Axel Flóvent On His Biggest Music Inspirations And New Collab Version Of ‘Fireworks’

A version we never knew we needed!

This international singer-songwriter has become a known name in the music industry across the world. Over the years, he has received 100 Million streams on his music, on just Spotify alone! Today, he’s back with the Night Version of his single ‘Fireworks’ featuring RAKEL.

We had the amazing honor of taking with Axel about the music scene in Ireland, rising fame, and more!

When did you first realize that you wanted to pursue a career in music?

A: “It was when I started working during the summer at the age of 13. I was working at a fishing factory, I remember hating it so much that I wanted to do everything in my power to not work there anymore. I just knew I needed to be involved in the creative field. I felt a lot of my colleagues carried a negative energy as well, I didn’t want to be like that. After that job, I started writing and recording with ambition.“

Tell us about your amazing new single “Fireworks (Night Version).”

A: “I wrote this song 10 years ago along with “Forest Fires” and “Fireworks” that same summer. I honestly struggled a bit while recording this song. It has gone through a bunch of stages and forms in the years of its existence. I felt I needed to record a more stripped-down version of this song to capture the real emotion in “Fireworks” and on top of that I have my great friend Rakel, who has played in my live band for years to sing backing vocals with me on the song. I wanted to have something extra special for this version and her voice really did the trick.” 

Who would you say are your biggest music inspirations?

A: “The bands and artists that have inspired my music the most in all my life are Jimmy Eat World, Fleet Foxes, M83, Bon Iver, The 1975, The Paper Kites, Elliott Smith, and The Cure.
Current listens and inspiration also include Jonas David, Big Thief, Wilco, Phoebe Bridgers, and Bonny Light Horseman to name a few.“

Coming from Iceland, how do you think the music scene there differs from the states?

A: “The most obvious difference is how small everything is here and how big everything is in the states. We all know each other in Iceland. We’ve met most of everybody that are doing anything music related in Iceland and if you’re young, this can be beautiful to see because you don’t think it’s very hard to achieve being a part of something like that. But, I think as for me, it has always been my dream to be big elsewhere, getting more people to know of my music and travel outside of my small island with my music, which I think is not really the main goal for a US artist. Their dream is to travel the world but, if they are known in the US they are most likely known in many other places as well so it’s a great starting point to cover the home ground for them in that sense. At least that is what I assume.“

You are such a Spotify sensation, with over 80 million streams on the platform. What has been your reaction to your rising fame?

A: “It’s mind blowing tbh. I’ve never gotten my head around these numbers. I’m just so honored that people still listen and make it possible for me to do this as a job.“

Is there a message/piece of advice that you want to give to your fans watching?

A: “I’m really bad with advice. it either sounds too general or too specific. And out in the open is even harder without any context. For my artist fans out there. Just keep driving with the ideas you have, I stop too often and look at my ideas before I develop them and it’s probably my worst mistake because you don’t know if an idea is bad until you’ve tried making, doing whatever your idea is. I guess you can apply this to any ambition in a way. First do then judge and polish. Do not judge before you do and never try to polish before you do. These are my two cents if I had any.“

Can you tease anything about your upcoming album that we are so excited to see?

A: “This is my favorite song I’ve ever written in my opinion.“

Where can we follow your amazing journey?

A: “Any socials, I’m mostly active on Instagram but starting to try some things out on tik tok these days as well. but you can follow me on Twitter and Facebook as well. some things pop up on there as well.“

Photo Credit: Nat Michele

Je’Kayla Crawford– Founder and Director– Je’Kayla has been a journalist for years and decided to start a publication of her own, New Scene. When not helping her team and working on the monthly issues, you can find her watching a movie on Netflix or baking using a viral Tasty recipe.