28/05/2021
THIS. IS. WEEK. 12. 🔥
AND WE GOT Z**I ¡¡¡
This man has been making big moves like releasing on Subsidia Records and I.AM.Audio as well as a collab with Chassi on Bassweight Records.
Our goal here at MFMF is to connect people with artists they love on personal level and to let other producers/DJ’s know that the people they look up to where once in their same position and even if its looking grime that they can make it out of that and do what they want with their music careers.
So to help with that we asked Z**I 10 questions about him and here are his replies.
1. Q) Where did the name come from¿ is there a funny story behind it¿
1. A) Z**I is my actual last name, so no funny story as to how I chose it, BUT it is a funny coincidence that it also means “pee pee” in French. In terms of my logo, it’s also based on my name and uses the letters to form into an hourglass. The hourglass represents my brand, and the mantra is “time is a construct”, purposely conveyed as one continuous word to represent the absence of space (space time).
2. Q) Who where some of the first edm artists you listened to¿
2. A) The first electronic artists in general that I listened to were DJ Mango, Daft Punk, Avicii, Calvin Harris, Flux Pavillion, Doctor P and Vicetone.
3. Q) How did your family react when you first told them you wanted to be a DJ/producer and did the way the response change the bigger and more well known you became¿
3. A) My mom really hasn’t shown much confidence or excitement in me wanting to pursue a music career, primarily because it comes off as ambiguous to people who only have an outsider’s or surface level perspective/understanding of what a career as a touring DJ would look like. My former step dad also conveyed lots of doubt and disapproval, but he also didn’t think I would amount to anything successful in general. The lack of support only made me push for it that much harder. They weren’t able to accept my passion but that didn’t mean I had to subject it to that negativity.
4. Q) A big part of being a musician in any genre is people hating on the music you make. How do you handle that and not let it get to you¿
4. A) I already knew from the jump not everyone would like what I made, so that was to be expected. I take criticism very well and it takes a whole lot to phase or offend me, and I mean a whole lot. I’m glad I’m free from the military but it definitely gave me some thick skin thanks to drill sergeants roasting you into oblivion 24/7. I had a motto I liked to remember during my earlier phases of music production where struggle and frustration was the norm. The motto was “you’re gonna suck until you don’t” and that’s pushed me all the way to this point. Subtronics also preaches to drill your weaknesses and that has immensely changed my view to be welcoming of critique and even haters in general.
5. Q) What other genres outside of edm do you listen to and take inspiration from to help make your own music¿
5. A) I listen to a whole lot outside of electronic and will try to pull from multiple and bring it back to my take on melodic bass. Those genres are orchestral, pop, hip- hop, rock, metal, alternative, indie, instrumental, ambient, acoustic, and soundtrack scores. I pick out the most memorable aspects of a genre when I intend to bring it back to electronic.
6. Q) What was the craziest thing you ever witnessed at a show either in the crowd or while playing¿
6. A) The craziest thing I’ve seen at a festival was year 1 at Lost Lands when the volcano caught on fire during Destroid. I honestly thought it was part of the set until they cut the music lol.
7. Q) When you first started to dive into edm did your friend group f**k with it or where you the only one bumping edm¿
7. A) My friend group definitely got down to electronic music just as much as I did. I usually made sure to surround myself with likeminded folk and that resulted in my friend group during college becoming my festival squad while I was living in NY. Even before then back in High School, a lot of my friends ended up liking dubstep because we liked to street dance and dubstep became the go to genre for pop and locking after that one Pumped Up Kicks video..
8. Q) What would you say you struggle with the most when it comes to production¿
8. A) My biggest struggle currently with production is overthinking. It is the #1 culprit to derailing a productive session and creating a ton of unnecessary self doubt in what I make. It’s hard to combat because it can occur with anything, from not knowing if something is EQ’d for the best, to whether or not I should simplify or enhance a sound. I’ve been getting better at combating it but definitely hasn’t gone away completely yet.
9. Q) Self doubt is a problem for many artist especially ones just starting out. How did you handle any self doubt you had¿
9. A) I don’t think self doubt is really something you can erase altogether or really handle. The way I see it is that self doubt is an inevitable effect of pushing oneself to do anything outside of our comfort zone. As soon as you leave that zone, it’s natural to think about the “what if’s” in terms of whether you made the right decision. The only way to know is if you actually see it through, since if you quit along the way, you never allowed yourself to truly know if it was actually the right decision for you. That’s how I push through it.
10. Q) If your not already at what point will you be content with your music career¿
10. A) I don’t think I will be content with my career until I’ve done all I aspire to do, which is to have my own annual tour, play main stage Lands and/or EDC, launch a record label to cultivate rising talent, and to make at least several albums that convey me and my musical journey to the best of my ability. Got a long way to go until then but I’m in no rush. After all, it’s a marathon, not a race.
Z**I also had this for a closing statement.
I appreciate the spotlight and the interest in my music and craft. It's super fulfilling to be able to share my experiences and have it impact someone positively, so thanks for making that possible. Peace love unity respect as always. Check out my linktree if you'd like to keep up to date with all things Z**I. Got some big tracks on the way 🙂
So there you have it, a lil inside into Z**I’s come up and what life was like starting out.
Z**I just dropped a track on subsida called refraction alongside mikesh!ft and vezzel and a link for that can be found in the comments along with his socials and a promo vid for a new track coming out.💯
AS ALWAYS THANK YOU EVERYONE🙏🏽 the team at MFMF and Z**I himself appreciate you guys reading this and MASSIVE shout out to Z**I for taking the time to do this❤️ we hope to see you guys next week¡💖🥰
