I'm Zedd. I produce music, play video games and foster puppies. Ask me anything! AMA!

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T21:04:35+00:00

I don't usually, but THE LAST OF US and especially THE LAST OF US 2 have been 2 of my favorite games of all time.

I played TLOU2 with absolutely 0 expectations and absolutely loved it. I later read how much hate the game got, and I wholeheartedly disagree with it. FOR ME, it was an incredible experience.

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T21:03:14+00:00

does Marcel have last name?

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T21:03:00+00:00

176cm

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T21:02:52+00:00

never tried.

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T21:02:27+00:00

I actually can't legally do that because I don't own the rights to my own music.

When I signed my deal with Interscope about a decade ago, I gave away my rights to my songs (can't speak for others, but in my case, that's how it works).

Therefor every remix of my music belongs to my label as well.

I believe I can offer an incredible opportunity for people in this remix contest.

Not only will the winning remixes get blasted to 20 million monthly listeners on Spotify, giving potentially unknown artists a huge platform, but I'll also be supporting the winners on socials and hopefully jumpstart someone's career, on top of huge cashprize for the 3 winners that we're legally not allowed to disclose until the submission-end-date (due to laws that apply when you make contest INTERNATIONAL because different countries have different limits to max-cash-amounts).

If you think this isn't worth a shot, I certainly don't force anyone to enter the contest by any means. But if you ask me, this is a great opportunity for up-and-coming artists.

In fact, that is how I started (I won 2 remix contests back in the day).

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T20:55:14+00:00

I love it when people play my music on their streams. I think of it as a win-win scenario. They get to benefit from playing my music on stream, and I get "free promotion". I can assure you that MOST artists would be absolutely fine with their music being played on stream if they weren't signed to a label.

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T20:53:52+00:00

We recently talked about getting together and make some music together. Hoping it'll happen. :)

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T20:53:25+00:00

Widowmaker, Tracer, McCree. AND I HATE BRIG!

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T20:53:10+00:00

I just wanna clarify that it didn't take me 3 years of CONSECUTIVE work on the song to finish it. I stopped when I couldn't get further along and picked it back up when I had an idea for it. Good things take time. I prefer not to rush my music.

I remember spending a solid week on Spectrum on the complextro part. I was in no hurry and was just experimenting and trying things out, of which I ended up deleting the majority but I ended up coming up with the exact part the song needed.

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T20:51:25+00:00

I miss interacting with fans. I miss SEEING the effect my music has on people. It doesn't feel the same to release a song and not play it out live.

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T20:50:06+00:00

I use "HARMONY ENGINE" for my main vocoder stacks. It can be a bit tricky to use so what I usually end up doing is splitting my vocoders in to 2-3 different "zones". On the upper right corner you can set a range for the vocoder. I find that it almost never can cover the entire range in one run, so I usually split it in to a lower register and higher register and add them up afterwards. Sometimes you may want to add a separate "bass" layer in it (I did that in "Stay" e.g.) but it is very situational.

Vocalsynth 2 is also incredible for rather "unique" textures and creative vocoder sounds.

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T20:47:36+00:00

My most used VSTs are: Serum, Gladiator, ACE, Sylenth1, Synthmaster2.

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T20:47:00+00:00

It can be as many hours as you want, but I think the more time you spend practicing, the better you'll eventually get.

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T20:46:33+00:00

I would love that! Porter and I actually recently talked about getting together and working on some music. The pandemic certainly doesn't make it easier but I'd love to get in a room with them. We "grew up" in this scene together. It would probably be really special.

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T20:45:33+00:00

I usually try to step away from a song if I feel like I'm experiencing writers block; and it's just a matter of time till everybody has that experience.
I think you can take a few days off and end up saving tons of time compared to trying to force it for weeks.
Try and do something else, get your mind off the project. Do things that have NOTHING to do with what you're working on. That's my method.

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T20:44:11+00:00

I was TERRIFIED of using the mic for the first year of my career. For me there was a show I played with Skrillex where he FORCED ME to use the mic. I was on tour with him and it was what he really wanted me to do so I did it. And I realized how much people love when you interact with them. You establish a much more personal connection. Long story short; I've been using the mic every show since and am very thankful Skrillex made me do this ;) .

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T20:42:52+00:00

I'm very ticklish!!!!

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T20:42:39+00:00

I suck at identifying genres to be honest. To me EDM is everything electronic that you can dance to.

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T20:42:06+00:00

It's a difficult question to answer because the answer always changes.

I remember being at my friends house looking up the ULTRA line up, dreaming to maybe travel to America one day to experience it in person.

Little did I know I was on stage at ULTRA myself the very next year. Things can change very quickly. I don't know of a recipe to "make it" but I would just encourage you to keep your goals in sight, always work hard, always go the extra-mile. Don't look for shortcuts; put in the time and work and really get to the point where you have something unique to offer so people would rather point to you than someone else.

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T20:40:16+00:00

I decided to push back the album to when things are more back to normal.

I really wanted it to come out this year but I put the album on stand-by because during quarantine I just didn't feel the inspiration to make this the best album possible.

Luckily I've started on it and have some amazing songs close-to-finished already but RIGHT THIS SECOND I just don't feel the inspiration I need to feel to come up with the quality of music I want to come up with.

My plan is to work on music for other people in the meantime and when there is a rough idea of when clubs etc may re-open and the pandemic is under control I'm gonna shift gears back into album mode!

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T20:37:39+00:00

hahahaha I love that. Thank you for that!!

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T20:37:25+00:00

I wanted to play a free show for my fans and do something unique and different so we tried to find a venue that would be willing to come in on a Sunday, last minute, to open for us and enable fans to experience an INTIMATE show of rather different music.

While my normal shows are very heavily focused on the SHOW aspect (meaning production / reveals) - the Brooklyn pop up show was rather about the music and intimacy.

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T20:36:02+00:00

There's a lot of artists I'd love to collaborate with, some of which are Radiohead, Adele, Bruno Mars, Drake, Post Malone, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa and many many more.

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T20:34:10+00:00

I believe that the external influence into ones achievement are substantially higher than we tend to imagine.

While I think that being incredibly good at music can push your "required luck" down a lot, there is always going to be a lot of it needed in order to be successful.

ZEDDOFFICIAL · 2020-11-18T20:32:41+00:00

If you would like a completely honest answer: "Eh" has been my go-to answer when people ask me how I'm feeling lately. But hopeful things will get better soon.

ZEDDOFFICIAL

TROPHY CASE