call it whatever you want." Yes.
I wasn't an alcoholic at the time, but I really liked parties.
And that's where the inspiration came from for "Alcoholic".
We celebrate all week and was drinking on the flight home.
And Tim puts on his headphones
and four hours later I had finished half a song.
"Call it what you want..."
I'm the damn alcoholic
At the time, Tim was completely anti-drugs. Even grass.
He hated the fact that I smoked weed.
I had to hide...
I never met anyone with so much talent for making melodies.
Could be piano, guitar, anything that we were working with.
It was right at the time when the house started to explode.
It was perfect.
Everything started to advance for him.
I didn't want to be in anyone's shadow, so I tried to avenge it alone.
I'm not an envious person.
I was really happy for him.
I...
... also consumed a lot of drugs and that cost me a lot of time and money.
AND...
Only when I hit bottom That's when I realized I was in trouble.
Things only got worse after that.
And then, strangely enough, Tim and I we connect in a downward spiral,
a few years later, when we met in Stockholm.
We ended up in the same mess.
- What are you doing? - I want to get the tone right.
Is it the right tone?
You have to give more energy.
You need interesting dynamics, so people don't lose interest.
- I'm going to use a chord progression. - Yes, with variations.
Something like that.
Kind of like that, except... Wait.
Like this, but with more chords to give emphasis.
Yes.
Ash's office looked like a kitchen.
With red panels, a bit kitsch.
And Ash had a crush on...
... Chesterfield furniture. Oxblood red.
Ash was the typical manager, very foul-mouthed:
"We will dominate the world, Let's make it happen."
"We know how to do this."
"Tim... no, Avicii, it will be the greatest artist in the world."
Not a DJ. An "artist", that's what he said.
- "Did you understand?" - "Of course."
Tim was the genius.
No one ever questioned that and neither does Ash.
But Ash was the dream maker.
Due to your lack of experience, He never realized how difficult it would be.
This made it easier dive head first.
Guys, this is Avicii speaking.
I can't wait for my debut in Hungary.
See you there.
We used a flight tracking app
when he went to the USA, for example, which we thought was really cool.
We followed his plane.
"Now it's crossing the Atlantic. Now it has landed."
Now... I was moved...
Yes.
The EDM music scene at that time seemed...
...which had unlimited resources.
You could feel it growing.
And you could see the size of crowds at festivals.
It seemed like every young person in America they were gravitating towards her.
The Ultra Music Festival in Miami
It is the main global destination in the world of dance music.
Not just for fans, but for dance music artists.
I wanted Tim to play at Ultra.
Everyone from the industry would be there. It was the perfect place to be seen.
But no one did anything different.
That first year, I booked four double-decker buses.
I pasted Tim's face on them and this year's big hit, "Bromance."
This place is awesome!
Ultra was a milestone. The media went crazy over Avicii.
It's the New York Post! Do you understand?
Nobody in Sweden notices the importance of this!
A piece of news doesn't just have an impact in the USA.
Everyone in the industry will read this.
Yes.
- Have you taken many stylish photos? - It will be very cinematic.
I think the most fun thing is, obviously, the reaction of the fans.
Especially when there are so many people who come here just for you.
It's incredible. It doesn't feel real.
A name appeared, "Avicii"...
I remember saying to one of my assistants:
CEO OF GEFFEN RECORDS
"Who is Avicii? And why does it have such high revenue?"
And he said:
"I don't know, but I heard out of seven people he is the one."
And then I heard "Levels".
And I thought, "Holy crap. Here we go."
It's going to be fantastic.
Everything is different when that energy comes in.
I wanted to sign the next global hit.
DJs tested their songs before they are released.
It was amazing to see how the public from all over the world reacted...
So I told Ash I had to have it.
He called me and said: "The issue is that Virgin...
... is willing to pay R$500,000 for the song."
"What? R$500 thousand?"
I paid 5 thousand for "Bromance".
Yes, but we work on it. It was a serious plan, you know?
"Okay." I hung up the phone. And then...
I had already talked about Avicii It's my network at Universal.
I had to tell my bosses that was impossible.
- "Why?" - "He wants a lot of money."
They said, “You have to hire him. We can't lose a success like that."
I called Ash a few days later: "Can we make a deal?"
"Yes, if you pay R$500,000." That's what I did.
Thank you all very much and we spoke bye-mail.
- Right. Thanks. Goodbye. - Thank you. Goodbye.
Thank you. Goodbye. Goodbye, goodbye.
Let's not make a big deal out of it. Calm.
I'm the greatest!
He didn't even have an offer.
We went to the same gym and I asked him:
"Why did you do that? You had no offers."
"The price had to go up!"
And I said, "That's unfair. I was the only bidder."
"But it was the price we wanted. And it didn't hurt your career, did it?"
And he was right. We recovered everything in six weeks.
What happened?
2.1 million downloads.
7.1 million builds.
This is for you.
I believe that "Levels" it was the first time I heard Avicii.
And I had that feeling when I really like something
which is to become extremely jealous.
For about ten minutes.
Something in my body is like: "Why... How... What?"
And that makes me angry.
And that changes quickly to start loving.
I couldn't believe the combination of sounds he used and the chorus.
And then that: "Oh, sometimes..."
This sample. So fresh.
In such a short time, he killed everything.
With "Levels" everything has advanced in an incredible way.
Could afford a tour director.
No need to fly economy.
I was young, I was hungry.
Everything was new and it was a big party.
Did you catch it?
I went from small nightclubs for large,
theaters, amphitheatres.
It was all step by step, But the steps were small.
These songs are prolific. How the hell do you do it?
At least two.
COME TO THE PARTY SOON. YES?
Avicii headlines on the main stage.
He is coming, will share the stage with Madonna.
- Are you ready? - I'm very nervous.
I noticed how stiff it was when I didn't drink.
So I found it...
... the magical cure of having a few drinks before starting,
something that would relax me
and I would make it another experience.
After the show, Let's jet to Dallas
and, soon after, we go to the hotel.
So you'll be in bed in nine hours.
- Yes. - Eight, nine o'clock.
- There is no crisis. - No problem.
I made all the commitments I could.
I didn't even know it was possible to play
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
But when this happened,
I could tour for a whole year.
It's a little spoiled. About that...
I was producing while traveling and Ash was killing it.
Knocking it up and tearing it up. Just like I was crushing myself.
Revenues were rising.
We had opportunities who had never introduced themselves to us.
Everything went so quickly from then on.
Tisto was my close friend and that's how I ended up meeting Tim.
I had an apartment in Hollywood.
TIM'S FRIEND
And... I don't know if this is a part that shouldn't count,
but Tisto was with me at home
and asked to receive people and the next day, when I got home,
I found Tim in my bed with a few girls,
and a mess of drinks and things like that, and we...
I asked him to leave my room.
And then I went to Miami, a few weeks later, with Ti�sto
and saw him playing in a basement disco.
And his face turned white and apologized profusely
and we ended up being friends from then on.
I perceived that he was just a different person.
It was very fragile and insecure.
It was obviously a question of great anxiety.
I sat next to him on a bench,
as he played that night, for him to be comfortable.
And he ended up becoming into a younger brother for me.
He wore my clothes, I welcomed him under my protection,
made sure he was always fine and we became very close.
Last night was the best ending that a digression can have.
It was a birthday party to my great friend,
almost a brother to me, Jesse.
If things didn't go the way he wanted and he wanted to be a baby,
I told him I was being a baby.
When I met Jesse, He almost looked like my son.
He is warm, which works well with Tim.
The people you meet in nightlife... There are many intentions,
what can we do for someone, what can they gain from it.
And you don't know who your friends are.
When I saw someone like Tim which was authentic and genuine,
It was like a magnet for me.
I appreciated who he was, basically.
As an artist, you have to start seeing yourself like a character
which is totally different of who you truly are.
And the border between Tim and Avicii was faded.
I had pancreatitis,
what happens by drinking, due to excessive drinking.
I was drinking excessively a few years ago.
After that, the doctors said: "You can't drink so much anymore.
You have to calm down."
I remember he lost a lot of weight.
It was crazy. It was very worrying.
The confusion of problems and challenges
and health problems it started to become more visible.
I knew this would end for harming me
if I didn't do anything about it.
Tim?
- Hello, how are you? - Good.
Our time on this earth is brief...
- With a big Christmas tree - ... and cheerful
I was much happier
before he was famous
than after being famous.
I started to feel very empty and unhappy.
I was in autopilot mode.
I started to wonder because I felt that way.
I wasn't being honest with myself and with what I was feeling.
I only acted a certain way because I thought:
"� this is how you should act and that's what you must do."
And my rhythm didn't give me either Plenty of time to explore.
He was going through so much. with the fame and all that.
He didn't... I think he got lost in it.
Don't underestimate stay true to yourself.
And keep your feet firmly on the ground.
- He has a lot of strength. - Yes.
That's when I realized that, that's it... Something has to change.
My assistant Shelly contacted me and said:
"Would you be interested in making an EDM song
with an artist called Avicii?"
COUNTRY SINGER AND ARTIST
And I have to be honest. Not only was I unaware of the artist,
But, forgive me, but even EDM...
I had to ask him what EDM was and she explained:
"It's electronic dance music, those songs that make..."
And I thought...
I was surprised that it was an offer, why not...
It wasn't even similar with what I had done before and...
My first response was:
"Thanks, but no thanks."
She said, "Do you want to hear the song
before you give an official no?”
And I said: "Yes, of course. Send me the song."
As she sent the song, I spoke to my daughter,
who was 19 years old at the time and heard everything.
And I said, "Have you heard from a guy called Avicii?"
She responded immediately and said:
"Swedish DJ, fantastic, one of my favorites. He's a genius."
And she didn't stop talking. He reacted quickly.
And he asked why. And I said:
"I think he wants me to come in on one of his records."
And she responded immediately with one word:
"Bullshit."
Yes, I think we did it.
Tim was... He was trying to relearn
to be himself.
Out of nowhere, like...
I want to be in the room and I want to write a song with this artist.
I want to make a song from scratch.
All good? What's going on? Very good.
I met Nile in New York.
I didn't really know what he was like and I didn't know his face,
because he is just a behind-the-scenes composer,
one of the greatest composers in the world.
You had a finger in...
... David Bowie, Diana Ross, Madonna, "Like a Virgin",
Duran Duran, Daft Punk, right? All these superstars.
I remember calling him and saying: "I'm going to the studio."
"I just want to hear that you are working on."
That's another one.
And I listened and thought:
"That's awesome!"
That made me feel good.
I'm very melodic in the sense that I will hear...
I'll know exactly what kind of notes, especially with singers and such.
Right.
I don't know anything about lyrics and stuff, but...
I know exactly how I want them to sing. What kind of melodies and such.
- Right. - And the same with the riffs and the piano.
It was one of the most natural composers of melodies I met.
I would play a riff...
In seconds, he would...
And then, instinctively, did the bass line.
Lower it an octave.
You know, like...
When you tried create music with others
and evolve musically while interacting with other people...
...it opened a door to heaven.
He looked like a kid in a candy store. He was so excited.
He wanted to do more and more.
This makes sense.
Let's try as you thought, without making reference to it.
So we can try with more references to the original.
It sounded really good.
ARTIST
The house will always be my origin.
But now I've gone to a place where all music is possible.
I realized what you can do practically anything
and maintain your own sound.
I went much further than that because of everyone I work with.
He seemed excited to work with someone like me who...
I play in a rock band.
He had a lot of questions, like:
"When they write songs, do this or that?"
I was curious about my world.
I think it was One of his strong points is his curiosity.
I asked a lot of questions and wanted to know.
I started listening all these types of traditional music,
and I realized that the melody is in your core.
Melodies that go back hundreds of years
in different shapes or forms.
Timeless music.
That's what I try to do.
He came here and we immediately started
playing with some chord progressions
and quickly emerged
what became the chord progression from "Wake Me Up".
He had a very good sense of melody. Like, photographic.
It was a dance song inspired in bluegrass.
They seem like things that don't go together, but...
When we were getting to the point where we needed...
Someone has to sing and there must be letters.
Wake me up when it's all over
When it makes more sense
I remember talking to Aloe on the phone.
Tim spoke to him for a few seconds and said:
"I'm at Mike's. Can you come over?
We are working into something very exciting.
It's very good and your voice would be bright."
An hour later he appeared
and brought with him the lyrics he had written.
When I joined, we went straight to work.
Tim didn't know very well
how far could I use my voice as an instrument,
but in this session he started testing how to use my instrument.
- Is it like that? - Yes.
Yes, let's try from from measure 124.
I think it will look very chaotic. Let's try this one first, Mike.
Go.
Try to be the craziest whatever you get in the end.
Let's go.
That's right, I really like...
We can improve this, but I love it.
"All this time I've been searching..."
The energy that comes from: "All this time I've been searching..."
I like it best when you do:
"All this time I've been searching..."
Type...
I like that a lot.
- Higher. - And I...
- Lower. - Lower.
- Let's do this. - Yes.
- If it's perfect, it's done. - How long do you have until you have to go?
They left. It must have been, I don't know...
...it's midnight or something. And then I remember
at two in the morning, he sends me,
basically a rough version of the song,
with all production that he had added
and it was fantastic, like...
Even today I wouldn't wait that this had happened.
This is so good.
This song embodied everything what he was imagining.
But I had no idea of what would come next.
He came to my house and showed me the album.
My God!
I thought: "It's over. You're going to dominate the world."
I was shocked.
The album wasn't even finished yet. "This is a global success, without a doubt."
Tim was not an arrogant person.
He always doubted himself.
But when he played it, he knew.
I saw it in his eyes
and I think when he saw my face, he knew even more,
because I was like...
Miami Ultra Music Week is coming.
It's a great experience. It's absolutely exciting.
it's one of those EDM things that reach all of our senses.
And Tim said:
"I'm going to be the headliner for this.
I'm going to premiere the album,
all the singers will perform with me
and we're going to have a live band. It's going to be awesome."
A little like:
"It's going to look a little strange, But it should be interesting."
Yes, let's go. We have to go.
Avicii, I love you!
Tim seemed nervous.
It's his new album. It's his new song.
How about you cut a song and you play "Levels" as an introduction?
- Does that make sense? Before you play? - Why?
To give them something, so as not to say: "He didn't even play 'Levels'."
- At the beginning of the song... - Yes.
- Don't play anything until the "doo-doo". - It's fine.
It became a situation where it was almost
a live performance for Tim on stage.
Very risky, very different.
And I remember getting to Ultra, see other performances.
Pyrotechnics, fire, lasers, confetti,
bikini girls dancing on turntables.
When they told me, "Do you want play at Ultra Fest next week?"
I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
Make some noise for Avicii!
Tim played the first 30 minutes as everyone expected.
Then he turned everything off.
I walked around. I went into the crowd.
I wanted to see what it would be like there,
see what the sound was like, What was people's reaction?
It's noisy!
Music is haunting you everywhere.
And then he lowers it.
And it becomes silent.
And people say, "What the hell is going on?"
This is how I want to make music, from now on.
I'm coming down to the stage,
I'm waiting, on my monitor, to listen to the cue of when I should...
When the music should start.
And then I'm listening of the music starting,
that's my cue for when I have to sing.
But in this case, there is a click.
Tick, tick, tick.
And I felt that...
There is something wrong here. It's just my voice.
I know how it must sound in my ears and what my body
should feel,
when listening to him and feeling the vibration of the large columns.
Big boos!
People booed.
And the guys I'm with... I'm in the middle of the public
and they are astonished.
That's the strangest thing I've ever heard.
The public was so confused.
It was a disaster.
As I sing, I think, "Should I stop?"
It was very strange.
We invite 20 to 25 people from all over the world.
And people booed. It was horrible.
It was... It was a terrible feeling.
"Damn, I spent five million dollars on that?"
Then I got worried. I was so confident before.
"This is going to be great, Let's take over the world."
But now it wasn't working. Are we wrong?
I got scared. What are we doing?
Am I tripping?
Maybe I was mistaken. I love the records and I know how magical they are,
but, shit, these people hate it.
It was chaos.
This is out of our comfort zone.
It was all a mess.
This is the end of Avicii's career.
Why would he do that?
What kind of music is this? And no one could understand.
The first part from the show at Ultra was Avicii
and the second half of Ultra it was Tim putting his heart on stage
sharing this song live and this new direction.
He was very devastated.
I didn't even leave the room. He was shattered.
I saw all the negative responses.
Many people were confused and they didn't understand anything.
- That was the most important thing. - It was crazy.
Give me my head.
He was always on Twitter after the show.
"Dude, drop it.
Stop looking at it. You'll go crazy."
And he was very stressed about it.
The next day, I was on the plane with Ash.
And Ash was being very "Ash".
He was super calm about everything.
He just said, "Wait and see."
We received so much criticism from everyone,
from the Ultra owners, the Ultra team,
the promoters, the publisher, the editors...
Everyone panicked.
I knew that would provoke people, that was the goal,
but not to this point.
But we had prepared...
They put it on SoundCloud what they had just performed.
"We are receiving messages contradictory statements about the new album."
I collected the worst comments online that I found and put them together.
And I posted them with the SoundCloud link that he was prepared.
And I wrote:
"Look what happened."
And day after day, the comments were
getting better, better and better.
KILLING LBUM
Within a week, the tide changed.
THE MOST WANTED
It was growing more every day and we couldn't believe it.
It was like... were we dreaming?
And then we launched "Wake Me Up" in the UK
and the music pumped and exploded.
It became the best-selling single in the history of the United Kingdom at the time,
one of the best first weeks. And it became crazy.
That song made him went into the stratosphere.
First of all, I want to thank you to Clear Channel and iHeartRadio
for going through this. Screw this.
From that moment on, it began.
"Wake Me Up", Avicii!
Some of us dance and sing to the sound of Abba and Avicii.
It took me some time to realize the magnitude of what I got involved in.
Go! Go! Go.
As an ignoramus, I thought: "What hypotheses Does anyone I know hear that?"
It is, by far, the greatest song which I was part of. It was crazy.
It was number one in 16 countries at the same time.
I gained new street credibility with the kids I never thought of.
I remember going to my son's school, pick you up for lunch
and someone says, "Mr. Tyminski!"
And another: "Hello, man."
And the three began to sing:
And suddenly, everyone who was having lunch...
They were eating, having a picnic outside,
but it was like, a whole courtyard of school boys... singing.
I would like to thank all my fans for being with me throughout this year.
Also thanks to my agent, Ash, who has been with me since day one.
I wouldn't be here if it weren't for him.
Thank you very much everyone and have a good night.
The workload was overwhelming.
It was impossible to relax and enjoy. At least, I couldn't.
There were hundreds of thousands of things happening.
It was that side of the world, but we have other markets...
Let's plan ahead, create campaigns, create social networks,
take care of our people, the publisher... We couldn't stop.
It was impossible.
I was already on tour again.
My life was the dream of so many people, including me.
It was a dream. And I wanted to work so much.
Paul Simon is coming. Tracy Chapman, if you feel like it.
We contacted John Fogerty.
Earth, Wind and Fire really want to come when you're ready.
There was a song... it had been sent for me, wherever they come from...
... called "A Sky Full Of Stars".
And the song It arrived very quickly, on the piano.
And immediately, it was like, we have to ask Avicii to produce it.
- Have you met Tim yet? - Mine, then.
We've already done six...
- We've already written six songs together. - Great.
Tim � Tim, though had 50 thousand projects that day,
I still found time.
- Yes, that's right... - I like.
In half an hour, he did everything.
It was fantastic.
Almost a panic at work:
"I have to do this, because something else calls
and you can never do it all.”
- Hello, friend. - Are you okay? How do you feel?
- I'm fine. How are you? - Great.
Yes, I feel fine. A little thin, but I'm getting there.
I like that.
ARTIST
"But the dawn will find a day..."
We had done "True". He was now a superstar.
He had also become very rich.
I remember he started building the house on Blue Jay Way
and showing me how it would look. It looked like a spaceship.
Money was never the motivating factor for me, never.
The only real monetary goal I had it was the freedom that money gives.
But I felt this freedom after being able to take a taxi wherever you want,
go out, eat and pay the rent.
Buying cars doesn't give me... I take no pleasure in it.
I knew the tour it was really hurting him.
I knew he hated it.
I knew he got involved in appointments
which I couldn't get out of.
Ash!
There were discussions about how long he would tour.
Wouldn't it be better to concentrate What did you want and make a new album?
Yes. I like that, yes.
"You're a rich girl..."
It must have the same syllables.
ARTIST
Nowadays, I rarely write my choruses or melodies and stuff.
I usually play on the piano.
I wouldn't feel comfortable when playing the piano live.
But I wanted to reach a level where I could play the piano.
Because a lot of what I do nowadays it's with acoustic instruments.
ARTIST
Tim always had difficulties with the idea of being a musician.
Era was very aware of the fact
of musicians traditionally to play a musical instrument
and its main instrument be his notebook.
It would have been easy for him to do so, but I was afraid that people
didn't accept him playing a musical instrument.
I would say Stories is a bigger album
and I feel like it has evolved a lot since True.
We had a launch party for Stories in July 2014.
We invite people from all over the world to Ushuaia.
But there was no album in 2014.
Yes.
Yes, but do the r� here.
We had a set of songs and everything, but he didn't like it.
He wanted to add or change things or redo them.
"The song is not good enough, the top line is out."
"There's something missing in the beat."
"The drop is either too long or too short."
- Sorry to bother you, but... - I'm very stressed.
Everyone is waiting. I have to finish.
The publisher told me the following:
"When you start a song, you have to capture attention in five seconds."
But... it's okay.
They're telling me that for me to take this into consideration? They say...
They say I have to adapt my music
to capture people's attention in the first five seconds.
And if someone says, "Otherwise, It won't get their attention."
Then you become: "Well, I guess it has to be!"
Actually, it's stupid.
Perfect.
I always focused on making a song as efficient as possible.
They should love it soon and touch her again so that...
When I hear myself say that, it seems...
It's not about art. It's about...
It's about reaching the top of the charts. What does it look like...
I'm a cynical person. Tim wanted to make art.
I have to admit it looks like shit.
Artists are people, we are creators. These people who create shit.
And then they are played for an environment and an industry
where it comes to chasing how many views do you have,
so many comments.
it sucks...
It was something that became almost impossible to avoid.
You can't have a single meeting
with someone in the industry without talking 60 times of different statistics
and why this is better than that.
Business is difficult. It's not that the industry is evil.
Or that someone wants to screw Tim.
It takes a lot of work to be the CEO of a superstar.
Tim, are you okay?
We have one minute until show time.
It was hard not to notice the size of your team,
in his mentality, in the stress he was suffering,
in frustration, becoming increasingly frustrated.
I ran after... an idea of happiness that wasn't mine.
I didn't like being a character.
I wouldn't like to have a character.
I wouldn't want to have to be Avicii and it has to be Tim.
I wanted to be the person who was on that stage enjoying it.
It was, that's right...
It's still very confusing. I still don't understand.
I didn't even like making music anymore because it was too much.
I don't know how to solve this.
It took us a while to realize everything that was going on.
It may seem like we were stupid, but it was like that.
When someone is consistently productive, It's hard to understand
how bad this person is inside.
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
I remember telling him once...
We had dinner. It was in Sweden, in Stockholm.
"Tim, how do you feel about this? You make more money at a concert
what do people earn in five years? You should be happy with your life."
Again, I didn't know the deepest problems, some of them,
but overall I thought: "Why is this a problem for you?"
No one would guess that he had these problems or why, because:
"You have the best life ever. Your father is so supportive of you.
Your mother is so supportive of you. Your family loves you."
It was difficult to see from the outside what was the problem.
And at the time, I realized that he took painkillers.
I think it pushed him into an even deeper hole.
I grew up with a family who used drugs and so on.
And I saw, when you consume opiates,
their eyes change, they remain a "dot", basically.
The pupils of the eyes become points.
And I saw his eyes wide open, like a zombie, you know?
And he looked like... he wasn't there.
We were having dinner and the whole behavior changed
and his attitude. And the eyes widened, dilated.
I thought, right, It's obvious that he's taking drugs.
And that changes everything, you know? The pills...
They change the way you act and how you think.
You wake up feeling bad and you need another to feel good.
It's a constant flow of...
For him, he was justified for suppressing your anxiety.
But it would only create more anxiety later.
I think it was... It was at that dinner that I realized there was a bigger problem.
Who knew an addict, You know they hide their problems well.
It's a madness that takes over the mind.
We pulled the handbrake. Instantly.
They asked me if we should have had another approach. But we did a lot.
Interventions, canceled shows...
On average, he played less than 40 shows in the last three years.
I felt anxious.
I didn't know where the anxiety was coming from.
I felt it physically in my gut.
It was like a stone in my gut. That's what I felt.
And it was constant.
A constant emotion.
Grandfather! Get out of the way.
Me and Arash organized an intervention with Tim.
With all your friends, the brothers, the direction of the tour...
He could see all of us sitting there...
It was terribly painful see the look in his eyes.
No. It was... It really was...
Then everyone told him how worried they were and Tim...
... sometimes he was furious, sometimes he wasn't.
And this lasted for hours.
He refused to give in.
But something ended up making him say: "Okay, I'll do it."
Everyone applauded. We were radiant.
Finally understood, I think, that I had to do something about it.
I went to psychiatrists, I went to doctors.
I've tried so many different diets.
I tried to start training, I changed the way I toured.
Maybe there were many decisions per day, Maybe that was the problem?
Dealing with all kinds of stupid shit, That was never the problem.
Fuck, it's hard. Very difficult. I don't really know.
I just know that it has reached a point where I no longer liked it.
That's not me. It's trying to be something I'm not.
But my dream would be to be completely, completely free
and completely happy with what I already have
and not have any aspirations to do a thousand million other things.
Fuck it, I just want to be free of all the ideas of a life.
What stopped me from living life It's been exactly that:
have an idea of what life should be and what should make me happy.
Make better music it will make me happier
or this and that... None of that was true.
But I want to learn to be satisfied.
That would be a life for me. Satisfied.
- Look here. - Yes.
Listen, all of you who are watching this great video...
This tent should last for years. Isn't it, dad?
- I think so. - That's good.
I allowed myself space to explore.
Be the center of attention It was never something I wanted.
I began to realize that, yes, life as it was, was not for me.
It was time for a change.
Tim was struggling. The situation was different.
That's why we separated.
AND...
We didn't speak for a year.
It took two years before we saw each other again.
In mid-May 2016,
Tim called me and said he wanted to cancel everything.
And that implied the latest shows scheduled.
I'm trying to find balance.
Balance in life, with my friends and family.
That's how it should be!
Who is this guy?
It was tiring.
Tim was controlling his future.
While we were talking about this, I made this diagram.
His plans were optimistic and realistic.
He would do almost anything to try to improve your own life.
I went on crazy trips to all parts of the world
to try new things and brought his friends with him.
"Avicii retires, aged just 26, after winning 50 million dollars."
It's such an American point of view.
- Exactly. - Like: "Okay! Fantastic!"
"Go in, get the money out."
Who are you?
I'm Tim.
I feel like I did when I was 18.
I have the same... spirit I had at the time.
Being free makes me very happy.
For not feeling trapped.
Don't feel pressured in all directions.
When I achieve it, I will be very happy.
When I make music
without any expectations and without any preconceived ideas
of what I want to do, or a goal for what I want.
When it's freedom, When it's just music, I love it.
I love when you do that.
Tim had many dreams. They weren't just musical dreams,
they were dreams of love.
Dreams of finding a family.
"Let's form a band together!"
We discussed it,
we made lists of songs with references
and possible band names.
We met at his house in fall 2017.
He was excited for going back to the studio and writing music.
They called around 7:30 p.m. Tim said, "Come over here, man."
He wanted to make his next record, Tim.
And we started making records again.
ARTIST
We said the album was a trip who would reach Nirvana.
His whole project was very spiritual.
Welcome to the other side
The other side...
At the time, he was seeing a therapist. He was a holistic doctor
and he called him a wizard. And he had the appointments
and underwent several treatments. And I had learned to do
transcendental meditation, and he was very excited.
He talked about how the mind is something which is not attached to the body.
The body is like a receptacle.
It was a spiritual thing.
He was fine, One of the best places I've seen it.
He was being an adult,
more adult than I've seen in a long time.
And he was giving me advice of "older brother".
Right. There was growth, obviously.
When we started the album Tim,
let's fix it quickly that the lyrics had more depth.
And he took the lyrics further.
The first song was "Fades Away".
And I think I sang the...
COMPOSER
the chorus, the lyrics and the melody,
maybe in the first 20 minutes of work.
Nothing outside the bedroom mattered.
Nothing was calculated.
It really was... You played something. And he said.
"That's good. I think it's really cool. I like it."
It was never to please anyone, except himself.
Tim sent me a message that night:
"It was the first time in five years that I liked making music."
But there was also a darkness present.
"I can't work today. I have to meditate."
And then he meditated who knows how long.
He also canceled a few days. "Today I can't make music."
There was a counterweight How much is your passion for music?
on a personal level.
He was fragile, in a way.
One afternoon, I called him to make an appointment a session with Ang�lique Kidjo.
He said, "Fine. I'll do it when I return from the Middle East.
Like this? Where are you going?"
He said, "I'm going to Oman."
And I: "No way. What the fuck is in Oman?"
"It's great. It's supposed to be fantastic." It's typical Tim's way.
And he said, "Cool. Will you be back next week?"
“Yes, I should be back at the end of this week. Prepare everything. It's going to be fantastic."
I should go buy shoes.
He left the next day.
We sit down. We had a barbecue.
He had packed his bags and he was going to make his journey.
He said, "I'm going to bug you like hell,
because I'm going to call you every week. I hope there's no problem."
Yes, it was...
I think one of the biggest...
One of the biggest crazy things is that it seemed
just the beginning of something very good.
We hung up and he went to Om� and I didn't think about it anymore.
I thought it was a normal Tuesday.
It was the last time I spoke to him.
Sometimes I think about what prompted him to write the lyrics of "SOS".
What was your state of mind? what were you thinking
And how did you feel when...
...you were writing the first few verses?
Can you hear me? SOS
Helps me rest my mind
It almost seemed like a cry for help.
and I'm getting this...
... this letter from Tim...
...too late.
We follow sad news from the world of music.
EDM star Avicii has died.
He was found dead in the city of Muscat, Om.
Avicii, born Tim Bergling in Sweden, was considered a pioneer of EDM...
I was in the office and someone tried to contact me.
They called to speak to me. When I received the message
I called Klas directly.
And he told me it was true. Then I was devastated.
I don't think anyone knows why or what happened.
But...
Nobody knows what was happening in his head. In truth.
Everyone can speculate.
He looked good to everyone who was close to him.
He was fine.
It's difficult to accept.
It was an absolute shock.
I couldn't understand.
It was difficult to realize that Tim
He felt so bad that he didn't want to live. It's still very difficult to accept.
He was a fantastic guy. It's not fair.
I miss you every day. What can I say?
I felt like I could have...
I know this is, something like this is inevitable.
But... If you were there, I could have solved it.
Whatever happened to you, I would say: "Shut the fuck up already!"
"Put your shoes on and let's go for a walk."
Everyone feels the same.
If they were there, they could have changed something.
Above all, his family.
Nobody here had any idea that things would end like this.
When you hear "Ain't A Thing" after that,
where Tim actually... Here are the verses he wrote:
"When the record..." Sorry.
"When the record is on the last song and the party is long over,
the pretenders and the parasites You can go find another one."
It... hurts.
What Tim shared with the world it was his heart.
And that's what people gravitated towards.
Tonight, we celebrate his memory.
I think it's this difficult contradiction which resides in creation.
To be honest, you have to be vulnerable,
because that's how you you really make a difference.
When you channel emotions like this, you have the ability
to make the world happy and sad.
And for you the risks are much greater.
The thing I learned most when working with Tim
was not disdain
of the different things that someone does.
Together, all of you here made this concert possible.
They made Tim's dreams come true,
your music will be played live, with a big band.
Tim had a genius mind. He realized how to extract emotion from music.
His music was more than the sum of its parts.
Timeless music, that's what I want to do.
That's what I try to do.
Tim...
We believe your music will live on
and will continue to make people happy.
Can I have some peace of mind?
And a little silence to relax
Relief, do you need relief? Do you need relief?
Do you need a release? Do you want to be free?
Do you want to be free? Do you want to be free?
Do you want to be free?
Can I have some peace of mind?
Fix.
You said we would always be together
Without you I'm adrift at sea
Through the darkness, you hid with me
Like the wind, we would be wild and free
You would follow me anywhere
But your eyes
They tell me you're not there
I have to learn to love without you
I have to carry my cross without you
Stuck in a riddle and I'm about to
Discovering what it's like without you
And I'm tired of staying home without you
Fuck you, I'm leaving without you
I'm going to destroy this city
Without you
I'll be Bonnie and Clyde without you
1989-2018
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WITH MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS OR SUICIDAL THOUGHTS,
CONSULT WANNATALKABOUTIT.COM
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