TOTT 2015 #9: DOM ZILLA

At #9 is ace producer Dom Zilla.

Seven years after he started to make beats at the age of twelve, Dom was working with South Shields alt singer Lulu James and had the likes of Raekwon rapping over his tracks. So he had a pretty strong musical pedigree even before 2015.

Then he dropped his first solo single, ‘Take Home’. It seemed at first to be a lush R’n’B track with smooth, sensuous vocals but suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Zilla’s love of drum and bass reared its head in a frenetic one and a half minute breakdown. It was a daring move for a debut single and made you wonder where he’d take things next.

Luckily, little more than a month ago, Dom proved that he had more up his sleeve. On ‘Cold’ he conjures up icy soundscapes and ethereal synths but despite the barren, sparse instrumentation, he added a distinctive sense of warmth to the track with the soulful vocals. ‘Cold’ pretty much cemented his position as one of the country’s most exciting producers.

More extensive airplay on the radio, buzz from a variety of blogs and sites like Noisey and Hillydilly, numerous gigs in London and support slots for the likes of Hey Sholay, not to mention opening up The Tipping Point’s very own gig at this year’s Music Futures Conference…

On the strength of these achievements, Dom Zilla might be tearing up 2016 more than a kaiju in downtown Tokyo.

Words by Eve Johnson and Tip by Generator

DOM ZILLA was originally featured on July 7th with words from Lewis Lister

View the full TOTT2015 longlist, playlist and countdown HERE