Immersed in the electronic music scene for over a decade, Scandinavians Thomas Sagstad and Marcus Schössow are longstanding friends who formed a brand-new collaboration project this year called Anamē. Their alluring, progressive sound isn’t limited to any specific genre, however, they do draw inspiration from a wide array of music including techno, progressive, indie, house, and melodic. With several music releases this year and their first innovative album on the horizon, the amiable group looks forward to a rewarding year.

Currently based in Sweden, Thomas and Marcus find that the enthusiastic Swedish crowd is quite spoiled with talent and also educated when it comes to dance music. “You have no chance of half-assing anything [in Sweden] and thinking you’re getting away with it. For the most part, we think that the artists are so passionate about the culture and the heritage that they consider themselves a part of the movement, so there’s this deep sense of respect, community, and support between them. It may also be that the ‘Scandinavian’ definition of success is not necessarily measured in the same ‘currency’ as it is, for example, in America. This may also be a fairly accurate assessment of the European scene, at least generally speaking.”

Having been involved in the industry for numerous years, they’ve had extraordinary opportunities and feel fortunate to still be connected. The Scandinavians express how a lot of progress has been made in the scene but it’s still nowhere near perfect. A lot of unfortunate challenges that new aspiring artists and producers have to endure and navigate through to present themselves aren’t beneficial for the scene as a whole in the long term. “For the young and unestablished artists, we’d especially like to see a more fair split of revenue created between those who make the music and those who package and distribute it across the board. It shouldn’t be a need for certain platforms to add an option for a ‘support me/donate’ button to artists’ profiles in order for them to make a living. Fans are already doing that by showing up and listening.” 

Despite neither of them being particularly fond of social media, they do believe they’re navigating it better now. “Every so-called social media expert talks about you having to be authentic and relatable – but at the same time make sure you slap a filter on it. So it’s a double-edged sword that is painful for many. We are at stages in our lives where we’re obviously more comfortable and certain in who we are, so it’s easier to just be ourselves, which is ironically what you need to do in order for it to have any value.” At the end of the day, they believe that any social media platform is a tool where people all over the world can discover music and connect with one another.

Over the past 2 years, they’ve realized that being forced to slow down and enjoy the “little things in life” have been a valuable experience. Fresh off from their debut show at AnjunaBeats Europe in Poland, they are excited to convey their skills at some super mega shows for the summer and will be teasing a 4-part documentary out shortly. Check out their latest track “Gravity” with Above & Beyond that’s out now as well as their new “She” EP out this Friday, May 20th. Be on the lookout for an album release in early 2023 and support the ambitious duo now on Facebook and Instagram.