All the talk over the past week has centered on Eric Prydz, with the release of his stunning Eric Prydz presents Pryda 3-CD anthology as well as his upcoming tour with Identity Festival. Something that his stateside fans might not know though is that he used to be part of the Stockholm collective – also featuring Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso – otherwise known as the Swedish House Mafia.

“I’m so happy for them, they’re huge at the moment. It’s great, they really deserve it I think,” Prydz told Elektro Daily of his hometown buddies from way back, who cracked it big in the US over the past year with sellout shows in Madison Square Garden and headline slots at Coachella.

In the days before international superstardom, the original foursome were an extremely tight crew who spent all of their time together, with their studios in the same block. In fact, they were so tight they earned themselves the ‘Swedish House Mafia’ tag, shortly before their popularity exploded in 2004 and they changed the face of house music.

Eventually though, Prydz went down his own unique path. “I always really wanted to go my own way. I’m not part of the collective known as the Swedish House Mafia,” Prydz told inthemix.com.au in 2008. “But we’re all still best friends.”

When Prydz spoke to Elektro Daily last week, he had nothing but kind words for his old crew. “They love what they do, and when the three of them come together they have this magic energy, that the crowd really feeds off, and that’s their main strength I think. They will bring a party to whatever crowd, wherever. If it’s all three of them and they play their records, that place will go crazy.”

Eric Prydz presents Pryda is out now on iTunes and Beatport. Stay tuned for ElektroDaily’s full interview, and catch him on the Identity Festival in July and August.

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