20 REASONS TO LOVE ZED BIAS

Words: James Keith
Photography: Tarnish Vision

If you grew up or went to university in Manchester, chances are you’ve spent a good chunk of time raving to Zed Bias sets. If you’re not lucky enough to have caught him live, it’s almost impossible to have not heard his productions light up a DJ set either. Whether it’s UKG, UK funky, any other bass-led subgenres, or his 4x4 productions as Maddslinky, his tunes have brought a lot of joy to UK ravers over the past decade and a bit.

Having already been a mainstay in the garage scene in the 2000s, Zed Bias (real name: Dave Jones) found a whole new audience once the dubstep boom had collapsed and people were starting to jump ship. That post-dubstep world gave us a lot of interesting producers of former producers of the sound who moved into techno, IDM, house and UK funky. Zed capitalised on this with productions both under his original moniker and under the Maddslinky alias. The deep, low-end grooves were what tied it together, if nothing else, and that can still be heard in his work with the expansive LEVELZ crew.

Currently, Zed Bias is a justifiably revered figure in the UK underground, never one to jump ship when the going gets tough. In fact, many consider him to be the godfather of dubstep. Regardless of the genre or subgenre, there are few in this world who can match Zed’s ability to both push sounds forward while achieving mainstream success. If you thought he was just the guy who did “Neighbourhood”, you’ve got a lot to learn.

Here are 20 reasons to love Zed Bias.


Posted on November 08, 2018