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Since the release of his seminal collection of debut originals, the ‘Game Time’ EP in 2011, Zomboy has made a global impact on the EDM scene. His originals and remixes for DJ Fresh, Skrillex, Flux Pavilion and Hadouken! have clocked up over 8 million views on YouTube and kept the hoards of fans at bay.
The time has come for the follow up EP of the year…The undead returns with the cracking ‘The Dead Symphonic’ EP and North American tour, aptly entitled The Dead Symphonic US Tour.
The Dead Symphonic EP is a snapshot of a producer who is developing his palette at an alarming rate. No tempo is left uncovered as the EP twists and turns through hands-in-the-air drumstep, daft punk’esque electro, orchestral interludes and of course, the sonically perfected dubstep for which he has become so well known for.
Zomboy took a moment to have a chat with us about the EP and the tour ahead of his appearance.
Hey Josh, how are you?
I’m good thanks!
It’s been a year since you released your last EP, but that’s not to say you haven’t been busy with remixes for DJ Fresh, Nadia Ali and some others under your belt, would you say it’s been a good year? What have been your highlights?
Yeah, remixing DJ Fresh was quite cool, it was ‘Hot Right Now’ which ended up being a number
1 in the charts, and my Skrillex remix made it on to the Never Say Die album that came out earlier
this year along with a few of my other tunes, could say its been pretty successful, yeah!
I’m really busy gig wise now too; I play out almost every weekend. Highlights have been the
festivals like Electric Daisy Carnival in the states, and one of my favourites has to be Run To The
Sun as its held in my home county of Cornwall, and that was wicked to play at home for a change!
So, The Dead Symphonice EP is due out on 3rd September. Did you have a set theme for the EP?
Not really, mainly because it took me so long to decide which tracks to go on it. They do all
have an orchestral edge though, hence the name ‘The Dead Symphonic’ EP.
Sound wise, did you stick to a certain style, or would you say you’ve really mixed it all up and each track has a different personality?
I think you’ll definitely be able to tell that all of the tracks are mine. I’ve spent a lot of time over
the past year working on sound design, so they all have a kind of consistency sonically, but
content wise I tried to switch it up as much as possible within the EDM framework.
You’ve remixed some pretty big tracks and names this year including DJ Fresh,
Skrillex and Nadia Ali – what are the pro’s and cons of remixing against producing your own originals, and vice versa?
The pro’s of remixing are obviously that the general idea is already there, so you’re adding
your own slant to it without having to come up with the entire idea from start to finish, for that
reason they can be really fun and quick to do too. A con would be that sometimes you give
away some of your best ideas in a piece of work that isn’t an original and fully yours.
Which do you enjoy more?
Originals, because you get complete creative control and you’re not limited by someone’s
expectations of why they’ve asked you to do a remix in the first place.
Were there any testing moments during the production of the EP (what)?
I start so many tunes and I’ve just got folders and folders of ideas, so I guess the hardest part
was picking which six tracks to finish and use.
What’s your favorite track on it, why?
I can’t really answer that; they’re all special for different reasons.
Did you try anything new out on any of the tracks?
This is the first time I’ve worked with a vocalist as Zomboy with Belle Humble on ‘City 2 City’ –
that was interesting as it was a different dynamic for me. There were a lot of tempo changes
within the EP too, ‘Vancouver Beatdown’ was my first attempt at a dancefloor electro track, it
was really fun working at that tempo as I could draw influences from heroes of mine such as
Daft Punk, and the whole French sound in general.
You’re touring North America in conjunction of the release, are you looking forward to it? Which city are you most looking forward to visiting?
I can’t wait for the tour; I’ve had a little taster of what gigs in America are like after playing at
EDC in Las Vegas and at Starscape in Baltimore back in June. I’m sure it’s going be different
playing my own headline shows though. City wise, I’ve heard Denver is a hot spot but I’m
looking forward to all of them!
Zomboy’s ‘The Dead Symphonic’ EP is out on 3rd September, worldwide. Pre-order here: http://bit.ly/O14ks0
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Excellent interview! The EP is fantastic as well. He hit the money regarding Denver. That’s where I live and dubstep is king out here. Can’t wait to see you!!