Alesso

Such is the “new normal” in electronic dance culture – a whiz kid can upload his tracks online from his or her bedroom and be a featured performer at Electric Daisy Carnival before you know it. But it only seems that easy.

Alesso was remixing other people’s songs and uploading his creations to Beatport, where they caught the ear of Swedish House Mafia’s Sebastian Ingrosso, who mentored Alesso and helped the young DJ sign with management and a label. He also struck up a musical partnership with OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder for “Calling (Lose My Mind),” which reached the top of the dance charts in 2012.

He’s remixed tracks by and worked with artists including David Guetta, Keane, Calvin Harris, Dirty South, Avicii, and Hurts, and was invited to join Madonna on a leg of the Queen of Pop’s MDNA tour.

But Alesso isn’t just a technologically gifted knob twiddler. He learned to play piano growing up in Stockholm, and developed his musical taste idolizing Michael Jackson and hip-hop artists like Nelly, Pharrell and Timbaland. He discovered house music and immersed himself in it.

That seems like light years ago, given the now-23-year-old prodigy has already taken over stages at the world’s premier festival grounds, including those of Electric Daisy Carnival, Coachella (twice), Ultra, TomorrowLand and has Lollapalooza, Creamfields and Electric Zoo coming up on the calendar.

WME’s Sam Kirby handles Alesso in North America, and has placed him not only on the EDM festival circuit, but for headline plays such as the 4,800-capacity Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles and club appearances such as at LIGHT Nightclub at Mandalay Bay and Casino in Las Vegas.