Zeds Dead

“Toronto duo Zeds Dead have been running the bass game for nearly a decade…” ​ – Billboar​d

One of the most successful independent acts in today’s global dance music scene, Zeds Dead is a pioneering, JUNO-Award-nominated electronic duo hailed as “trailblazers of the modern North American bass scene” (DJ Ma​g​). Formed in 2009 in Toronto, Canada, by producers/DJs Dylan “DC” Mamid and Zachary “Hooks” Rapp-Rovan, Zeds Dead have continually pushed the boundaries of electronic music culture via their ever-evolving sound and curatorial vision. Their extensive discography — which includes multiple breakout singles, EPs, and remixes and their genre-defying debut album, Northern Lights​​ — has earned them hundreds of millions of cross-platform streams and has notched them dozens of Top 20 hits across the Billboard​ charts. Today, Zeds Dead continue to push electronic music forward via their innovative sonic style as well as their trendsetting Deadbeats Records, one of the leading indie labels in dance music that has since become its own lifestyle brand and live events powerhouse.

Named after an iconic lin​e ​ from Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 classic film, Pulp Fiction​​, Zeds Dead was born out of the lifelong friendship and creative bond of Mamid and Rapp-Rovan, known on dance floors across the world simply as DC and Hooks, respectively. They first joined forces as a duo in 2004 via their hip-hop-leaning project, Mass Productions, which produced Fresh Beetz​​, a full-length album of instrumentals and rap beats, in 2007. After discovering electronic music while in college, the two switched lanes and formed Zeds Dead, in which they combined their passion for hip-hop attitude and swagger with the frenetic energy of electronic music. Their self-released debut song as Zeds Dead, the electro-powered “Journey of a Lifetim​e,” came in October 2009.​

Alongside their blossoming career as artists, Zeds Dead were also establishing themselves as independent players within the local club circuit. In 2009, they launched Bassmentality, a weekly event series held in a small Toronto bar that showcased the emerging sounds and artists bubbling up from the dubstep and bass global underground. Led by the forward-thinking tastes of Zeds Dead, Bassmentality quickly became one of Canada’s premier club nights and a go-to destination for the burgeoning electronic scene in North America, hosting early performances from today’s foremost dance music artists, including Skrillex, Borgore and Nero, among many others.

While they’re leaders in the worldwide bass community, Zeds Dead command a fluid sound that fuses diverse genres, from hard-hitting dubstep and throttling drum & bass to ethereal electronic and raw hip-hop.