Zedd on Secret Raves, His John Mayer Collab, and Finding His Telos

Zedd is back, and this time, he's on a mission to find his Telos. It’s a fancy ancient Greek word for your life's aim or ultimate purpose. The Stoics believed that discovering one’s Telos was the key to living a fulfilled and virtuous life—a philosophy that Zedd seems to embrace as he channels this ancient wisdom into his music.

Nearly a decade after his last album, the Grammy-winning producer returns with Telos, a record that’s all about chasing meaning and making music that matters. It hits streaming platforms on Friday 8/30. It's positioned to be one of the biggest electronic music releases of the year, sure to make cultural waves.

But don't worry, it's not all deep philosophy—there’s plenty of fun too. Zedd's been keeping busy with secret NYC raves in collaboration with 5 Gum® that brought him back to his underground roots.

He’s also teamed up with some music industry serious heavy hitters. There’s a collab with John Mayer on Telos that’s so smooth it practically melts off the speakers, and a daring cover of "Dream Brother" by the late, great Jeff Buckley (yes, really).

We also dive into Zedd’s experience watching Mayer perform with just one finger alongside Dead and Company at the Sphere in Las Vegas this summer. Plus, we chat about the epic rise of EDM from 2010 to 2014, a cultural moment that defined a generation of millennials and shaped Zedd’s career.

In this episode of The Mostly Occasionally Show, I sat down with Zedd to talk about the journey to finding his Telos, his latest adventures in music, and how it feels to create something that just might stand the test of time.

Thanks for listening and subscribing to Mostly Occasionally.

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