How a 22-Year-Old Dropout Inspired By Avicii Became One of the Hottest DJs in EDM

January 8, 2016

Meet Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll, or as most people know him,

Kygo began in music at the age of six with piano lessons. By the age of 16, he began to compose his own music.

He became inspired by Avicii’s “Seek Bromance” in 2010 and decided to buy himself a MIDI keyboard and Logic Studio. He then taught himself how to create electronic music by watching hundreds of tutorials on YouTube.

Kygo was halfway through his degree in economics at Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University in Scotland when he decided to drop out and create music full-time.

His career blossomed online through platforms like YouTube and SoundCloud where he posted his catchy remixes of songs both classic and modern. At 22, his first international hit was a remix of “I See Fire” by Ed Sheeran in December 2013. The video has garnered over 55 million hits on YouTube alone since being posted.

As his popularity, unique style and online presence grew in 2014, other celebrity artists reached out to Kygo to remix their songs, including Avicii and Coldplay’s Chris Martin, who Kygo remixed the song “Midnight” for.

The same year, Kygo began performing at some of the biggest EDM music festivals in the world, at one point replacing Avicii on the main stage at TomorrowWorld after the Swedish DJ expressed some health concerns.

Kygo’s first single, “Firestone” featuring Conrad Sewell, was released in December 2014 and has since reached over 165 million hits on YouTube. Kygo also produced “ID”, the anthem for Ultra Music Festival 2015.

The year 2015 saw Kygo produce four more singles as he became a household name for “Tropical House” fans. In August 2015, Kygo headlined at Lollapalooza in Chicago, one of the biggest music festivals in the world.

If not a music artist, Kygo would have wanted to become a football player. He told The Vibe Guide:

“When I grew up I wanted to be a football-player. I spent a lot of time playing and practising football, but as a teenager my passion for music started to evolve and I started to spend more time playing the piano and listening to music.”

Kygo also revealed his greatest advice for all aspiring musicians:

“I think one of the most important things is to be patient. You don’t learn how to produce a track as good as what Avicii produces overnight … A valuable piece of advice is to learn how to play an instrument – that’s a really big advantage when you want to start making your own music.”

Kygo is signed to Sony Music Entertainment and Ultra Records. While he is currently on tour until August 2016, Kygo announced in December that his first studio album is set for release on February 12.

Share this Article