Germany steered electronic music into an esoteric and barely human dimension. Subsequently, the French polished it to a sparkle and made the genre an audio delicacy. Somewhere in-between Germany’s android-controlled starship and the suave French boutiques, the Swedes have splattered the genre with their own distinct frosty cool dance-floor mayhem. MetroWize caught up with the duo for an interview after their dancefloor success at Scion House Party at the Roxy in Los Angeles. Sverige’s Kristian Anshelm and Martin Andersson, collectively called the Discobelle DJs and two of the minds behind the influential blog Discobelle.net, sat down with us to discuss their new mix Scion CD Sampler V. 24, Swedish pop music, Lil Wayne and quasi-existentially, why they aren’t actually DJs.

Sweden has always seemed to have an interest in global music genres, from pop to country to metal to hip-hop. However, right now it seems to be gaining prominence. Why do you think this is?

Kristian Anshelm: Well, Sweden’s pop music was very popular with bands like ABBA and the country has been very interested in pop music overall but it’s been rather difficult to come over to the States as a “Swedish” group. Right now lots of electronic music is getting big in America and electro and house music is also getting very big in Sweden.

Martin Andersson: I also think up until now, there really hasn’t been much good Swedish electro. Electronic music from Europe has a market now but Sweden is only beginning to catch up with what the French and the rest of Europe have done. I think Ed Banger has really influenced us but the Swedish scene has a lot of ground to cover to reach what they have done.

You’ve just finished just your second U.S. show. Are there any glaring differences between doing shows in the U.S. versus Sweden, or Europe as a whole?

KA: It’s so different! I felt like I really saw the difference tonight [in Los Angeles]. The kids who come out to the show, they like to dance and dance right from when they arrive. In Sweden, they love music but they aren’t as straightforward with dancing. They like it on a more ambient level. The mix we played tonight reflected that.

So the crowd really dictates the set you play?

MA: Yes, especially with an audience like tonight’s that is so different from whom we usually perform for.

With the Discobelle blog, you guys are, to some extent, journalists and as the Discobelle DJs, you’re simultaneously artists. What kind of a dynamic does that create?

KA: To be honest, we really don’t consider ourselves DJs or really artists. We started Discobelle because we love music and with the blog, we get to promote music we like. When we DJ, it’s really just another way to promote that music, sort of an extension of the Discobelle blog but a different medium.

But, the Discobelle crew does in-house mixes of songs, right?

KA: Yes, we do. But even that I feel is really more about finding new ways to promote music that we like, not so much in proving that we are cool DJs. We really don’t think of ourselves as DJs.

Discobelle is primarily a dance music blog but sometimes you’ll slip in some American hip-hop—You posted a Lil Wayne track a few weeks ago and you’ve featured Wiz Khalifa a few times.

KA: We love Lil Wayne! And, we love hip-hop too. Actually, Discobelle was first created by a guy who loved Dipset. So when it first started he just put up lots of Dipset tracks. Basically the blog is made up of four of us and we just say if you like a song go ahead and throw it up. There’s no criteria. I think we feature mostly Swedish electro because that’s what we are good at. Swedish hip-hop is slowly getting bigger and it’s influenced by a lot of U.K. grime, which is also getting big. We’d like to play more hip-hop at our sets but we just know in America, there are so many DJs who do hip-hop much better than us.

MA: We’ll see though. Some Swedish hip-hop is starting to get big like Adam Tensta. And most of these guys rap totally in English.

How important is it that Discobelle remain loyal to Swedish Music?

MA: I’d say about 75 percent of the music we feature is not from Sweden. Lots of the music has been from Europe but it’s been difficult to just feature Swedish music. It’s becoming a little easier as more Swedish music becomes recognized and it doesn’t have to be electro, especially with artists like Lykke Li and such getting big here in the States.

This U.S. tour has very few dates. Any cities you’re really looking forward to playing in or hope to play in?

KA: Well, we’re playing New York next week and that’s really our scene. Other than that, Philadelphia. I really love Philly.

MA: The U.S. is just so big and different; with each date we play we hear of a new city we have to play. Miami was fun. Electronic music is big there. I’m interested in checking out Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco….

What else should the world know about Discobelle?

KA: They should definitely know that we really enjoy what we do and to check out the Scion CD Sampler V. 24 which is our latest mix.