Zedd

Over Zedd

Born Anton Zaslavski, Zedd was raised in Kaiserslautern,Germany by two classically trained musicians. He beganplaying the piano at the age of four and built up hisknowledge of the Classical repertoire throughout hischildhood, at times writing a song a day. At age twelve,Anton learned to play the drums and, soon after, he beganperforming with the post-hardcore/metal trio Dioramic. As apreteen he was already composing and producingnumerous rock songs in his band's own studio. As theaughts progressed, Anton's awareness of other genreswidened, and in 2009 his interest in producing electronicmusic was piqued after hearing the French electronic duoJustice. With his gift for musicality and background incomposition, instrumentation and production, the move intothe realm of electronic dance music was seamless. 2009 proved to be a watershed year for Zedd. It was duringthis year that he began producing electronic music, andwithin an incredibly short period of time amassedwidespread critical and audience acclaim. Within a fewmonths of beginning his production work, Zedd won twoBeatport remix contests, the "Armand Van Helden / StrictlyRhythm Remix Contest" and the "Fatboy Slim / Skint RemixContest". These critical wins gave the budding artists thenotoriety and clout to catch the interest of Skrillex whoessentially found him on the net and signed him to his newOWSLA label. He caught the ear of Interscope A&R DaveRene and Interscope Geffen A&M Chairman Jimmy Iovineand successfully released several official remixes forpowerhouse artists such as Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas, P.Diddy, Swedish House Mafia and Skrillex on labels includingInterscope, mau5trap and EMI. In the realm of his original compositions, Zedd's hit singles'Shave It' and 'Slam The Door' (released on OWLSA) heldthe top spot on Beatport's charts for multiple weeks at atime. In the same year, his remix of Lady Gaga's "Marry theNight" appeared on the deluxe edition of the superstar'slatest album Born This Way and his remix of "Born ThisWay" appeared on Born This Way: The Remix. In addition tohis own compositions and re-workings of songs by otherartists, Zedd has had fellow electro heavyweights take theirturn at his tracks, including Tiesto, Armin Van Buuren,Kaskade, Knife Party and more.Zedd signed with Interscope Records in 2012 and released his debut LP Clarity in October to much critical acclaim. Thealbum's first single, "Spectrum," featuring CherrytreeRecords recording artist Matthew Koma, garnered massiveglobal attention, soaring to #1 on the Billboard Dance ClubSong chart and ultimately being named their Dance ClubSong of the year as well as iTunes "Breakthrough Album ofthe Year (Dance)" for 2012.In addition to racking up original production credits for artistsincluding Eva Simons' "I Don't Like You" and Justin Bieber's"Beauty And A Beat," Rolling Stone named Zedd an "Artist toWatch" for 2012, and more recently, MTV deemed him an"Artist to Watch" for 2013. Zedd has performed at majorfestivals, including Ultra, Electric Daisy Carnival, Nocturnal,Coachella, Lollapalooza, Hard Summer in Los Angeles, andElectric Zoo in New York. Zedd made his national television debut on The Late Showwith David Letterman in October of 2013 where he turnedhis signature style upside down performing a stripped downversion of his new single "Clarity" - showcasing his classicaltraining by playing piano alongside a string quartet andvocals from Foxes. In early summer of 2013, he went on toagain perform the track on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, thistime accompanied by The Roots. The performanceculminated in an unprecedented DJ performance repletewith LED grandeur that simulated the festival performanceexperience for the first time on national television.In the following months, "Clarity" ascended the radio chartsand garnered spins on Top 40 radio stations across thecountry, propelling the single to the #2 song in the country.The single was certified platinum in August of 2013 andcontinues to dominate the airwaves while the accompanyingvideo garnered Zedd an MTV "Artist To Watch" VMAnomination for that year. The smash single would later go onto earn Zedd a 2014 Grammy award for "Best DanceRecording". "The Moment of Clarity" tour in support of the albumimmediately sold out major venues across the country,establishing Zedd as one of the premier touring acts of theyear and landing him another appearance at Coachella2014. Just as it seemed the attention surrounding the youngproducer had reached a fever pitch, he unleashed anothermonstrous single, "Stay The Night" featuring HayleyWilliams of Paramore. The track debuted at #8 on iTunesand sold over 78,000 copies the first day, eliminating anydoubt about his ability to consistently craft hit songs withsubstance. Similarly, Zedd delivered another home run atthe top of 2014 with the release of "Find You", Ft. MatthewKoma and Swedish vocal powerhouse Miriam Bryant. Thetrio performed the smash single live on the outdoor stage ofJimmy Kimmel Live! on February 3rd, 2014. Zedd's stellar development is undoubtedly linked to hisunique and highly recognizable style of composition whichstands out in a crowded field. His meticulously detailed andcarefully produced tracks are remarkably distinct, drawingfrom his complex musicality and diverse backgroundspanning from classical to post-hardcore/metal to electrohouse. Already a powerhouse beyond the EDM realm,Zedd's originality continues to fuel his momentum, propellinghim forward with every beat.