Ep. 229: Zedd | Inside the Mind Behind a Decade of Anthems

Today's guest went from making songs on a floppy-disk keyboard, sampling off a Kellogg’s cereal box DAW, and sending blind MySpace messages… to producing the some of the biggest crossover dance anthems of the last decade. And The Writer Is... Zedd!

What makes this conversation special isn’t just the hits — it’s how brutally honest he is about the craft, the obsession, and the unexpected moments that built his career.

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Chapters:

0:00:00 – Teaser 

0:01:06 – Welcome & Episode Intro 

35:58 – Zedd on Never Thinking He’d Be Successful 

25:41 – Growing Up Poor & Studying One Album a Month 

18:01 – The Kellogg’s DAW That Started Everything 

15:33 – Learning Music on a 16-Track Floppy-Disk Keyboard 

30:44 – Why He Thought EDM Was a Joke at First 

38:12 – The Skrillex MySpace Story That Changed His Life 

31:25 – Finding His Sound Through Curiosity & Obsession 

47:14 – The “Lightning Moment” Behind Clarity 

59:34 – Being Wrong More Often Than Right 

1:03:03 – Why Most Music Feels the Same Today 

1:03:37 – Extraordinary vs. Average: What Listeners Actually Feel 

1:00:08 – “All I’m Doing Is Chasing a Feeling” 

56:26 – The Chaos Behind Making The Middle 

1:00:47 – Realizing the Scale of His Own Success 

28:23 – What It Takes to Stay Inspired 

6:48 – The Creative Principles He Still Lives By 

41:22 – The Fastest Way for Artists to Get Noticed 

1:05:23 – Zedd’s Final Advice for Musicians 

1:07:19 – Closing Thoughts

Hosted by Ross Golan

Produced by Joe London and Jad Saad

Watercolor by Michael White

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