
He began his musical career as a turntablist. In this role, he collaborated with the musical group Fat Complex[4] and the post-punk group In a Nutshell.
In 2004, he founded the creative association "how2make" and the label of the same name[5]. In 2009, he participated in the creation of the play "Cops on Fire", acting as a composer[6][7].
He gained wide recognition in 2010, when he was selected by the organizers of the annual international music festival Red Bull Music Academy as a participant from Russia and invited to perform in London[8]. This was preceded by the signing of a contract with the Italian label Error Broadcast, on which the artist's first foreign release, the album Five-Finger Discount, took place on March 28[9]. On July 18, 2011, the Italian label also released the Zoo Keeper EP, which was released both as a digital download and as a 12-inch transparent gramophone record.[10]
On November 8, 2010, Alexander Kholenko became the hero of a large article about the modern electronic music scene in Russia, published by the influential American electronic publication Pitchfork.[11]
In 2011, he took part in the tribute album "Do Me Exactly", dedicated to the group "Mumiy Troll", recording a cover version of the song "Speed".[12] He took part in the annual international festival of contemporary music Sónar in Barcelona.[13]
In February 2018, the album Software was released, where the musician's focus noticeably shifted towards club dance music.
On April 2, 2021, DZA released his first long-play BASCAR in a long time. The album was released on the Los Angeles label Alpha Pup, owned by legendary producer Daddy Kev. The album artwork was created by the famous Russian artist Vasily Zorin, an employee of Blizzard and Valve. The album consists of recordings made during 2017-2018, during trips to Japan, using Elektron and Teenage Engineering samplers