Stereoboard Speak To Canadian Electronic Dance Duo Zeds Dead Ahead Of Their Recent London Show
Tuesday, 18 December 2012
Written by Adam Holden
Firstly, saw you guys briefly in TomorrowLand, and it was pretty sick and very intense – in a positive manner of course.
2012 has been a pretty big year for Zeds Dead I assume. So before we indulge into the music and chat ‘EDM’, I wanted to just let the people who don’t know too much about yourselves get a quick background check.
So what are your names, age and where do you come from?
DC: I’m DC, I’m 24 and I’m from Toronto Canada
Hooks: I'm Hooks, same age, same hometown.
I know the name ‘Zeds Dead’ came from Pulp Fiction. Now, personally, Pulp Fiction is the greatest movie ever made, and with that in mind, and before we talk music, I wanted to test your Pulp Fiction knowledge with a quick fire question round.
Who is Zed?
A fucked up guy
What does Samuel L Jackson’s wallet have on it?
Bad motherfucker
What is John Travolta’s character called?
Vincent Vega
Who does John Travolta shoot in the face?
Marvine
What is ¼ pounder called in Paris?
Royal with cheese
If The Wolf is a 30 minute drive away from Travolta and Jackson’s characters, how long will it take him to arrive there?
10 mins
What is in the briefcase that belongs to Marsellus Wallace?
I heard it was his soul, but they never say in the movie.
Now onto some music. Being of Canadian descent, what are your thoughts on surely Canada’s biggest electronic export – Deadmau5?
Hooks: Well it's either him or that robotic arm Canada made for the shuttle. We take great pride in that arm.
Dubbed an electronic pioneer for his producing, very recently he had been quite vocal with his opinions on EDM (electronic dance music), almost being derogatory about the presence and future of the genre. At a Future Sound Keynote talk he conversed about the future of electronica being about the production rather than the track selection and mixing/remixing. What are your thoughts on this?
DC: I think there will always be a large place for both. More and more people are doing interesting things with their live set ups, be it producing on the fly or building up and breaking down other peoples tracks. The more we play out and make new music the more our set starts to become predominantly our own work. That being said, the need to have someone straight up rock a party and play the hits will always be there.
Everywhere you read about electronic music at the moment, the same notion seems to be present, which is that EDM is blowing up like never before. EDM festivals are popping up more frequently and with colossal capacities. In America and Canada, it is said to be sky rocketing to dizzying heights, how true is this?
DC: Very true, over the summer we played a handful of festivals that have been some of the highlights of our career. People are coming out by the tens of thousands and the energy is unparalleled.
Hooks: The way its invaded pop production is crazy. So many tracks on the radio now have dance style build-ups. I think because of the mainstream EDM hits from guys like David Guetta the underground scenes have been propelled upwards as well to the point where EDM as whole has an enormous audience.
What is your thought on the term EDM, as most DJs I know vent a surprising amount of distress at the acronym. Deadmau5 even called it ‘Event Driven Marketing’. Is there any issue with the acronym and will this have any effect on the genre of electronica as it becomes more popular?
DC: It doesn’t bother me that much, I suppose I would rather our music was classified in a genre that didn’t only imply that the music is strictly of a danceable nature.
Hooks: The funny thing to me about Electronic Dance Music is that at most of the concerts there's not really much actual dancing. There's a lot of fist pumping, jumping, moshing, crowd surfing, arm waving, but dancing is pretty low on the list.
Staying on the topic of the future of EDM, which obviously encompasses many genres and even more niche off shoots of electronica, what do you think is the future of dub step? Does is have enough in itself to last the distance and become a sustained genre of EDM?
DC: I think dubstep at its core is such an open format that it has solidified itself as a genre that’s not going anywhere anytime soon. I do think that different brands of it will rise and fall, be it the sub heavy wobbly stuff that was popular a few years ago or the heavy tear out stuff that is especially popular in North America now. As a whole though it can be utilized in so many different that I think it will be around for a while.
Chatting to a DJ called Sub Focus last year, he said that in his mind dub step had already peaked and is integrating other genres of music into a new hybrid called ‘bass music’, what are your thoughts on that?
DC: That sort of touches on what I was saying before. In a way it’s peaking at the moment but it could be that just one style of it is peaking. As the genre continues to evolve it will continue to amalgamate different styles and genres into its own format.
A lot of rumours are being flown around at the moment about some heavyweight disc jockeys, who we shall not name (but was last year’s DJ Mag’s world’s number 1 DJ), are turning up to their sets and just hitting play. Yes, the argument goes that they are premixed by the DJ before the live set and is in sense still their set. However, doesn’t that take away the essence of live music? If a band turned up and mimed their music, they would be slaughtered. What do you think about this and do you know any DJ’s who frequently do this? Surely this takes away the ability to change tracks and shift moods to coincide with the crowd and atmosphere?
Hooks: When I go to shows to see artists I like I'm interested in being taken on some sort of ride that involves songs of theirs that I'm familiar with as well as new unreleased ones but I'm not really concerned with how they accomplish it. That being said it's a lot more interesting when you know that they're doing things live. If I knew that the person I paid to go see was doing absolutely nothing up there and just pretending, I would lose some respect for them as a performer. It wouldn't take away from them as a producer, although it might make suspicious that they also get ghost produced.
Moving on to you guys specifically for a little. 2012 has been a big year for you guys. Coachella, TomorrowLand, Lollapalooza and now a European tour. Generic journalistic question, but where is the best you have played and where are you most looking forward to on the tour?
DC: One of my favourite experiences of recent memory was playing Red Rocks in Colorado. It’s an amphitheatre essentially carved out of a mountain and situated between two large red rocks. Totally surreal experience standing on that stage, things got emotional.
As far as this tour goes I’m excited about everywhere we're playing that we haven’t before. I never know what to expect with our gigs in places I’m not especially familiar with but so far I’ve been constantly surprised for the most part.
Sandwiched in between dates in France and Germany, you have your headlining slot in London on the 14th at Cable. How much are you guys looking forward to this one?
DC: Always love playing in London, this will be our third time playing Cable and we expect a smasher.
Are you at all gutted you will be only in London for one night?
DC: Yeah, always lots of people I want to see and catch up with when I’m there but probably won’t get a chance to this time.
Being a big fan of your Massive Attack remix and especially of your remix of Prodigy’s ‘Firestarter’, have you got anything up your sleeve for the new tour? Any hints for new remixes?
Hooks: We're doing a remix of an old Nina Simone track right now that we're really stoked on. Also we have a remix of Marina and the Diamonds that should be coming out soon.
And what’s going on with your new EP? Any news for your fans?
Hooks: Hopefully it will be out in January.
And finally guys, what do you want for Christmas?
Hooks: A trip some place warm.
DC: A lump of coal.
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2012 has been a pretty big year for Zeds Dead I assume. So before we indulge into the music and chat ‘EDM’, I wanted to just let the people who don’t know too much about yourselves get a quick background check.
