Q&A: Zedd

Zedd, or Anton Zaslavski, if you’d like to call him by his real name, isn’t your average 23-year-old. Consider that fact that his roots lie in years of training in classical music, and later in post-hardcore metal ”“ he performed in a band named Dioramic ”“ back at home, in Germany. Now, in his four-year electronic music career, Zedd has risen to the forefront of young producers and DJs considered responsible for carrying on the baton. In 2009, Skrillex, now his mentor, signed him to his then-new label, OWSLA. Since then, Zedd’s signed on to Interscope Records, his debut album Clarity (released last year) just went gold in the U.S, he’s remixed everyone from the Black Eyed Peas to P. Diddy and he’s even producing tracks for Lady Gaga’s next album, ARTPOP. We spoke to him over the phone, while he was in his L.A. studio, on the eve of his departure to India, where’s he’s conducting a three-city tour starting today.

What’s going on at this moment with you?

Right now, I’m working on scoring a movie, which is something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time and I’ve never had the opportunity. It has a scene that I was asked to score. This is the first time I don’t only have to take care of the music but have to make sure it fits with the picture and the timing. It’s such a new experience and I’m learning a lot.

Can you give us more details or is it something you can’t discuss just yet?

I cannot say the name of the movie but it’s a very big production. I think it’s supposed to come out in or around August this year so it’s not that long a wait anymore. The director of the movie is extremely hands-on so we’re working on the scene together. I haven’t seen the full movie yet besides a couple of scenes so I’m quite excited myself to see it.

We’ve heard you decide the release date of a track before you start working on it. Is that true?

[Laughs] Sometimes it’s important to let go otherwise you’re going to go crazy at some point. I’m always changing stuff up and I’m never happy with anything. So sometimes you’ve just got to give yourself a date or a time where you say, no, that’s it, and learn to be happy with it. I think that’s important”¦ in general, in life, too, and not only in music.

There are two kinds of people in dance music at the moment. People who want to stick to boundaries and genres, and those who want to break them down and experiment. So where’s the future of EDM? Does it require some sort of change?

I think it would be great if electronic music changed, let’s start with that. I think we’re in a very strange and dangerous comfort zone where people have got used to things that aren’t actually ”¦ good, or high quality. The extremely large amount of music that comes in is overwhelming. Music used to be something done by experts. I don’t go and build a house because I don’t have a clue how to do it, so I don’t do it! Music’s the same thing ”¦ it’s something for experts, it’s for people who’ve learnt how to make it and how to use the tools music gives you. But it’s turned into being a sort of a game that everyone can learn how to play once you buy a laptop. It’s this whole amount of music just being shot at you. You don’t even know what’s good and what’s bad. And how would people know? They’re not musicians, they’re listeners. So people just got into this zone that they’re happy with ”¦

Anything?

Yeah ”¦ anything! That leads to the problem that good music doesn’t really stand out. And it’s unfortunate because there’s a lot of great electronic music I’ve heard that does not get attention because people are so ”¦ they’re listening to this not-so-great music all day long! I’d be happy to see a change in electronic music ”“ some more musicality and more musicians making electronic music. I used to make other kinds of music and now I do this, so I’m pretty sure that every musician who makes rock or jazz could give it a shot and see where it leads. I’d love to see that.

It’s different from country to country, though, right?

It’s true. Not every country is at the same level. Every time I go to a different country and play there I check the charts to see what people know because sometimes ”¦ my album, for example. After it came out in most countries, it still took seven or eights weeks to come out in Germany. It’s territory for territory”¦ you have to see what songs are charting well. Sometimes, you have to delay things but sometimes you have to rush things. “Clarity” was a single in the UK way before it was a single anywhere else.

Did you do any research for India?

Do you guys have iTunes? I had checked earlier and have not seen India on the list! [iTunes is still quite new here.] I’m actually checking right now ”“ we’re number five in dance, so that’s good!

We have to ask you about your collaboration with Lady Gaga. You couldn’t have messaged her like you did with Skrillex back then, right?

That first collaboration with him literally happened by me randomly messaging him on MySpace. This story kind of got big that I got in touch with Skrillex and he blew up just a couple of months after that and so everyone started doing that! It does not work anymore. Now, there are 500 messages every couple of days in your SoundCloud inbox with everyone saying the exact same thing. They’re 14 years old and an upcoming producer from Belgium or something, and spamming YouTube with comments saying that’s the only way to get attention and it’s not. Now you have to find your own, different way and have to be creative.

How did it happen then?

Skrillex was the connection to almost everything and everyone on my whole team. He connected me to my manager, Tim Smith, who also manages him  and also to Dave Rene, who works at Interscope, and who today is my co-manager. The thing with Lady Gaga was through Dave. He was commissioning remixes for Interscope and he found out about Skrillex before he got big and had him remix Lady Gaga. So he was the first one to give him a big artist to remix. Later, when Skrillex found me, he passed it along and sent an email to Dave saying, here’s this guy, you should check him out. He then let me remix Lady Gaga. So that’s how it started. It’s more fun working with someone who is open to making new things. It’s also difficult because she’s a very busy person and rarely available so everything is a bit more complicated at the same time!

Who are you listening to at the moment?

George Benson. Probably the only thing I’ve been listening to recently. I used to listen to him all the time when I was young and especially since Daft Punk just released an album that was so funky, it got me to listen to that again and still love it.

You’ve said Daft Punk was one of the reasons you got into dance music. What did you think of Random Access Memories?

I’ve only heard it once yet. What did you think about it?

People have plenty to say about. I was unsure when I heard it first, but I loved it after a couple more listens. You have to listen to it from start to finish. It feels cinematic, like a soundtrack. Some parts are pretty weird too, which is great.

Interesting for sure. I’ve only heard it once. I didn’t necessarily like it, but I like your point. I need to listen to it more. Let’s say this: I listened to it once and didn’t like it but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad. I have a 20-hour flight to India so I can answer that in some time!

Zedd India Tour

May 31st, 2013 –  Kitty Su, New Delhi

June 1st, 2013 - Geoffrey’s, Bengaluru 

June 2nd, 2013 - The Lalit, Mumbai 

For tickets, click here