[Progressive House] The One and Only Eric Prydz, Beyond Genre Boundaries

This time I introduce Swedish Progressive House heavyweight Eric Prydz (Pryda, Cirez D, Tonja Holma).

Commercial Electro House at His Major Debut

Almost anyone who has listened to electronic dance music for years, or regularly attends club events at home and abroad or overseas festivals, probably knows him.

He began standing out in the early 2000s, scoring hits with 2004's “Call On Me” and his collaboration with childhood friend and top EDM artist Steve Angello, “Woz Not Woz.” He established a unique position with “Pjianoo,” which he still includes in his sets today.

Call On Me

Eric Prydz & Steve Angello – Woz Not Woz

Pjanoo

*The YouTube video for Call On Me above is provided by major EDM label Spinnin’Records, but at the time of release it was distributed by Data Records, the commercial sound label under major UK club Ministry of Sound.

When Call On Me and Woz Not Woz were released, they were heavily played on the main floors of Roppongi clubs. I still remember hearing them at Flower, now Six Tokyo. Eric's style at that time occupied the commercial Electro House position.

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10 moments that defined Eric Prydz

Eric Prydz is a musician loved and admired the world over. Regardless of whether he’s turning his hand to pop music or more underground-leaning sounds, the Swede has a unique knack for crafting music that’s respected by both parties. Now residing in Los Angeles, California Prydz’s career has gone stratospheric since he made the move Stateside. A prolific producer, remixer and label owner, his latest EPIC show is proof that he’s still more than capable of rocking it at the very top level. 

A Transcendent Presence: “Genre: Eric Prydz” Is Hardly an Exaggeration

Eric currently plays Progressive House and Techno, but since many of his gigs consist mostly of his own tracks, even categorizing him by genre seems inappropriate.

Speaking of Techno, Eric also uses the alias Cirez D and owns the techno label Mouseville. At Belgium's TOMORROWLAND in 2017, one of the world's largest festivals, he played Adam Beyer's Drumcode stage. Conversely, on Eric's own PRYDA stage, Adam played too.

Eric Prydz receives support from DJs, artists, and fans across EDM, Trance, House, Techno and other broad areas.
Support is particularly strong among Trance artists. In 2016, he appeared at Armin van Buuren's A State of Trance 750 Miami (UMF 2016) with his friend Deadmau5. In 2017, he also appeared at an event hosted by Above&Beyond at Miami's RC Cola Plant.

Another characteristic is the existence of many unreleased remixes. In recent sets, Armin has frequently played the work that has become synonymous with Eric, Opus in its GMS Rework version. There is also a remix by Trance heavyweight duo PureNRG. There even appears to be a version by Helsinki's Philharmonic Orchestra.

Opus

Opus (G.M.S rework) [#ASOT804]

Opus (Pure NRG Remix)

Released around the same time, “Generate” also received many remixes.

Generate

Generate (Talla 2XLC vs. Cold Blue Uplifting Rework)

Generate (Kölsch Remix)

*I often played Kölsch's version myself.
At UMF Japan's Resistance stage in 2015, Nic Fanciulli played it at a beautiful sunset moment, creating a truly beautiful scene.

New Alias Tonja Holma and Tech House

In November 2017, he released four tracks on Pryda Recordings under the new alias Tonja Holma.

TRIPPLETON

SPANISH DELIGHT

LOCO

GLOBAL

As noted in DJ Mag's article “ERIC PRYDZ’S DEBUT EP AS TONJA HOLMA HAS LANDED: LISTEN,” it strongly evokes a sound like Cristoph.

This is purely my personal view, but with the recent growth of Techno and tech house in Europe, I think Eric may strengthen those sounds from 2018 onward too.
That can also be seen in the lineups featured at 2017's TOMORROWLAND PRYDA stage, his residency at Hï Ibiza, and Epic Radio.

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http://www.youredm.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/tland-lineup-7.jpg

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Hï Ibiza - Eric Prydz

Eric Prydz will return to the White Isle this summer for his first ever Ibiza residency, taking over the brand new Hï Ibiza every Tuesday, and debuting a bespoke production, speci...

Epic5.0

He hosts his own in-house festival, “Epic.”
It features a grand artistic world and holograms employing the latest technology.

Other Notes

The Originator of Real Progressive

Eric Prydz's distinctive Progressive sound influenced many subsequent track producers, notably Grum, Fehrplay, Capa, Luke Chable in the 2010s. The Progressive label Zerothree Music defines these sounds with the term “Real Progressive.”

Inspired by Rock Legends Too

Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk, Iron Maiden, Def Leppard are his favorites.
(He also likes Chemical Brothers and Pink Floyd.)

Fear of Flying

He currently lives in Los Angeles, USA, and is known for his fear of flying. For his first DJ appearance in Ibiza, he traveled for two and a half days by train and boat and arrived late.

More recently, at TOMORROWLAND in 2017, he was stranded for over two hours due to a railway incident involving a person on his journey from Paris and was late for the main stage. Apparently he then sped from the station to the venue by car with a police escort, haha.

In Ibiza, John Digweed, probably scheduled to play after him, reportedly gave up an extra hour of his slot. At TOMORROWLAND, Afrojack played until Eric arrived, probably for around 20 minutes.

In Asia, he has only performed gigs in India. He has never visited Japan, and we probably cannot expect him to do so in the future.

Basically, His Performances Are Only Available in Person

His artist and label accounts almost never upload videos of DJ gigs or livestream them, although organizers such as Ultra Music Festival and TOMORROWLAND sometimes do.

His Sets Are Mostly His Own Tracks

He mainly plays his own new tracks, which gives that strong impression, but looking across his gigs overall shows he occasionally mixes in tracks by other artists too.

His Friend Is Deadmau5

Deadmau5 is an artist with a similar musical direction and a friend. They often play back-to-back at TOMORROWLAND, Miami events, and elsewhere.

He and John Digweed Respect Each Other

His all-time favorite DJ is John Digweed.

Reference Sites

• “ERIC PRYDZ: FROM EPIC TO THE ISLAND”
• “10 Things We Learned From Eric Prydz’s Reddit AMA (This link was unavailable when checked in October 2026.)”