Zomboy went from ‘zero to a hundred’
Joshua Mellody did not build Zomboy to last.
Earlier this decade, Mellody, 28, moved to London from the small town of Penzance, Cornwall. His new flatmates explained EDM to him and suggested he try it. “I did it as a joke, to shut my housemates up,” Mellody says by phone from Oklahoma City, an early stop on his “Rott ’n’ Roll” tour. “By the time I was on the journey, it was all happening so fast.”
Mellody, who adopted the name Zomboy from a video game, quickly became one of the most famous dubstep artists in the world. He played all the right festivals, produced and remixed all the right songs and released a series of well-received, bass-minded EPs. The following is an edited transcript of our conversation.
Q: Rock stars seem to be born with charisma and stage presence, but DJs have to go out there and teach themselves how to be like rock stars.
A: I grew up in bands — rock bands, metal bands, all kinds, and playing every different instrument — so I had the experience of being onstage. I’ve always had, like, a stage presence. It’s so important in this crossover to being a DJ that you create a performance and not just stand there. For me, luckily, it comes naturally.
Q: So many DJs and EDM artists grew up listening to metal. Is there some kind of technical reason for that crossover?
A: The side of dance music that I’m in is very heavy and derives a lot from heavier kinds of music like rock and metal, so it was appealing when the sound came out. People were like, “Oh, cool, this is like an electronic version of rock and metal.” And you didn’t have to rely on four other people in a band to make this music. You could do it on your own.
Q: What was it like when you came over to North America for your first tour? You never know what you’re going to get.
A: No. I was terrified. My first show was EDC (Electric Daisy Carnival) Las Vegas in 2012, which is the biggest festival in the world, so that was kind of nerve-wracking.
Q: What was the tipoff that you were winning people over?
A: Mosh pits.
Q: What’s the tipoff that you’re not?
A: They sit still. After the first two shows, I quickly understood what people wanted when they came to see me. Now, people specifically come to see me and hear me, so I don’t really run into that trouble of people not getting it. Most of the time, I’m playing pretty hardcore (stuff ), so there’s nothing to not like. The mosh pits have gotten so crazy, I’ve had to stop the music and calm them down. I got down into the crowd and broke it up once. I stopped the music. I was like, “None of that here.”
“I’ve always had, like, a stage presence, coming from the rock world.” — Zomboy (Joshua Mellody)