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‘There’s going to be great chemistry that night,’ Swedish House Mafia member says of the massive Miami Music Week event. By Adam Stewart UMF 2011 Tent Photo: Christian Larson “Wassup, wassup, wanna party?” We know Axwell does, and it’s a pretty safe bet that the rest of the Swedish House Mafia gang are looking to do the same. This Saturday marks the grand opening to their highly anticipated “Masquerade Motel: One Night Stand” extravaganza held on the sultry shores of Miami’s South Beach. “It’s gonna be big,” Axwell tells MTV News. In fact, it’s going to be one of the biggest events Miami Music Week has to offer. Bolstering a sold-out crowd of more than 12,000, die-hard fans will partake in a fantasy world with some of dance music’s biggest names and most dazzling production values, the likes of which have never before seen on the South Beach sand. For those of you lucky enough to score a ticket, we have one word of advice: “Masks on.” “We’re going to be dancing in the sand, which is how I pictured Miami in the first place, anyway,” said Axwell. “That’s how I see the conference. That’s how I pictured it before I came there. I thought I was going to be dancing basically on the beach, and that’s what it is now.” A massive structure is currently being erected on the beach at 8th Avenue and Ocean Drive to house the bash, which is being dubbed as one of the hottest events of Miami Music Week. Being held opposite Deadmau5 and the second night of Ultra Music Festival, “Masquerade Motel” has, in just a short period of time, procured a massive buzz as one of the true “it” events during dance music’s biggest week and, needless to say, one hardest tickets to get. However, if it were not for the Winter Music Conference/ Ultra Music Festival split that ruffled feathers throughout the dance-music community just four months ago, a beachfront permutation of the legendary Pacha Ibiza Monday Night residency may have never even come to fruition. “We thought that [March in Miami] was going to be nice and easy as it always is, but then we heard was that WMC was moving, and then we were like, ‘OK, that’s sad, but we want to stick to our tour,’ ” explained Axwell. “So then [there] was the Ultra Festival situation, where they offered us a tent — and we were on the main stage last year — [and with] all of these exclusivity [deals], we could only play pretty much at Ultra and nowhere else,” he said. “Don’t get us wrong, we really had an amazing experience at the Ultra stage, and the crowd is fantastic and you get to connect with so many people. We wanted to do something different from what we’ve done before, and we didn’t want to step back or limit ourselves to just perform at Ultra. So we were like, ‘Let’s do this thing at the beach,’ ” quite similar, in fact, to the Halloween show that the Swedes performed in midtown Miami. Axwell did admit, though, that it’s not so easy producing your own ‘mini-festival’ on the legendary Ocean Drive beach, let alone putting it all together in just a few short months. “It actually costs more to put on your own event than to just go on the main stage at Ultra!” he admitted. “But, if we did things for money, we wouldn’t be where we are. We do things for our heart … And its sometimes very stupid, moneywise. Like, ‘Oh, let’s blow up this thing here! Let’s have 50,000 gallons of CO2 and fireworks because we like it!,’ and then we see if we have money left for a hamburger! I’m exaggerating a little bit there, but you know, that’s how it came about.” The always-charismatic Axwell, however, is without a doubt elated to be just days away from the event that will also feature artists musically closest to himself and the rest of the gang. “I’m as excited as anyone else. I want to go to the event as well. I want to host that sh–! I want to be there, see the people, see the crowd — I’m gonna run around [going], ‘Wassup, wassup, man! Give it up for Calvin Harris!’ because, I actually haven’t seen Calvin Harris DJ before, so I want to see him DJ, and I want to see Thomas Gold DJ, and I want to see everybody DJ, basically,” he gushed. “I really like the lineup that we have. We’re all kind of friends-ish [and it’s] an ‘in the family’ type of thing. We all have our separate thing going on, yet [there’s] going to be great chemistry that night.” Can’t wait to check in? Then check out “Masquerade Motel: One Night Stand” being built on the Swedish House Mafia Live Blog, and be sure to stick with the MTV News crew for all of the latest action on the ground from Miami Music Week!

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Axwell Explains Story Behind ‘Masquerade Motel: One Night Stand’