Alesso Says He Was 'Fanboying Hard' When Liam Payne Visited Sweden to Record 'Midnight'
Alesso is proud to be a Directioner, especially now that he can count one of the former boy band members as a collaborator.
The Swedish DJ, 28, first met Liam Payne, 26, at a studio in Stockholm to record their new hit, "Midnight," which has amassed more than 18 million streams since its release last month.
"I was fanboying hard when Liam came in," Alesso told PEOPLE during a recent chat with Payne. "I was like, 'Oh my gosh, Liam Payne!' How could you not have heard about these guys? They're huge. My sister, I had to calm her down. She was like, 'Is he here?' I had to lie to her and say he was there when she wasn't and stuff like that."
"But it's [nerve-wracking] a little bit when you meet someone for the first time, especially when it's a song like this that I really, really love," he added. "Imagine if you flew over and it turned out s—, you know? But it honestly turned out exactly the way I hoped. We just had those awesome goose-bump moments in the studio, and it was great fun."
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images; Sebastian Reuter/Getty Images Alesso; Liam Payne
Filming the music video for the track was a totally new experience for both Alesso and Payne, who had to film it separately while self-isolating in different countries amid the ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
"At first, it was the weirdest thought of how we're going to film this and make it interesting for people," Payne says. "Then it came together really quickly, and it was quite nice having such a small crew. I was really lucky that I happened to be quarantining with my camera guy so we got it shot and done."
In the music video, Alesso is featured in a Los Angeles studio while Payne is shown singing outside on the rooftop of his London home.
"They probably think I'm the local crazy guy at this point," Payne said. "I was out with my arms open screaming, 'I just want to stay here and fall into midnight!' There was an old lady on the balcony, like feet up with a glass of wine in hand."
Alesso jokingly added: "I'm still waiting for an invitation [to your house]. When this is over, if I don't get invited to check it out, I'm gonna contact one of the other One Direction guys."
Since Alesso and Payne got along so well, they said fans might see another collaboration from them in the future.
"I've gotten to work with a lot of great, different people, and I love collaborating with people when you get on as well," Payne says. "It just makes it so much easier and so much more fun, especially when we've been in quarantine. We both enjoy the same stuff and part of the reason I wanted to work with Alesso is I like learning about dance music. That's something I've always been interested in because I studied how to produce music and dance music was always the one thing I was really drawn to."
