What Zodiac Needs: Ex-Weeknd Producer Gets Signed and Access to Fancy Studio

Posted on Oct 9th 2012 3:00PM by Jesse Ship
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Sean Berrigan

A lot has happened to Jeremy Rose a.k.a. Zodiac in the past couple of years. Barely 23, he was (arguably) robbed of some of his most valuable credits for his work with The Weeknd (snapped up by Drake) but on the other hand, he's just been recruited by multi-Grammy winning super-producer Paul Epworth (Adele, Bloc Party, Foster the People, Lana Del Rey) to write music for his fledgling label Wolf Tone Records.

We joined Rose on the phone just before he set off to England to work in his private studio on a new album. It looks like this astrologically-minded dreamer will finally get his reward.

"When I first heard that Paul was interested in me, I was like... 'Oh nooooo, what am I going to do now??'" he tells Spinner. "I'm not used to good things happening. I'm always kind of scared of screwing up, but I'm in a far more positive mood now."

There's no doubt that his past experience laying out the groundwork for Abel Tesfaye of The Weeknd somewhat marred his experience with the music industry, but he's hoping to move on as quickly as possible, and will be stepping up his instrumentation in a much bigger way thanks to the Epworth's studio.

"I like the fact that I just work on a little computer, but I don't have any real instruments," he says. "Aside from not knowing how to play them, not having them on hand is probably my biggest limitation with my music at the moment. I'm eager to get to work and see what they can do to ground my production."

A devotee of minimal masters like Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada, his soulful self-titled EP heard on Jacques Greene's Vase label, featuring Jesse Boykins III, shows influences that stretch deep into the archives of electronic music history. Rose gives nods to Brian Eno, one of the godfathers of ambient music, ("When I heard 'Music For Airports' as a kid, I was like, 'Wow, people can do that and get away with it?' It sounds so pretty, I wanna do that too!") as well as classical minimalist composer, Erik Satie.

Like many artists, he's a perfectionist and was aghast when he heard that his package of beats was wrapped up and ready for distribution.

"I was like, 'Wait, these are all demos. Don't do anything with them,'" he says. "I'd been tinkering on them forever. But how done can it be really? I'm never really happy with anything, but I hope people like them."

He's looking to move past the notoriety of his association with The Weeknd -- as documented in their interview with him -- as soon as possible.

"People around me already knew everything, and someone at Vice just asked me to come in and talk, so I said sure. I wasn't expecting more than that. [The article] had its good points and bad points. I'm recognized now, but at the same time I'm recognized for only one thing and I'd like to move past it. It's just something that will take time."

Watch The Weeknd's "What You Need" Video