Meet Zeulius of The Mood Life

Today we’d like to introduce you to Zeulius.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
Sadly enough, relationship trauma kind of filled a lot of my early childhood and I think that’s why I wanted to escape into music and design. My mom divorced my dad because of an abusive relationship and from then on there was a distrust I had with religion and my parents’ ideas on relationships and life. There’s already a lot of cultural friction growing up in a Muslim family in America and so the idea that I was going to get married and live a traditional “Muslim” life with a family was tossed aside completely after the split. I just wanted to create and live in my own world.

I’m not sure exactly where it came from, but from an early age I’ve always believed I could do anything that somebody else could do. And I think part of it comes from the mistrust of the religion that God or somebody else would ever save me from anything. That if I’m going to do something, I’ve got to figure it out by myself because pops moved to another state and mom had to work a full-time job to take care of my sisters and I, so nobody was going to make things happen but me.

So, I was spending my time on one of three things growing up. 1. Music, 2. Design, or 3. Girls. If I wasn’t with any of the above, I was pretty much a riot to be around. Especially at school. I’d cheat on tests, lie about grades to my mom, yell and get restless in class talking to everybody. I was kicked out of several schools for a while. So, it came as a total shock to EVERYBODY when they found out I was accepted into Cornell University’s famous Architecture School with a 2.5 GPA.

I finessed my way in with a Leather-Bound Portfolio curated with some of my best works and also several written letters to the admissions board over a couple of months updating them on current work that I was doing related to architecture and why it’d be amazing to have me there. But the juice behind it all was pettier, I had a chip on the shoulder and wanted to prove everybody who told me not to get my hopes up wrong.

So, in two years, everyone was equally as shocked when I decided to drop out and go all-in on music instead. I saw the life of an architect and as much as I love design and creating my own world, I hated the fact that I wasn’t on stage and that the architects who actually make a massive impact don’t do so until they’re way past their 40s or 50s and at the end of the day, the architect isn’t the one making the executive decision, and that’s a problem for somebody who is always in the driver’s seat.

So after I left, I spent three years learning everything I could about producing, mix/mastering, writing, recording and in the last year I’ve released over 100+ tracks and 8 music videos and now closing out 2018 with a final music video with the Motorcycle vlogger, “Motobroo” (Released December 7th) that I wrote, recorded, mix/mastered & produced, and my new Hybrid Hip-Hop/Rock/EDM, “Planet-Z Vol. I” (Released December 29th) — which I also recorded, wrote, mix/mastered, produced,

Please tell us about your art.
I consider myself a “Neo-Future” artist. Which I got the inspiration from my favorite architects Calatrava and Zaha-Hadid who use cutting-edge technology to move the medium and culture forward in function & expression. That’s a fancy way of saying doing cool futuristic shot with technology. Because summer 2012 I visited Calatrava’s Science and Arts Center in Valencia and it left a mark on me. Not only because the design looks like an ultra-luxurious space station, but also because at night, part of it becomes a club and I’m pretty sure I was conceived inside of a nightclub.

Growing up in a Muslim family in America felt like a nightmare early on because of the friction between cultures, but I think the challenge of being in conflict between two different lifestyles forced me to adapt, so I had to learn to extract the best of what was around me, replacing old ideas with new ones — and I think that’s had a major effect on my music. Like in high school my buddy shows me “No Ceilings” (Lil Wayne’s mixtape) and I was hooked on hip-hop/rap because of how dope the storytelling and hype were. And when I went to college, I hit the polar opposite when I went to my first EDM concert with Avicii because the music had no focus on the lyrics, it was purely about the production, creating a vibe and just turning up. And again, I love turning up.

But I would show my hip-hop friends some electronic artists, and they wouldn’t feel it. And I would send some hip-hop and rap songs to my friends who were more into the EDM scene and they wouldn’t really care for the story or the vibe. So, one day I was producing a track that was intended to be an electronic track that I wasn’t thinking too much about the vocal yet until a buddy of mine heard it as a beat that he wanted to rap on. We both recorded our verses and made the song and people from both sides loved the song. That’s when I knew I was onto something.

So, I guess to sum it up, I use technology, design and storytelling to develop a sound and brand that blends edm & hip-hop/rap cultures and lifestyles into this neo-futuristic nightclub world. Into my world and idea of my kind of future. I’m not just about the fact that I can produce, write, record, mix/master, and sing and rap on my own because of technology; it’s really about this bumping, sexy, free and safe ultramodern fantasy world wrapped in futuristic space landscapes and sounds. At least that’s how I think of it now.

What do you think about conditions for artists today? Has life become easier or harder for artists in recent years? What can cities like ours do to encourage and help art and artists thrive?
I never really liked giving advice because I just feel like there’s so much more I need to learn; however, I definitely think we’re living in the greatest time in history for anybody, especially for artists who want to make music and thrive off of it for a living. You don’t need anybody or anything but an internet connection, a laptop or a smartphone and your willingness to work harder than anybody else. The ones who can master and continue to adapt to the constantly changing technology landscape are going to be the ones holding the cards. So, the best thing right now I’d say is to create environments that share and encourage the use of the most cutting-edge technology for creating, sharing, experiencing and making a career with music or any art.

The only caveat I’d say that I’ve seen to that, is that you can know all of the technology and all of the technical theory; but if you don’t have something that is compelling to somebody and to you, then the technology can only get you so far. I.e. as a story that really moves people — so in combination with understanding the technology, I think it’s important that artists are constantly reminded and encouraged to —as Ed Sheeran put it really well— “get the bad songs out of the way” so they can get down to his or her authentic sound and music that will really have an impact on somebody.

In the last year, I’ve released over 100 songs that I’ve produced, wrote, recorded, mix/mastered from my laptop and with a mic I borrowed from my little brother. And I learned all of it on my own through YouTube videos and trial and error. I’m not saying anybody needs to be as intense as I am about it; but that’s proof of what’s possible and I think the more people see for themselves that it’s really possible, the more excited and encouraged I think people will be about pursuing a career as an artist if that’s something they want to do.

Contact Info:

• Website: Soundcloud.com/Zeulius
• Instagram: @Zeulius
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zeulius/
• Twitter: @Zeulius

Image Credit:
Aamir Sheikh, Kelley Tran,@TheRileyClayton( for the main photo)

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