Swede Dreams

While Jacob dropped off the radar, Nelson had family support for his music career. He credits his father’s love of Toto and Steely Dan with giving him a taste for “fresh, clean sounds”. His brother, a drummer, had inspired him to take up drums when he was eight. Later, he bought an electronic drum kit so he could practice in his shared apartment. “I started laying down beats and it felt right,” he recalls, “All these melodies came up in my head while I was drumming.”

He started to attract attention when he entered remix competitions on the Indaba Music website (a couple of which were later picked up by Ultra Music), but what really ramped things up was his remix of ‘Déjà Vu’ for Swedish band Urban Cone in 2012. French producer Madeon liked it on SoundCloud and, overnight, Nelson’s followers grew from 300 to 3,000. One of those who discovered it was Tobias Karlsson, aka Tobtok.

“Mine’s a similar story,” says Tobtok. “I played in a thrash metal band when I was about 12, writing gibberish tunes that sounded like Slayer and Metallica. I went over slowly to disco after discovering ‘Everybody Dance’ by Chic on a CD of my dad’s favourite music of the 70s. Through that I discovered Daft Punk and Justice, and went on a course to learn about electronic music. I’d discovered a whole new world…”

What he doesn’t mention until later is that he also fought a vicious battle with cancer from which he only begin to recover at the end of 2014. He tells us that it motivates him, driving him to seize the moment. But it was a friend playing him Oliver Nelson’s Urban Cone remix at a party that unexpectedly led to his future opening up.

“I checked out Oliver on SoundCloud,” Tobtok recalls. “This guy’s from the same country as me doing something I didn’t know existed. We talked on Facebook and SoundCloud but I didn’t know he lived in the same city. It took us four months to actually meet, and when we did it was by coincidence in a pub. It was kind of weird and awkward – I wouldn’t say love at first sight – but now we’re in same place, we bounce off each other, we work perfectly together.”

Both of them signed to Adam Griffin’s Perfect Havoc management company, Nelson first, then Tobtok at his suggestion. “Oliver’s the senior guy,” explains Tobtok. “He’s been a huge influence. We do stuff together, learn from each other, we have similar backgrounds and I think that’s led to the chemistry we have today.”

“In the beginning I thought I didn’t need anyone’s help with my music,” adds Nelson, “but we really understand each other and that’s going to lead to a duo when we’re ready…”

In the meantime, though, they introduce us to some of Uppsala’s other talent. It’s 7.00 PM in American-style sports bar O’Leary’s, with screens everywhere and a decent line-up of beers. Sitting around a table with Oliver and Tobtok are DJ-producers Skogsrå (aka Charlie England, 23, in cap, knackered glasses and an eye-watering orange and blue jumper), Ghassemi (Danial Ghassemi, 23, bigger in frame, darker of complexion, with a quiet intensity to match Tobtok’s) and Osmo (Oscar Modig, 25, with archetypically Swedish blond, bright blue-eyed looks and a surname that translates as ‘brave’). Alongside them is manager Adam Griffin who’s busy showing Mixmag a text from Bill Gates’ office – yes, that Bill Gates – looking to hook up with Oliver for a project. Gates, apparently, thinks Nelson’s remix of The Wombats’ ‘Greek Tragedy’ “has an inner beauty”.