In a 1,000 word open letter to Avicii, trance producer, John Askew, attacks the Swedish producer in one of the most sarcastic essays I have ever read. From thanking him for saving his life by making him puke to the sound of Levels to congratulating him on using his fans to make his latest release “Avicii X You”, Askew goes after the producer, full guns blazing. Read the full letter here:
“Dear Avicii
I trust you are well?
So before I begin Tim – can I call you Tim? – I just want to tell you a little story so you have some of the background.
About a year ago I was having lunch in Oxford (you wont have heard of Oxford – it’s a small city in the UK that doesn’t have a venue or budget big enough to accommodate you) and although I can’t remember the exact details of the dish I was eating, I do recall finding myself in the most terrifying situation as I began to choke on a piece of crispy bacon (ah yes there it is – it was a chicken and bacon with avocado salad – isn’t that funny how one little word can prompt a full recall!!).
Anyway – there I was gasping for air and genuinely panicking that unless something was done swiftly – it would have been curtain call and fade to black for old Askew.
So just as my vision was fading to a blur and my colleague was hastily moving round behind me to give me the “big squeeze” – a track came on the restaurant speaker system which immediately caused me to wretch – producing just enough vomit to lubricate and dislodge the bacon obstruction. Alas I could breathe again!!!My vision refocused, my colour returned and my pulse eventually evened out.
I asked one of handful of waiters that had gathered around our table “What is this track playing on your speakers”?
“Levels”
Now I know you get a lot of mail about how amazing your music is, but I bet you’ve never had anyone saying your music literally saved their life till now??
So there you have it Tim – I essentially owe you my life! If your music hadn’t made me vomit – I possibly wouldn’t be here today!
Now this all happened a while ago and I never intended on bringing it up (no pun intended) but then for some reason today I chanced across two separate articles about you that really pissed me off and I felt compelled to speak up in your defence.
The first was this Spin blog page – on which it said you were having writer’s block and were now outsourcing the riff writing process to your fans?
http://www.spin.com/blogs/aviciis-brazen-new-trick-to-beat-writers-block/
Well bravo I say!!! It’s about time you got those fuckers to do some work!
I googled it further and saw some negative feedback from fans who didn’t seem up for contributing their creative input to assist the growth of your absurd wealth!!?? WTF??? Can you believe that!? Inconsiderate sons of bitches.
So far the relationship has been completely one sided in my view, so it’s about time these so called “fans” start investing something other than just the extortionate amount of money they have to pay to see you “perform”. I mean where do these guys get off?!! They have all the fun partying, jumping up and down and fist pumping (is that the correct terminology?? You’ll have to excuse me I’m old and might have got some of the jargon wrong – you see “fist pumping” in my circle of friends refers to something that I’d be very surprised to see on the dancefloor of any gig – although I do recall being at Trade in Turnmills in London (a city who can afford you – just) one Sunday afternoon…….. brrrrr gives me shivers thinking about it……anyway where was I……. Oh yeah – so there they are – these so called like “fans” like having the time of their like lives and there you are like up there working your nuts off like pressing play on those like damn complicated CD players……… well let’s just say I’m with you on this one buddy (Or perhaps this would be the appropriate time to use the word “bro” despite the fact we’re in no way related? – wow listen to me – I’m all hip and cool suddenly!!)
And then – as if this fan problem wasn’t enough – there’s now this other article I saw today – in which a few of your fellow DJ chums had the audacity to question your alleged pre-recording or was it pre-rehearsing, or pre-analysing – either way it was something “pre” to do with your sets?
Bro (or would you rather I stick with Tim?) – I’ve got to tell you – screw those guys – they might think they’re being all clever by actually learning how to DJ properly and spending their time crafting interesting, inspiring and unique sets “on the fly” – but who’s going to have the last laugh when you gotta take a crap in the middle of your set huh? I don’t know about you but I don’t like rushing those “moments” so having a 78 minute long CD playing would help relieve some of the pressure of having to get back on stage quickly – and in doing so enable you to relax and take your time relieving the “other pressure”.
Look – although I’m way too old and way too uncool to understand or like your records the point is this – if your music hadn’t of been so truly nauseous I might not have been here today – so if any of these people bitchin’ about you want to take this up a gear – I’m ready to go!
I’ve got your back all the way Bro!!
Your new best friend,
John Askew
Ps: If you are still having writer’s block – don’t worry – I’ve done some digging and found the perfect music (attached) – an absolute classic that is ready for you to add your genius in order to take it to new “Levels”. Oh…….I just puked again.”
UPDATE: A month after John Askew’s 1000 word tirade, the Swedish producer Avicii finally decided to respond with this tweet.
Whats a “john askew”?
— Tim Bergling (@Avicii) July 11, 2013
John who?
FUCK YES!
YOlO dude #EDM!
Love it hahahahahaha.
Love it hahahahahaha.
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
Trance wins again well said john 🙂
Lmao at people who are asking John who….
Avicii blows
Don’t think the people who contributed to x you were expecting to get payed…….lol. Their names however were seen in the official video watched by thousands of people, way more beneficial than getting payed….good on you avicii for doing something innovative and giving producers a chance to be heard
it is absolutely true what he is saying, at least he had the balls to say it! I give him props, BRO!
“i can comment on how much avicii sucks, this must make me really hip and different.”
Avicii isn’t my favourite producer…. but John sucks.
have you been under a rock, how can you not know John Askew?? WHAT???
FUCK YEAH John! xD
another one of the 2012 edm newfags who got introduced to this music with levels :/
John doesn’t suck, you just have poor taste in music
Askew – simply a trance legend.
this simple response made my morning.
this simple response made my morning.
John Askew’s puke = Avicii.
Very nice! 🙂 I mean, I don’t even really know Avicii’s music or what else he’s doing. But I know that “Levels” may cause nausea in some cases, so I’m with John 😀
U mad bro ? @[100199626976:274:John Askew] is pure MADNESSSSSSS
Hilarious! And not to mention, true 🙂 John is a legend!
Hahahaha Askew FTW!
John Askew being John Askew, is just awesome!
Eat that trousers, housers and fans of other shit genres!
hahahahahahaha
JOHN ASKEW FOR PRESIDENT!
Just those 2 words on your post are proof that you have no clue in EDM
You must be one of them fist-pump…ers
Avicii is Justin Bieber of EDM.
you are other pussy fan avicii/david guetta trash music
Not agree i think:
Avicii is The Wanted of EDM
And guetta is JB LOL
@[734793315:2048:Alex Kaisar] Are you saying that John Askew is a newfag?! o.o You, sir, surprise me.
umm no you suck and can go back to your justin bieber
music
umm no you suck and can go back to your justin bieber
music
I completely agree with Askew, but the way he expressed his anger made him sound like a real asshole…
I completely agree with Askew, but the way he expressed his anger made him sound like a real asshole…
good we want fags like Guetta and Aviciii to leave our music , and to take all their fag teeny friends with them. Armin did not only take back number one spot in 2012 but he sent Guetta down to 4th , hahah love Armin :D.
good we want fags like Guetta and Aviciii to leave our music , and to take all their fag teeny friends with them. Armin did not only take back number one spot in 2012 but he sent Guetta down to 4th , hahah love Armin :D.
Avicii who ?
This is beautiful
He’s calling Martijn Broeders an edm newfag, because the only edm he clearly knows is the rubbish produced by Avicii and David Guetta
You clearly don’t know John Askew very well then. His sarcastic humor is amazing!
This ain’t no competition dumb shit
This ain’t no competition dumb shit
All the house artists deserve this…Trance for life!
All the house artists deserve this…Trance for life!
I understand the sarcasm but I think he really overdid it… :
John Askew my Favorite stronger Trance music Producer & DJ.
Sincerelly and respected Ramin 🙂
pigeon holing to one genre is pathetic. “housers”. seriously? this is a great article but it doesn’t make me feel any better about you trance fags
Are people literally not aware of John Askew is? Embarrassing.
hes trance, so nope.
I mean I’ve heard of him, he’s a trance Dj, what else is there? lol
He is talented, gets support from other amazing trancers and he stays true to his sound without compromising it in the name of money.
@[734793315:2048:Alex Kaisar] Altho i’m against what he wrote , BUT he is a Trance legend who probably introduced avicii to music from his sounds..lol
This might have a portion of facts BUT the way it’s said is wrong. Normally artists in general don’t judge others…specially each other.
Eddie Wiecek, this guy is funny as shit…but he is obvi pissed cuz Avicii makes a shit-ton more money than him, is younger than him, and probably gets way more pu$$y than him too! LOL OWNED
I always thought Trance fans weren’t the hateful kind. I thought they were all about PLUR and about keeping their own thing going on. Not about shitting on other people’s music and other people’s art. If anything, today Trance loses.
All John Askew is doing here is validating the success and reach of Avicii. Would he sit down and write such unkind words to Avicii if he wasn’t massively popular? I doubt it. How sad for him that the most his name is mentioned this whole year regards some hateful words for a guy that’s just fortunate that his sound is popular and resonates with millions of people. It’s a shame that some people adhere to the idea that if it’s popular it’s no good. It’s even worse when some people see the success of others and do their best to shit on it so that others will pay attention to them. Sarcastic and sardonic words are far away from the P.L.U.R ideals. There’s no Unity, Respect, Love, or Peace in his words..just sour hate towards someone that has done nothing to him. I’m not an Avicii fan by any measure, so don’t think I’m here defending him. His music is what it is. It’s nothing but fortune that right now his sound is popular and people are willing to pay big money to hear him play. Ask John Askew how he would like HIS sound to be so popular? How would HE like to command such big money to have millions of people acclaim him? How much would John Askew love for it to be his name that people will remember years from now? It’s just sad that the first time that many of us hear of John Askew for the first and last time comes from reading hateful, childish, banal bullshit.
After so long I finally found something good coming out of the trance scene.. sadly it’s not the music but an article by Mr. John Askew 🙂 Legend…..
You forget that not every producer cares about fame and fortune. John Askew is a big name in the real trance industry and has been around a lot longer than Avicii; also that PLUR crap is for those who love the cheesy rubbish that comes from the producers that claim they are trance but are really just producing pop music. You obviously don’t know much about Askew either, this isn’t the first time he has done a rant like this, he also very recently did one addressed to Jamie Oliver, so don’t think that he is being bitter about the fact that Avicii is more recognised world wide than he is. His humor is not childish or hateful either, it is actually well thought out sarcasm delivered in a funny tone.
I know it may be difficult for you to comprehend this, but, not all DJs/Producers care that millions of fans scream their name, some prefer the crowds that they know will enjoy a boutique sound and not some generic crap. If John wanted big money, he would switch to producing house music like many trance DJs have, but evinced by the fact that he hasn’t is an indication that he doesn’t care for the money; it’s exactly the same with producers such as Eco and Solarstone, they have stayed true to their style, unlike producers such as W&W.
Avicii is going to be the one who loses the crowds and fans in the future, not John Askew.
He’s proper trance guys. I bet 50% of these “trancefamily” kids don’t even know who he is cuz all they listen to is trouse. LOL this was hilarious
never heard of Avicii and tbh I’m glad I haven’t, sounds like a EDM trouse loving bellend.
your a fuckin idiot andre. Your comment speaks volumes about whats wrong with trance fans.
What crawled up askews bum? Im a big askew fan, but this kind of thing makes him sound like a bitter, jealous man, meanwhile Avicii is laughing all the way to the bank and probably doesnt give a fuck what he has to say :/
Seriously? concentrate on your own shit askew. Your a trance legend in my view, but shit like this annoys me. You just sound butt-hurt in this letter. Why didn’t you aim a letter like this to oh say… Armin? (picking up flame shield now).
John is one of the TRANCE soldiers
askew, legend of a man.
Stopped reading his rants a long time ago. Around the time they stopped being funny actually.
Man, Aivicii music is disgusting. I’ve been into trance music for too many years and this guy music is a joke. PLUR doesn’t apply in that stuff. 😛
ASKEW
Sarcasm to the rescue or WHAT?! LMFAO Good on You John!!! Hahahaha…
Though Askew is right. I’m sick of this fights in the dance scene.
sorry but who the fuck is this john askew guy and sorry “bro” (unless you would rather me stick with john) but there are 10s of thousands more people who enjoy the happy, fun sound of avicii over whatever lame trance music you make.
as well I’m loving this plea for attention maybe now people will listen to your shitty records… or maybe not?
as well I’m loving this plea for attention maybe now people will listen to your shitty records… or maybe not?
John who? Just shut up and enjoy the music. Stop hating, oh wait it’s what we are as humans. Thanks John who? You’ve stooped to a new low.
Who cares. Looks like somebody is jealous of somebody. Awww poor little man. Grow up dip shit.
I read this and just had to slow clap… thank you john askew… just… just thank you.
Wow that’s actually pretty harsh and unecessary…
Wow that’s actually pretty harsh and unecessary…
Avicii wins this battle, old fart askew loses.
Avicii wins this battle, old fart askew loses.
lucky I never pay attention to Avicii’s pop house music :p
Whether you like Avicii or David Guetta, Their still millionaire superstars playing gigs for the biggest crowds. While you guys are here on facebook talking about how bad they are. Just a little something to think about. I’m happy being just a fan of dance music and if I don’t like their style, I still respect them for what they do and how their doing what they love…
Trance producers started to actually troll… cool! Genre is slowly dying and now lost it’s last bits of dignity. SAD. 🙁
Look at his stupid response, ” what’s a John Askew” that’s the problem with this younger generation they have no respect for the elders that got them here. bTW this big room house shit sucks ass
Kiran Mani…..this may be the second funniest letter written since Albright’s to Madden.
Kiran Mani…..this may be the second funniest letter written since Albright’s to Madden.
Haha people are trying to defend avicii.. It’s comical. John Askew is a REAL dj with talent and if you don’t know him you probably just started listening to edm because all the cool kids were doing it….
Trance nazis talk about trance as it was the most underground genre but everyone knows that Drum n Bass is way more underground than Trance! They also like to refere to House,´´Trouse“ and other genres as cheesy pop fans and we are not! As most of House,´´Trouse“ and other genres scenes are so underground as Trance one! I HATE mainstream EDM and I do not like Avicii! Have a great day Trance Nazis I am House, Trance and other genres fan and I am not a cheesy music fan as you must imagine!
Trance nazis talk about trance as it was the most underground genre but everyone knows that Drum n Bass is way more underground than Trance! They also like to refere to House,´´Trouse“ and other genres as cheesy pop fans and we are not! As most of House,´´Trouse“ and other genres scenes are so underground as Trance one! I HATE mainstream EDM and I do not like Avicii! Have a great day Trance Nazis I am House, Trance and other genres fan and I am not a cheesy music fan as you must imagine!
Surely I can’t the only person to realize how lame this rant was… and I hate Avicii :/
Surely I can’t the only person to realize how lame this rant was… and I hate Avicii :/
Someone’s mad they don’t make as much money
Loved it, full of sarcasm xD
DOn’t MESS WITH TRANCE FAMILY… JOHN ASKEW is nice talented trance producer… stop messing with trance community u poppy houssy cheesy producer.
John just showed how retarded is he. I am sorry but I don’t know so many english words to describe how fucked up I am with this post.. I really like Avicii’s music, because it always make me dance or it remembers me some nice moments in my life. That’s how I feel about music. I don’t care about genre, about nationality, about fame.. I just care about the feelings, that music is giving to me. yea, you can hate me, but I don’t care. This is MY opinion, not opinion of any other man. I am not like you.. You are hating Avicii just because someone said, that after UMF2013 Mianmi set he is making redneck music. Holy fuck.. have you ever heard that songs? You are still spamming Avicii’ posts with poops in the comments… Dou you really think, that this is how normal adult man is behaving? If yes, then please send me a message and I will go jump off the window, because I don’t want to live on this DUMB planet anymore.. You still write shit abou your personality, originality and shit and shit and shit.. But you still listen the other ones like the fucking sheep. Please think about it.. You can respond to my comment and I will try to answer to your questions or react them. Thank you for reading this and starting thinking about yourself-change 🙂
As much of a tool as Avicii might be, this is an incredibly hypocritical response from John Askew and the trance family at large. Exchanging negativity for negativity accomplishes nothing and is counter to what the dance culture is supposed to represent. Extremely disappointed to read all this. Let’s move forward and dance together. #postiveenergy #plur*
(*ya, I’m ready for your plur police comments. that fine. I keep it real.)
ASkew is a Legend and has introduced countless artist into the scene when he used to run Discover, Thinks Sean Tyas, John O’Callaghan, Greg Downey etc.. all got they’re big breaks on his label. Now he’s A&R for Perfecto Fluero for Paul Oakenfold. Like I said a mad bastard and a legend to those who really know what up!
got a double “the” in the intro paragraph there OP.
Dear john askewh,
fuck u with your puke.
Whatever… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWINj70ybMY Still like “dark side” of Avici.
Whatever… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWINj70ybMY Still like “dark side” of Avici.
wow, well John Askew sucks tbh, bad music. So don’t really see what’s the fuzz about him is?
shit happens
Bless you Mr. Askew! apparently Avicii doesn’t know anything about music before he came on the scene.. not the first time I have herd him ask about music people that came before him.
I don’t have anything about Avicii, But if i ever dance to one of his songs,sure i won’t even notice, all the house sounds the same… afrojack, steve aoki, dimitri vegas and like mike, guetta, alesso… i will stick with trance for now
it pains me as a fellow Swede and EDM lover…. but Avicii is w/o talent.
somebody salty over that difference in pay check. hate on. lol
What an irrelevant shit-talking loser
People are still making fun of Levels?
Avicii ‘a music makes me sick to my stomach. I agree with John!
I say FUCK U 2 ALL Those who are asking who is john askew!!!
Avicii you suck…. that’s TRUE!!! LOL
I am not a trance fan much except ferry corsten and the real trance made in the late ninties but trance totally wins on this. This was literally the greatest reach to the peoplebwho destroyed our scene. WIN WIN WIN !!!!
And for anyone wanting an id on one of his gems youtube commander tom are am eye john askew remix. And he has also played asot. A real artist risking mad to attack the garbage all the kids pay to see. You can all see mine that I bashed on deadmau5 go on youtube and type in thehouserocka interview with deadmau5 biblical