Meet Zev Hattis | Music Producer, DJ, and Music Software Developer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Zev Hattis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Zev, how do you think about risk?
I’m a big risk taker, and I always have been. The interesting thing is that I’m not not at all fearless, actually quite the opposite. Like many I often struggle with anxiety and perfectionism, but I love constantly putting myself in situations that I’m uncomfortable with – for better or worse. You would think that by now I would be pretty comfortable taking risks, but it’s still hard for me every time I put out my art/work into the world. I’m not exactly sure what drives me to constantly take risks, big or small, but its the only way I know how to live. What I know for sure, is that it has shaped who I am and how I’ve gotten here. I have huge aspirations, and mixing that with being a naturally highly-anxious person, it really gives me no choice but to take risks and face these fears. A recent example of this is in 2021 I had my first performance since the pandemic, and I hadn’t dj-ed in over a year. I wanted to make it special and add live guitar to the performance even though I had never played guitar for an audience in my life. These are the kind of things that drive me, that make me tick – putting myself in pressure situations that I don’t even know if I’m able to handle.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started taking piano lessons at a really young age, but really didn’t like it. I just wanted to play outside with my friends and not have to leave to go spend an hour with some teacher who would teach me songs that I didn’t like. It wasn’t until I stopped taking lessons for a bit, stepped away from it, and then came back on my own to re-learn how to play my own way. Once I started teaching myself the songs that I loved, I fell in love with playing. One of the first songs I remember playing that really gave me that goosebumps feeling was How To Save a life by the fray. I’ll never forget begging my parents to buy me the sheet music. My biggest struggle playing the piano though was I was never technically good enough to play what I had in my head. I I just didn’t have the hours and hours people often spend practicing under my belt. Eventually, this lead me to discover electronic music production. It didn’t take long for me to realize that this is what I always had wanted to do and that it let my creativity flourish in a way that I had never experienced before. Fast forward a few years and I’ve gained millions of streams, and made official remixes for some of my favorite artists. The hardest part about making music has always been the internal mental battle with perfectionism and creativity. Walking the line between wanting to make something to the best of my ability without overthinking is so so difficult. One thing I can say is I’ve made huge strides in this area and I’ve been finishing more music than ever as of late. I have quite a long way to go, and I’m just scratching the surface on what I hope to achieve, but I’m super excited about what’s to come.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m still pretty new to LA, so I still have a lot of exploring to do, but abbot Kinney in Venice is next level vibes. I also love basketball so the Venice beach basketball court is a super cool spot to go when they are having games. Bay Cities in Santa Monica and The Heights Deli and Bottle Shop in Lincoln Heights are the best sandwiches in town. One absolutely underrated spot is Hangry Moons in Westwood, and I also love Crossroads in Hollywood. Glendale has some amazing hikes, and you can never go wrong at the Griffith Observatory. The Getty Museum is sweet too.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Of course I want to thank my family in always being there for me no matter what, but my music career I really owe it to my friends. I’m super lucky in that many of my closest friends from elementary school are still my best friends today, and have been there throughout my life. I put out my first song in high-school and it was absolutely terrible, but my friends posted it all over Facebook, supported me, and soon have the school was listening to it (shows what a good marketing team can do). One of them even managed me throughout college, without taking any pay besides me treating him to meals and concerts.

Website: https://www.zevymusic.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zevymusic/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZevyOfficial

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZEVYMUSIC/

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@zevymusic