Does Zedd speak Russian? What is known about the Saratov native, who became one of the most expensive DJs in the world

In the latest list, which calculated the annual income of electronic musicians and DJs, the podium is occupied by the familiar figures of Calvin Harris, David Guetta and Tiesto. The surprises begin further: in fourth place on the list is Zedd, who has become $24 million richer, according to his passport - Anton Zaslavsky.

Born into a family of music teachers, Anton began preparing his attack on the charts in Saratov, where his father taught him to play the guitar and his mother taught him to play the piano. He began receiving classical music education at the age of four. At the same age, Anton left Russia: his parents moved to Germany, settling in the city of Kaiserslautern.

Future Zedd (center) with his older brother and father, 2001

In Germany, the Zaslavsky brothers studied at a sports school and continued to improve their musical skills - in particular, they played metal in the group Dioramic. Video of the future dance star's childhood performances on his father's YouTube channel.

This is the drummer the German metalcore scene has lost

The release of Justice's album "Cross" was the reason why Anton traded his drum kit for Beatport, which charted him on Skrillex's "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites".

The acquaintance with the American brostep star began with online correspondence - Zedd sent him to show him what he could do. Skrillex responded a couple of minutes later and asked to send the track in good quality so that he could play it in his sets. Soon Zedd was signed to Skrillex's label and went on tour with him.

The Zedd of 2013 is already producing tracks for Lady Gaga and releasing his own crossover hits with guest vocalists, simultaneously aiming for EDM dance floors and pop radio airwaves. His first big hit, “Clarity,” earned Zedd a Grammy for Best Dance Recording.

Three years later, Zedd was already playing in the big league: he composed several compositions for Lady Gaga’s album “Artpop”, went to open her tour and signed a contract with the major Interscope, where he released his debut album.

Anton prepared the music for Justin Bieber's song, not knowing who would ultimately get it. The choice for him was made by the Swedish super-producer Max Martin, responsible for the hits of Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys and Selena Gomez

Today's Zedd actively records with pop artists, both with stars like Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez, and with completely unknown ones. His albums understandably resemble collections of singles, and he performs at America's biggest festival, Coachella, where he becomes a global hero as he supports pop singer Kesha in the midst of her dramatic legal battle with ex-producer Dr. Luke.

Generally speaking, it is difficult to imagine that, so to speak, Zedd’s works will seriously interest the readers of Afisha Daily and will become part of their daily soundtrack for a long time. On the other hand, the “meet me at the checkout” argument also has a right to exist. Therefore, if you want to know what truly mass electronics of the current moment sounds like, then you should listen to this native of Saratov.

DJ Zedd from Saratov remembered his romance with Selena Gomez: “She changed my life”

Selena Gomez has been happily in a relationship with singer The Weeknd for six months, and their union looks quite strong: they met each other’s families and bought mansions in the neighborhood. However, Selena also had other novels that seemed no less vibrant and were widely discussed in the media. In an interview for the new issue of Billboard magazine, the singer's ex-boyfriend Anton Zaslavsky, better known as DJ Zedd, spoke about how Selena changed his life.

Anton Zaslavsky was born in Saratov, but as a child he moved with his parents to Germany. At the age of 20, Anton became seriously interested in electronic music, and soon his first success came to him. In 2014, Anton, who by that time had taken the pseudonym DJ Zedd, received a Grammy for the song Clarity, performed together with the British singer Foxes. However, neither the prestigious statue nor the fact that his name was constantly heard among fans of electronic music made him feel like a celebrity. That was until he met and started dating Selena Gomez. In 2015, they were together for three months.

Reporters started harassing my parents. Fans hacked my friends' phones. I was furious. Although I, of course, knew what I was getting into. Selena is one of the most famous people in the world, but I had no idea how much she would change my life.

DJ Zedd told Billboard.

As a result of the short relationship between Selena and DJ Zedd, a new song was born - I Want You To Know. Anton spoke about how he met Selena in one of his interviews:

I had a day off, which I decided to devote to buying things for the house I moved into. But on the way I wanted to go to the toilet. My sound engineer was with me, and he advised me to go to the nearest studio. Anyway, I walked in and John, the head of that studio who had just signed Selena, said, “Do you know her?” He introduced me to her and said, “Listen, she’s great, you should record a song!” A week later we were already working on I Want You to Know.

Anton currently lives in Los Angeles and has already worked with Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Liam Payne, The Black Eyed Peas and other stars.

He was born in Russia, in Saratov on September 2, 1989, and in the early 90s his family emigrated to Germany (Kaiserslautern in Rhineland-Palatinate). Parents Elena and Igor Zaslavsky are musical workers.

Has a classical musical education. He writes his own music and collaborates creatively with world-famous stars, and performs in concerts.

Knows languages: Russian, German, English and Polish. In recent years he has lived in Berlin. Anton has two brothers Arkady and Daniel and... huge plans!

Biography from a creative perspective

Born a musically gifted child, Anton was drawn to instruments almost from the cradle. At the age of four he began to master the piano, and a few years later, when he became a teenager, he switched to drums.

In 2002 he created a rock band with his older brother Arkady "Dioramic". The musicians performed heavy metal and post-hardcore - that is, what teenagers liked and drove them crazy. "Dioramic" was popular and won competitions locally.

In 2009, when the young DJ was 20 years old, he was delighted by the French "Justice", after hearing this electro-punk duo. The young man’s musical preferences changed, and soon Anton himself began to write electronic music, through which he tried to reveal his worldview. He succeeded very well.

Remixes of several songs by the American artist and DJ Skrillex changed his life dramatically: he invited Anton to perform together. Having become popular, his music hit the charts.

The single brought public recognition "Dovregubben". And time ran quickly for DJ Zedd, his creative ideas did not allow him to stop: in a relatively short period of time, many interesting compositions and original remixes of different genres were released: house with a smooth rhythm (electro and progressive), dubstep and complextro.

I added to my experience by working in creative alliances with A-list stars, including Justin Bieber, Matthew Koma, Nikki Minaj and other stars well known to the public.

Lady Gaga, his favorite singer, drew the attention of DJ Zedd to his music and invited him on a world tour. Together with the pop star, he traveled to many countries, performed as an opening act and persistently composed music. The track “Aura” was included in the film “Machete Kills,” where the pop diva played the role of the main character. Other tracks and compositions were included in the star’s music albums.

What impression did the electronic music composed by Anton make on Lady Gaga? Here is the saying of the queen of outrageousness: “I was inspired by DJ Zedd, underground art, German dance music. I’m going to my listeners!”

2014 was marked by tremendous success for DJ Zedd: he won one of the statuettes of the prestigious Grammy music award (Recording Academy of America). The jury recognized the song Clarity (British singer Foxes), written by our compatriot, as the best dance recording of the year. Although the list of this nomination included Calvin Harris and Kaskade, as well as Armin Van Buuren and Duke Dumont - already recognized masters of dance music.

Another version of the popular song "Stay The Night"(singer Hayley Willams) recently got an acoustic sound. The version is accompanied by a clip with footage from the life of DJ Zedd himself. The song turned out to be just as beautiful as its predecessor, but it sounds softer and more soulful.

Today Anton (Zedd) has the image of a talented producer and a unique DJ. But his creative nature does not know complacency. There are plans for new world tours and gigabytes of unwritten music in a special style that is unique to him - unique and easily recognizable.

Popularity and recognition in music facts

In 2011, Lady Gaga’s studio album “Born This Way” (special edition) featured two wonderful remixes by Anton, written on the music star’s tracks.
In 2012, Single of the Week, co-written by Porter Robinson, Skylar Gray and Matthew Koma with Zedd, was featured on iTunes Single of the Week. (By the way, singer Skylar Gray herself was first nominated for a Grammy in 2011. Then no one could even think that Anton Zaslavsky, Zedd, would be one of the next to receive this prestigious award.)
On November 11, 2013, American superstar Lady Gaga presented her new album ARTPOP, produced by DJ Zedd.
For 2013, in the TOP 100 DJs in the world, identified by the famous British magazine “DJ Magazine”, popular among fans of electronic music, Zedd was number 24 on the list.
Based on the results of research on behalf of opponents who disagree with DJ Magazine, the Internet portals Toppletrack and JustGo presented their list of “The TOP 100 DJs of 2013”. It was derived based on other methods and taking into account the number of listens, fans and likes, as well as other information on users from an expanded circle of social networks. Zedd is #7 on this list. Some of the DJs moved to the bottom of the list, while others completely left the honorary hundred.
In 2013, in terms of the number of pirated downloads of DJ Zedd’s work, DJ Zedd was in fifth place; the best DJ in the world, Hardwell, was in first place.
The song Stay the Night (album Clarity) performed by Zedd and singer Hayley Willams is so popular that it is translated into many languages: Italian, Persian, Greek, Hungarian, Romanian, Arabic, Turkish, French and others.
The electronic creation of the same name, presented in the form of a video, continued the promotion of the Stay the Night track. With this work, Zedd went platinum, proving his highest skill.
On YouTube alone, the “Clarity” video was viewed by almost 42 million users in a year.
DJ Zedd, as the best performer of electronic dance music, was nominated for the prestigious American Music Awards - 2013 - this award is among the main ones in America.

Russian musician, DJ and producer, known under the stage name pseudonym Zedd, winner of the prestigious music award " Grammy».

Anton Zaslavsky writes music in the electro-house genre, but is not limited to it: among his compositions there are tracks in the genres of progressive house, complextro and dubstep.

Anton Zaslavsky (Zedd). Biography

Anton Zaslavsky born on September 2, 1989 in Saratov in a family of musicians. He received a classical music education; at the age of four, Anton began studying piano at a music school.

Anton spent his childhood and youth in the German city of Kaiserslautern. When Anton Zaslavsky was 12 years old, he began to play the clarinet. Together with his brother Arkady, the guy became a member of the rock band Dioramic, founded in Kaiserslautern in 2002. Anton's interest in electronic music appeared seven years later, after he listened to the album of the French electro-punk duo Justice. In 2009, Zaslavsky began writing electronic music himself.

In 2011, Anton Zaslavsky released the single Dovregubben, which he wrote in the electro-house style. This composition immediately soared to the top of the music charts.

Anton Zaslavsky lives in Berlin. He has already worked with such world stars as Lady Gaga, Skrillex, Black Eyed Peas, Fatboy Slim, Hayley Williams.

In 2013, DJ Zedd (Anton Zaslavsky) became the producer of three compositions from Lady Gaga’s new album Artpop: Aura, G.U.Y and Donatella.

Anton Zaslavsky. Prizes and awards

In 2013, Anton Zaslavsky became a laureate of the European Border Breakers Award, which is awarded to talented emerging musicians.

In 2014, DJ Zedd received the prestigious Grammy music award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States in the category “Best Dance Recording (English) Russian.” - for the song Clarity, performed together with the British singer Foxes.

At the prestigious music awards ceremony in Los Angeles, Anton said: “I’m a little unprepared for this moment.”

Anton Zaslavsky. Personal life

At the beginning of 2015 it became known that Anton Zaslavsky dating Selena Gomez. The famous singer could not hide her new relationship for long and posted a photo on the microblog showing Russian DJ Dj Zedd tenderly hugging her waist. "I want you to know!" - the singer signed the photo.

Western journalists who covered the award were the first to write about the couple’s relationship. Golden Globe" Even then, young people posed together for gossip columnists. Then they were seen more than once walking along the streets and having lunch together. It is curious that before Anton, Selena had a very difficult relationship with Justin Bieber. Bieber, in turn, collaborated with Zaslavsky.