2012 saw Thomas Sagstad emerge as one of the brightest stars this year across the world dance scene. Aged just 26, he already has a growing reputation as one of the most exciting talents in electronic music, both as a DJ and his distinctive musical style loaded with energy, invention and drama. To put it simply, he’s only just begun.\r \r \r DJ support for his music has been across the board from Carl Cox, Sasha and John Digweed to Ti?sto, Armin van Buuren, Fedde le Grand and the Swedish House Mafia. Throughout 2012 Thomas Sagstad tracks and remixes have been heard in clubs, festivals and radio shows all over the world, his high profile productions include his stunning reworking of Lenny Kravitz ‘I Cant Be Without You’ alongside his anthemic remix of Lana Del Ray ‘National Anthem’. Thomas also recently collaborated with Sultan & Ned Sheppard and Dirty Vegas/Steve Smith on the single ‘Somebody To Love’ all of which have cemented his profile in the US and Europe this year. Original productions in the pipeline include a project with Markus Schossow and music from his alter ego ‘Popkong’ which has seen him produce singles for Taio Cruz, Asking Alexandria and B.o.B & Taylor Swift...Its fair to say the stage is set for domination in 2013. \r \r \r “For me it’s never been about musical genres,” explains Thomas, “because I didn’t want to be put in a cage and limit myself. Today’s DJs are artists first and that’s why I took a step back to get my sound right.”\r \r Thomas has been playing all over the world in recent months and his schedule looks set to explode in 2013. His sound is particularly popular in South America and highlight include a Global Underground party at Piso 30 in Bogotá. Booked for a two-hour set, Thomas ended up on the decks for nine playing music across the spectrum which he loves to do. Further dates across US, Canada and Europe closed the year in style.\r \r “I like music that gets a reaction from people,” he says, “that’s what it’s all about. I’m not locked into making a particular sound, and it’s important for me to kick out genre restrictions. Good music is good music, simple as that.” \r \r Thomas is based in the city of Helsingborg in southern Sweden, but he was born and raised in Gj?vik in Norway. He grew up listening to Orbital and the Chemical Brothers, but soon began to dig deeper into dance music discovering the soulful house sound of Strictly Rhythm and Defected. Before long he had his first decks and was playing at local parties and clubs.\r \r After graduating from college in 2005, the logical next step was to become more involved in music. Helsingborg had a healthy underground house scene and a lot of producers with similar interests to Thomas. After his first gig in the city, he realised this was the place to be if he was going to start to taking music more seriously.\r \r Thomas began producing while in Gj?vik, but it was in Helsingborg where his studio skills started to fully develop. By 2007, he was releasing music and two tracks in particular pointed towards Thomas as an emerging talent with fresh ideas. ‘Moog Me’ on Global Underground in 2007 and ‘Crepuscolo’ for Oxygen Recordings in early 2008, both in collaboration with Marcus Sch?ssow, gained serious attention and several compilation licences. The story goes that Global Underground sent over the contract to sign ‘Moog Me’ within hours of hearing it.\r \r A string of releases from Thomas followed on respected progressive labels like Baroque, Hope, Spinnin’ and Black Hole, some solo and others in collaboration. 2010 proved to be the crucial year, however, as he stepped back from DJing and releasing tracks to really try and find himself as a musician. It was a time of long sessions in the studio, exchanging ideas with other producers and listening to many different types of music. Out of this process Thomas developed a house sound made for big rooms but with a distinctive personality of its own.\r \r This new sound was first heard on Thomas’s remix of DJ Rap’s ‘Give It All Away’ which showcased the new energy in his music. This was followed by versions of ‘Live Your Life’ by Erick Morillo & Eddie Thoneick on Subliminal and Pixie Lott’s ‘All about Tonight’ which received major radio play. Another key track was ‘Meiri’ on Harem Records and everything began to fall into place. Always the perfectionist, Thomas continued to refine his style throughout 2010 to arrive at the point where he is now.