The Dead Symphonic

UK producer Zomboy, aka Josh Mellody, released his debut EP Game Time on Never Say Die Records last year and since then, his dubstep sound has been melting minds around the world. ANNABEL MACLEAN chats with the young gun about his new EP The Dead Symphonic, orchestral music and fan tattoos. Before Game Time, Josh Mellody was producing and mixing bands. Now, in just over a year, his Zomboy moniker has taken off, and Beatport amongst other online music communities are just some of the mediums which have propelled the young UK producer into the spotlight. “It was crazy, I hadn’t even DJ’d before and all of a sudden I had to go and play in front of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people, so I had to pick it up really quickly,” Mellody says of his life post the release of Game Time. “Then came the tour of Australia and that was really fun, and my first taste of being a full time working DJ.” Now, having worked on his follow-up EP to Game Time entitled The Dead Symphonic EP, Mellody has just begun his first huge headline tour in the States to celebrate its release. “I am really excited about it!,” he says. “I have played in America before - played Electric Daisy Carnival and Starscape in Baltimore back in June and those were amazing, the crowd was full of energy and made it really fun to play there, so I’m hopeful that the tour gigs will be just as good - touring my own headline gigs will be different too so that’s a different aspect to look forward to.” Sonically, Mellody says the main difference between Game Time and The Dead Symphonic EP is the fact that he’s now had a year’s worth of DJing experience and been able to listen to music on club systems since Game Time was released. “I didn’t change my setup for The Dead Symphonic EP but sound wise I used a lot of tempo and also introduced a more dancefloor electro sound with one of the tracks Vancouver Beatdown,” he says. “I was able to draw influences from heroes of mine like Daft Punk, plus draw influence from the whole French sound that I really like which made working on that track really fun!” The Dead Symphonic EP is also a lot more instrumental than Mellody’s previous work, with Hoedown bringing orchestral elements into the mix. “I really enjoy composing with orchestral instruments,” Mellody admits. “Writing music in this way means when I’m putting together ideas for a track I think more about the music which once I have added my production techniques I have more complete sound. I bought this incredible synth/sampler that shall remain a Zomboy secret; it’s amazing for doing orchestral pieces on and that’s why you hear so much of that in the new EP.” Aside from this new EP, Mellody has a track with British female rapper Lady Chann coming out on a compilation EP on Never Say Die Records which includes tracks from 501, Mobscene and Habstrakt. “I’m not sure what Never Say Die have planned for me but I’m sure it involves lots of big remixes, lots of big shows and more musical output,” he says. “I’m written over 30 new ideas on the road and I don’t want to have my fans wait another year for some new stuff. We are also discussing a live Zomboy show for 2013 that I am really excited about so watch this space.” No doubt fans are already pumped; after all, some of them already have Zomboy tattoos. “I’ve had three people send me photos so far, two people had one on their leg and someone else had one on their arm… when I first started I definitely didn’t expect fans to be tattooing my logo on themselves!”