Joshua Mellody did not build Zomboy to last.
In the early 2010s, Mellody, now 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,” says Mellody 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 (including a recent, smash reworking of the Chainsmokers’ “Don’t Let Me Down”), and released a series of well-received, bass-minded EPs; his next release is tentatively set to drop in August.
In advance of his Friday and Saturday shows at Concord Music Hall, he broke down his big come up. The following is an edited transcript of that 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: Lucky for me, 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, coming from the rock world. 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: Obviously, 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 very 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’re winning people over?
A: Mosh pits.
Q: What’s the tipoff that you’re not?
A: They sit still, they cross their arms. 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.”
Q: Do you remember the first EDM song you made?
A: I grew up in a very small town in England, and was never exposed to dance music. I’d never heard of this EDM stuff. I moved up to London to get a degree in sound engineering, and the people I’d moved into a house with started showing me tech house, progressive house (music). I was just kind of like, “This is awful. Kill me.” Then one day, someone showed me Skrillex and I was like, this basically electronic metal. At this point, I was in bands. — I had never considered writing dance music. They were like, “You should try to do it,” and I was like, “Nah.” For a few weeks, they twisted my wrist and got me to do it. I made a couple of demos, put them up online, and my now-manager and label found me within a month. It was like, zero to a hundred real quick.
Q: Do DJs need to have charisma to reach superstardom? Or can they be a little nerdy up there?
A: For me it was like, you need to be interesting, you can’t just stand there and play music. You don’t want to create a scenario where fans are thinking, “Wow, I could’ve pressed play on your record back home and gotten the same experience.” It is important to have charisma, and almost like a different persona, kind of like Ziggy Stardust.
Q: You’ll need a pop star girlfriend to get to the A-plus level of DJs, right? A Taylor Swift or Ellie Goulding?
A: I’m not about that life (laughs). I like to keep my personal life very separate from my Zomboy life.
Allison Stewart is a freelance writer.
Twitter @chitribent
When: 8 p.m. (doors) Friday and Saturday (Friday sold out)
Where: Concord Music Hall, 2047 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Tickets: $26 (17+); 773-570-4000 or www.ticketfly.com
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