[Day 14] Zedd

Sites and Social Media:


BIOGRAPHY INFO

Zedd started with music in his daily routine from early childhood on. Born Anton Zaslavski on September 2, 1989 and raised in Kaiserslautern, Germany by two classically trained musicians, he began playing the piano at the age of four and built up his knowledge of the Classical repertoire throughout his childhood, at times writing a song a day. At age twelve, Anton learned to play the drums and, soon after he began performing with the post-hardcore/metal trio Dioramic. As a preteen he was already composing and producing numerous rock songs in his band's own studio. As the aughts progressed, Anton’s awareness of other genres widened, and in 2009 his interest in producing electronic music was piqued after hearing the French electronic duo Justice. With his gift for musicality and background in instrumentation, composition and production, the move into the realm of electronic dance music was seamless.

2009 proved to be a watershed year for Zedd. It was during this year that he began producing electronic music, and within an incredibly short period of time amassed widespread critical and audience acclaim. Within a few months of beginning his production work, Zedd won two Beatport remix contests, the "Armand Van Helden / Strictly Rhythm Remix Contest" and the "Fatboy Slim / Skint Remix Contest". These critical wins gave the budding artists the notoriety and clout to catch the interest of Skrillex who essentially found him on the net and signed him to his new OWSLA label. He caught the ear of Interscope A&R Dave Rene and Interscope Geffen A&M Chairman Jimmy Iovine and successfully released several official remixes for powerhouse artists such as Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas, P. Diddy, Swedish House Mafia and Skrillex on labels including mau5trap, Interscope, and EMI.

In the realm of his original compositions, Zedd’s hit singles 'Shave It' and 'Slam The Door' (out through OWLSA) both held the top spot on Beatport's charts for multiple weeks at a time. In the same year, his remix of Lady Gaga’s “Marry the Night” appeared on the deluxe edition of the superstar’s latest album Born This Way and his remix of “Born This Way” appeared on Born This Way: The Remix. In addition to his own compositions and reworkings of others’ songs, Zedd has had other electro heavyweights take their turn at his tracks, including Armin Van Buuren, Kaskade, Knife Party and more.

Zedd’s stellar development is undoubtedly linked to his unique and highly recognizable style of composition. It stands out in a crowded field as meticulously detailed and carefully produced, very playful and at the same time remarkably catchy despite the complex musicality drafting it up. Drawing from his diverse musical background spanning from classical to post-hardcore/metal to electro house Zedd’s music not only draws from uncommon sources but also has the ability to appeal to an audience outside the realm EDM.

He recently signed to Interscope records and is readying his debut LP Clarity on the label for and October 2012 release. The album’s first single, “Spectrum,” featuring Matthew Koma, has garnered massive global attention, climbing into the Top 10 of iTunes dance charts and holding the number one spot on Beatport Worldwide for almost three weeks. Zedd has also racked up several massive original production credits including Eva Simons’ “I Don’t Like You” and Justin Bieber’s “Beauty And A Beat.” A Rolling Stone “Artist to Watch” for 2012, Zedd has appeared at major festivals, including Ultra, Electric Daisy Carnival, and Nocturnal. In 2012, he performed at Coachella and at Lollapalooza, Hard Summer in Los Angeles, and Electric Zoo in New York. Zedd was also chosen to be the only opening act for the Asian leg of Lady Gaga's world stadium-tour "The Born This Was Ball”. In June he returned to the U.S. for a series of headlining shows, including several appearances at Marquee in Las Vegas. Zedd won the 2014 Grammy award for Best dance recording with "Clarity."

A musical prodigy from the start, Zedd is already a powerhouse beyond the EDM realm. His originality and momentum will unquestionably propel him into the ranks of superstars. -From Zedds bio from his official site.

Similiar Artists:
Krewella, Avicii, Hardwell, Porter Robinson, Kaskade, Alesso, Calvin Harris, Nicky Romero, and Dada Life.

Genres:
Electro house, Progressive house, Dubstep, Complextro



Songs and Live Performances/Listening Recommendations:


"Alive (Empire of the Sun- Zedd Remix)"


"Clarity" ft. Foxes acoustic version Live on David Letterman: 
The album's title track found Zedd hooking up with a relatively unknown singer called Foxes. He explained to Digital Spy: "I really like working with unique and unknown artists as they usually bring something fresh to a song. For 'Clarity', I was looking for a certain type of singer as it's a very difficult song to sing. She nails it."
The collaboration came about after Zedd complimented Foxes on her track "Youth" over Skype. The Russian-German producer then offered the singer the chance to take on this EDM tune. "If someone had said to me, 'Sing this dance song,' I probably would have said no," Foxes admitted to Billboard magazine. "But I heard the song, and it was really emotional, and I felt like it was not too far from what I was about... I remember first listening to it and thinking, 'I'd be so stupid to not do this.'"


"Follow You Down" ft. Bright Lights


"The Legend of Zelda (Original Mix)"


"Shave it (Original Mix)"


"Spectrum" ft. Matthew Koma



Concert Review from fan:
"This past Friday, Penn State was lucky enough to be able to host Zedd for the night, an excellent way to wrap up syllabus week. People had been anticipating the event since it was announced last semester; excitement and ravers were all around. 

The show was incredible from the moment the doors opened. The Bryce Jordan Center was using their “arena” setup, with the stage in front, large floor space for dancing, seats in the stands, and black curtains encompassing it all, creating a tent-like feel. The openers were great and set the tone for the night, give the crowd great tracks to dance to while they patiently waited for Zedd, who took the stage around 10pm. Zedd’s set was such a spectacle, that it is almost indescribable. However, after thinking about it long and hard, and looking for just the right words, I might be able to do the trick. The songs themselves were captivating, going into every audience members soul; the bass pulsing through our veins and taking over completely. Zedd opened up with his remix of Avicii’s “Wake Me Up,” and played some of his own crowd favorites, such as “Clarity” and “Fall Into the Sky.” He also played remixes of other DJ’s songs such as Skrillex’s “Breakin’ A Sweat,” Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger,” and Dada Life’s “Kick Out the Epic Mother Fucker”. All in all, he played an incredible set from the first minute to the last, complete with confetti explosions, smoke machines, insane beat drops, and marvelous energy throughout it all. The lights were awesome, in the most original sense of the word. They were so bright you could feel your retinas burning, but so entrancing you couldn’t look away. His artistry of just the right variations of colors and strobes mixed with the visual effects on his DJ booth, which included galaxies that made you feel like you were in a different world, made the show incredibly fantastic. 

Looking back, it was more than a rave, or an EDM show. It was truly an experience, and a mind-blowing one at that."



Personal Thoughts:
To be honest before doing this I didn't know all that much about Zedd. I knew what every casual fan would know but after reading up on him I am a lot more excited for his show. In a genre of music where you seem to have a lot of different characters, Zedd seems like the quiet kid who seems to let his resume and music do the talking. After seeing him play the piano in the "Clarity" acoustic version live and his appreciation for classical music that was passed down to him from his parents I have a new found respect for him as a musician and artist. I honestly wish I had more to say but I am just learning more about him myself. I have friends who have seen his live show who were pretty casual fans and they all left as believers with glowing reviews. I can say pretty confidently that even though this lineup is pretty stacked, that this will be one of the more fun shows of the weekend!