British producer Joshua Jenkin, better known as Zomboy, has given us filthy beats since 2011 and he’s just scratching the surface of his full potential. Zomboy recently embarked on his first headlining, full-production tour in order to promote his upcoming album, The Outbreak.
For his show at 9:30 Club in Washington D.C., he was joined by tour mates Cookie Monsta and TC, along with local artists Beltway Bandits and Knoxbox. WhiteRaverRafting was able to sit down exclusively with Zomboy before his 1AM set, and we learned some very interesting bits about the 25 year old dubstep prodigy.
WRR: Can you choose one Zomboy song that should be on everyone’s iPod?
Zomboy: Just because of the controversial side of it it’s got to be “Terror Squad” because of the thing between me and Skrillex. The story behind it was I wrote it after we had a session. Me and Sonny were at his studio, just listening, jamming, chilling out as friends and he was showing me a bunch of ideas he had. I subconsciously got hold of one of his ideas, and when I wrote “Terror Squad” I didn’t know at the time, but it was quite similar to the song he had been showing me. After “Terror Squad” was released, he was like, ‘wow, that was pretty much my idea’. Rather than him releasing his song just the way it was, he decided to go all in and mimic my version, which is the first track on his album, “All is fair in Love and Brostep”. He uses my sample, “It’s fucking Zomboy”, but then when it says “Zomboy”, it goes “Ha Ha!”.
WRR: Having a radio show or podcast seems to be a hot commodity right now. Have you considered launching one of your own?
Zomboy: To be honest I don’t have time to be doing anything like that. I’m constantly on the road, writing new material, working on the new album. I’m not trying to take away from the one’s that do do it, but they’re not normally on such busy schedules. I’m not trying to say I’m the busiest guy in the world, but I don’t know how they would find time for it if they were touring like I do. Plus, the time I would be putting into a podcast, I would rather be using it towards writing original music.
WRR: Where is Zomboy’s primary residence these days when he’s not on the road?
Zomboy: I live in Gilford, which is just outside of London. I just a got a new apartment and brand new car, an Audi R8 V-10. But I’m pretty much never in the UK to sleep in the new apartment or drive the new car.
WRR: Would you consider a nightclub residency in Las Vegas?
Zomboy: Oh, I don’t know about that. For one, I’m not really the right kind of music for it. If someone was to ask me I’d be honored. I don’t have anything against it, and people doing the right music it’s all good. It’s just something a bit demoralizing about the whole fact that you know you’re playing at the club where people aren’t necessarily there for you – they’re there for the image and party scene. You hear all these bloody stories where the DJ says the crowd has their back to them, and as an artist I couldn’t handle that. Maybe the old traditional way it was fine because that’s how it used to be, where the DJ was in the corner providing the music. Now, we’ve kind of been handed it all on a platter, and they’re trying to take it back off us in Vegas. There’s nothing against it, I totally understand it, I just don’t know if I could do it. But, every man has got their price.
WRR: When you put on a show, do you take more pride in “bringing the party” or showcasing your productions?
Zomboy: Both cases. Anyone who’s seen me before knows I put 110% in my performances. When I first started this thing, I had about a week to learn how to DJ. A crash course basically of teaching myself how to DJ. Coming from a hardcore metal background and being on stage all the time with my band members, it’s just in me to jump around like a f*cking idiot. Trying to get the crowd involved, making them feel as energetic as I feel. There’s only one way to get a crowd going, you’ve got to get them going. Even if you’re not much of a dancer, if you see a dude on stage dancing around like an idiot, you’re going to be like ‘hell yeah, I’m going to dance around like an idiot too!’
WRR: While your music and performances are great, you’ve still yet to live up to your name. What’s it going to take to see Zomboy spin on stage dressed up like a zombie?
Zomboy: I was really contemplating it for this tour! Due to the amount of shows we’ve got, it would have been such an effort. If am going to do it, I’m going to do it properly with a Walking Dead makeup artist, I wouldn’t want to just half-ass it. Maybe one day, but until the moment is perfect, I wouldn’t do it. Perhaps I could do it for one of the bigger shows, like New Years Eve or an album release show.
WRR: Recently we’ve seen artists such as Feed Me and Knife Party announce long breaks in touring in order to work on new music. Do you identify with this approach or do you feel like you can produce an album with a heavy tour schedule?
Zomboy: I definitely understand it, but I don’t need that personally. In fact, I’m so far the other way, I actually don’t like sitting in the studio anymore. I’m so uninfluenced by being stuck in a static room with no surroundings. My last two EP’s and pretty much most of this album was written, mixed and mastered on the road, by myself. I’ll be back stage, and BAM! That’s where I get my inspiration and I’ll go to the green room and just start writing. Inspiration comes at any moment and I need to be ready for it.
WRR: Describe your album Outbreak in one word.
Zomboy: “Zomboy”! I say that because so many people worried that I was going to some far out genre – but I threw one curveball at them just to see how they’d react. A lot of them were f*cking hating on it! And it’s a real test of what my fanbase is really about. Do they support me, or do they support what I’m doing? Realistically I just wanted to throw them a curveball, but this album is everything you’d like from Zomboy. Nine out of the ten tracks from the album that I play on the road are dance floor bangers.
Each of the openers on this night did an excellent job of getting the crowd lathered up. Once Zomboy entered the stage, the bass instantly increased in decibels and the crowd’s energy ramped up to new heights. He provided a two hour fun-filled, party-dubstep set that included older hits such as “Raptor”, “Vancouver Beatdown”, “Nuclear (Hands Up)”, and many tracks from The Outbreak, which have not been revealed yet.
This was his first lead role on a tour, and he executed it flawlessly. The Zombie-themed visuals and his unbound energy radiating through the crowd truly made it an excellent show. The only bad news is we have to wait until August 4th to get hold of his long anticipated album.
Be sure to catch Zomboy on one of his remaining tour dates and connect with him on social media.
Connect with Zomboy:
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