I don't really look at the charts at all. If anything, I try to out-do what I've done before. I try to make music that I like and I trust my own judgement with what will work with a wider audience. If you compare yourself to the charts, you lose perspective on what you're doing and why you're doing it.

It's hard - some people get inspired by a feeling, but I'm mostly inspired by melodies.

If I wanted to make a quick buck, there's far easier ways of doing it. What I want is to provoke people. If you want a hit song, all you need to do is rewrite an old song. It might have been proven to work, but you won't be remembered the same way.

I have a hard time writing music when I'm on tour.

I always just sit down at the piano and make the main hook—what I want the track to be about melodically—and then I’ll build everything else around that. But growing up, I did not play any instruments.

When I started out, I was Avici with one i. But on MySpace, that name was taken.

I've always been a producer - that's how I see myself first. The DJing came second as a way for me to be able to perform.