GRAMMY-winning producer/DJ Zedd recently participated in an exclusive GRAMMY.com interview to discuss his songwriting process and writing his GRAMMY-winning hit "Clarity" featuring Foxes.
"I was actually really close [to] not even putting ['Clarity'] on the album because I was not happy with the way the vocals sounded," said Zedd. "A few days before deadline my manager [brought] me Foxes' [music] and … I was like, "That's exactly the kind of voice I want for 'Clarity.'"
Born Anton Zaslavski in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Zedd began playing piano at age 4. At 12 he learned to play drums and soon after performed with post-hardcore/metal trio Dioramic. In 2009 his interest in producing electronic music was piqued after discovering French electronic duo Justice.
Zedd broke onto the European electronic music scene in 2010 with a remix of Skrillex's GRAMMY-winning track "Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites." He subsequently remixed songs for artists such as Lady Gaga and B.o.B, among others. In 2012 Zedd released his debut full-length album, Clarity, which peaked in the Top 40 on the Billboard 200. The GRAMMY-winning title track was produced and mixed by Zedd and co-written by Skylar Grey, Matthew Koma and Porter Robinson. The song features Foxes, the stage name for UK-born electro-pop singer/songwriter Louisa Rose Allen. "Clarity" picked up Best Dance Recording honors at the 56th GRAMMY Awards in January.
Zedd is currently in the midst of an international tour with dates scheduled through November.
(Exclusive, full-length video is available to Recording Academy members at GRAMMYPro.com.)