Zeds Dead

Zeds Dead

Hooks (left) and DC (right) performing as Zeds Dead at HARD summer in Los Angeles on August 2, 2015.
Background information
Origin Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres Bass Music, Dubstep, Drumstep, Drum and Bass, Electro House, Deep House
Years active 2009–present
Labels Mad Decent, Ultra Records, Spinnin' Records, Deadbeats
Website facebook.com/zedsdead
Members DC
Hooks

Zeds Dead are a production duo turned DJ group from Toronto, Canada. Dylan Mamid (DC) and Zachary Rapp-Rovan (Hooks), rose to prominence releasing original music and remixes from 2009–10 before becoming a staple on the international touring circuit thereafter. Today they are known for their exploration of a diverse variety of genres that combine aspects of UK garage, dubstep, house, electro house, hip-hop, glitch, drum and bass, and more.

Career

Personal Background (1988-2006)

Mamid and Rapp-Rovan were born and raised in Toronto, Canada. The duo were introduced through mutual friends in 2004 when DC asked Hooks to paint a graffiti mural in his garage. They quickly discovered a mutual love for hip-hop and at the same time were both starting to produce music. They began to collaborate under the moniker ‘Mass Productions’.[1]

Mass Productions (2006-2007)

In the summer of 2007 Mass Productions independently released their first and only official release, an LP labeled "Fresh Beetz". The album, influenced by a love of digging through crates, was highly evocative of classic 1990’s hip-hop.[2]

Mass Productions did not garner much attention outside of the local scene. Zeds Dead re-released "Fresh Beetz" as a free download in 2012.[3]

Zeds Dead Beginning's (2009-2010)

DC and Hooks both began to take an interest in electronic music, and began producing high-energy dance beats under the name Zeds Dead. The group initially found a niche audience on MySpace.

Zeds Dead self-released their first track together, ‘Journey of a Lifetime’ for free.[4] They played their first live set at The Social in Toronto on June 11, 2009.

Bassmentality (2009-2013)

In 2009 Zeds Dead founded a weekly party called Bassmentality in the basement of a local Toronto dive bar ‘751’. The party was intended to give a new wave of DJ’s a way to hone their skills, while providing a venue unrestricted by concert promoters dictating what they could play. In the summer of 2010 Bassmentality grew out of the compact basement of ‘751’ and moved into Toronto’s ‘Wrongbar’.[5][2]

Bassmentality featured weekly performances from its founders, Zeds Dead and The Killabits, as well as rotating slots of local and international acts. Over the 4 years that the party existed, it debuted and broke several now acclaimed artists such as Skrillex,[6] Borgore,[7] Nero, Camo & Krooked,[8] Bare Noize,[9] and Bar 9, among others.

In 2011 Zeds Dead released the track "Bassmentality" with The Killabits as a tribute to the party and it’s fans.

Early Touring (2009-2010)

Zeds Dead launched their first official North American Tour in December 2010, playing over 40+ shows in Canada and the United States.[10] They made their European debut in June 2010 in the U.K, playing a string of dates around the electronic music festival Gottwood in Wales.[11] The Graveyard Tour in 2011 was the first tour of its scale for Zeds Dead. From September to December the duo played over 50 dates across North America.[12]

International Renown (2011-Present)

The Victor EP

The Victor EP was released in March 2012 on Mad Decent’s Jeffree’s label.[13] The album was a collaboration between Zeds Dead and Toronto-based artist Omar LinX. It featured Omar’s rap vocals over seven Zeds Dead tracks. DatPiff called the album "[a fusion between] nostalgic 90s sample-based hip hop [and] futuristic bass [with] cinematic soundscapes."[14]

The single "You and I" has a music video that was shot throughout North America during the Living Dead Tour. It currently has over 13 million plays on YouTube.[15]

The Living Dead EP

The Living Dead EP was released in July 2012 on Ultra Records and was the second collaborative album with Omar LinX released that year. A music video was released for the title track on July 12. The video featured actor Peter Greene who played the character ‘Zed’ in Quentin Tarantino’s "Pulp Fiction", the film that inspired the duo’s name.[16]

The Hot Sauce EP

The Hot Sauce EP was released in January 2013 on Diplo’s Mad Decent label.[17] The EP was noted to as a breakout album for the group, showcasing their adeptness in making music that a showcases a variety of genres.[18][19] The first single, Demons, has a video directed by Benjamin Millepied, the dancer who choreographed Darren Aronofsky’s 2010 film, Black Swan.[20] The video reinterprets Michael Jackson’s classic Thriller video. The single was also featured in the video game Saints Row IV,[21] and the movie Step Up: All In.

Zeds Dead received a cease and desist order from the hot sauce manufacturer Tabasco regarding the albums original artwork. Tabasco believed the artwork to be overly similar to their branding. Subsequently Zeds Dead was forced to remove all original art and promotional videos for the album.

Somewhere Else EP

Zeds Dead released the Somewhere Else EP in July 2014 on Mad Decent. The Album contains collaborations and features with Twin Shadow, D’Angelo Lacy, Omar LinX, Big Gigantic, Bright Lights, Sean Price, Perry Farrel, and Dirtyphonics.[22] Somewhere Else charted several Billboard charts upon release, including the Billboard Top 200.[23]

Prior to its release, the single Lost You featuring Twin Shadow & D’Angelo Lacy was intentionally leaked online by Zeds Dead through a craigslist missed connections ad in which users were sent a short clip of the video upon responding.[24] In May 2015 the video for Lost You received an MMVA nomination for best EDM/Dance video and won the award for Best Post-Production.[25]

2 Night Stand Tour

In 2015 Billboard exclusively announced Zeds Dead ‘2 Night Stand Tour’, and plans for a new album in 2016. The quickly sold out tour aimed to take the duo off the festival circuit and place them in historically significant venues in major North American cities for two nights each.[26]

A portion of the proceeds from the 2 Night Stand tour went to benefit the Florida rehab clinic ‘Recovery Unplugged’, which aims to "provide hope and healing for individuals affected by addiction using the power of music."[27]

On the Austin stop of the 2 Night Stand tour, Zeds Dead attached heart rate monitors to 4 fans during their set and analyzed the results. The test concluded that there was a clear rise in heart rate during the performance and a correlation of heart rate peaks during key points in the set.[28]

Deadbeats

On March 1, 2016 Zeds Dead announced they have launched their own record label, Deadbeats, alongside the release of a new track 'Back Home' featuring Freddie Gibbs.[29]

Fun Facts

The band name may come from a quote from the Quentin Tarantino film "Pulp Fiction" when Butch Coolidge, played by Bruce Willis, steals a chopper from a rapist named Zed, after Butch's ally shot Zed and proceeded to torture him to death. When Coolidge gets home, his partner asks him where he got the chopper. He tells her he got it from Zed, when she then asks "who's Zed?" He replies with "Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead."

Discography

Albums/EPs

Title Details Peak chart positions
US Dance
US Indie
US Heat
Top 200
Rudeboy
Adrenaline
  • Release date: January 23, 2012
  • Label: Inspected Records
  • Formats: Digital download
11 15
Victor EP
The Living Dead 42
Hot Sauce 13 34 6
Somewhere Else 4 18 2 136
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Remix Albums

Title Details
Somewhere Else Remixes

Other productions/releases

Awards

Much Music Video Awards

Year Recipient/Nominated work Award Result
2015 Lost You featuring Twin Shadow and D’Angelo Lacy Best EDM/Dance Video Nominated
Lost You featuring Twin Shadow and D’Angelo Lacy Best Post-Production Won

Juno Awards

Year Recipient/Nominated work Award Result
2015 Lost You featuring Twin Shadow and D’Angelo Lacy Video Of The Year Nominated
Zeds Dead Breakthrough Group Of The Year Nominated

References

  1. *Please enter your name. "Exclusive Interview with Zeds Dead". Webcache.googleusercontent.com. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  2. 1 2 Freyman, Falyn (2013-08-02). "Zeds Dead's Hooks on Their Early Days: "We Made Our Own Scene" | New Times Broward-Palm Beach". Browardpalmbeach.com. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  3. "18 Zeds Dead Tracks from Before They Became Zeds Dead". RaverRafting. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  4. Biography by Andy Kellman. "Zeds Dead | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  5. "Get to know a DJ: Zeds Dead". Blogto.com. 2011-12-27. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  6. "Bassmentality - Bassmentality added a new photo.". Facebook. 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  7. "Bassmentality - Bassmentality + Embrace PRESENT:...". Facebook. 2012-10-11. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  8. "Bassmentality - Bassmentality added a new photo.". Facebook. 2012-05-31. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  9. "Bassmentality - Bassmentality added a new photo.". Facebook. 2012-07-12. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  10. Mao!. "Zeds Dead Grave Yard Tour (Playing Sd & L.A. This Week) And New Mad Decent Release!". Tilt Mag. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  11. "RA: Gottwood Festival 2010 at Carregewlyd Estate, West + Wales (2010)". Residentadvisor.net. 2010-06-12. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  12. "The Graveyard Tour: Zeds Dead". AM Only. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  13. "Zeds Dead / Omar LinX - Victor (File, MP3) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  14. "Zeds Dead & Omar LinX - Victor Mixtape - Stream & Download". Datpiff.com. 2012-03-21. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  15. ""You and I" (Zeds Dead & Omar LinX) (Official Music Video) | Zeds Dead". YouTube. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  16. "Zeds Dead & Omar LinX - The Living Dead (Official Video) (Ultra Music)". YouTube. 2013-03-02. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  17. "Zeds Dead - Hot Sauce (File, MP3) at Discogs". Discogs.com. 2013-01-29. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  18. "Zeds Dead – Hot Sauce EP". Salacious Sound. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  19. "dc_zedsdead comments on We are Hooks & DC of Zeds Dead. A us A". Reddit.com. 2014-07-01. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  20. "Zeds Dead - "Demons" (Official Video) Directed by Benjamin Millepied". YouTube. 2013-03-02. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  21. [%= data.comment.created_on %]. "Saints Row 4 tracklist revealed, features 109 tracks". Polygon. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  22. "Zeds Dead - Somewhere Else". Discogs. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  23. "Zeds Dead". Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  24. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  25. "Check Out The Full List Of MMVA Winners Now!". Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  26. "Zeds Dead Announce New Tour and Album, Premiere 'One Time' ft. Murs: Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  27. "Zeds Dead: Using Business for Good on the #2NightStand Tour". Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  28. "DJ duo Zeds Dead attached heart rate monitors on their fans and analyzed the results". Boing Boing. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  29. "Zeds Dead Announces New Label, Releases 'Back Home' Feat. Freddie Gibbs". Billboard. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  30. "Somewhere Else (Remixes)". iTunes. Retrieved 5 April 2016.

External links

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