Zeds Dead is a Canadian electronic music duo from Toronto, Canada. Dylan Mamid, also known as DC, and Zachary Rapp-Rovan, also known as Hooks, rose to prominence releasing original music and remixes from 2009–10 before becoming a staple on the international touring circuit thereafter. Today, they are known for their exploration of a diverse variety of genres that combine aspects of UK Garage, house, electro house, hip-hop, glitch, drum and bass, and more. Mamid and Rapp-Rovan were born and raised in Toronto, Canada. The duo were introduced through mutual friends in 2004 when DC asked Hooks to paint a graffiti mural in his garage. They quickly discovered a mutual love for hip-hop and at the same time were both starting to produce music. They began to collaborate under the moniker 'Mass Productions'. The duo's name comes from a quote in the Quentin Tarantino film 'Pulp Fiction when Butch Coolidge, played by Bruce Willis, steals a chopper from a rapist named Zed, after Butch's enemy-turned-ally shoots Zed. When Coolidge gets home, his partner, Fabienne, asks him where he got the motorcycle. He replies, "It's a chopper baby". She follows up and asks "Whose chopper is that?" When he tells her he got it from Zed, she asks "Who's Zed?" He then replies with "Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead." In the summer of 2007 Mass Productions independently released their first and only official release. The album was heavily influenced by 1990s hip hop. However, Mass Productions did not garner much attention outside of the local scene. Formation of Zeds Dead (2009–2010)
DC and Hooks both began to take an interest in electronic music, and began producing dance music under the name Zeds Dead. The group initially found a niche audience on Myspace. Zeds Dead self-released their first track together, "Journey of a Lifetime", for free. They played their first live set at The Social in Toronto on June 11th, 2009. In 2009 Zeds Dead founded a weekly party called Bassmentality in the basement of the Toronto bar 751. The party was intended as a venue for new DJs to play, unrestricted by concert promoters. In the summer of 2010 Bassmentality moved from the basement of 751 and into Toronto's Wrongbar. Bassmentality featured weekly performances from its founders, Zeds Dead and The Killabits, as well as rotating slots of local and international acts. Over the four years that the event existed, it hosted early performances from several now-acclaimed artists such as Skrillex, Borgore, Nero, Camo & Krooked, Bare Noize, and Bar 9, among others. In 2011 Zeds Dead released the track "Bassmentality" with The Killabits, named after the event. Zeds Dead began their first official North American tour in December 2010, playing over 40 shows in Canada and the United States. They made their European debut in June 2010 in the UK, playing a string of dates around the electronic music festival Gottwood in Wales. The Graveyard Tour in 2011 was the first tour of its scale for Zeds Dead. From September to December the duo played over 50 dates across North America.