Deadmau5
is now & going to be for a long time a TOP 10 DJ... He moved up in
Dj Mags top 100 5 spots to number 6th in the WORLD... He has embarked
on the biggest electronic tour in the WORLD & LR,AR is getting one
of the dates NOV 10th 2009. Cybertribe & all groups welcome this
event & you can purchase tickets now &
www.thevillagelive.com.........
Dj Mags talk with new NUMBER 6th DJ in the WORLD Joel Zimmerman...
Style: Purveyor of good times.
Best known for: Wearing a big mouse head.
Gig of 2009: They've all been great, but I had a lot of fun at Sonar.
Tune of 2009: Tim Green 'Kitch In' (Dirtybird)
Breakthrough DJ/Producer of 2009: Moguai
The track that changed your life: Tears For Fears 'Shout'. That turned me from a Sepultura-loving rocker and made me interested in electronic stuff.
What makes a good DJ great: Their taste in music. It's a little bit of technical know-how, but 90% of it is the music you play.
Most underrated DJ:
I was fortunate enough to have an amazing warm-up DJ at this club in
Italy, I don't remember his name. He opened up and smashed it!
Biggest challenge this year: The travelling, and trying to keep things running at the same time.
Top tech toy: Maschine. Anything that lets me take my eyes off the laptop for any amount of time is a good product.
Joel Zimmerman is clearly grinning, as he talks to DJmag from a
far-flung airport lounge, midway between a manic schedule of tour dates
and recording commitments. It's another typical day in the life of the
DJ/producer also known as Deadmau5, and being between time zones is
second nature. He's in high demand.
In 2008, Deadmau5 was the young firebrand whose genre trashing
electro-trance-house chimeras were making everyone from Pete Tong to
François K sit up and take notice. In 2009, he's released two albums
('Random Album Title' and 'For Lack Of A Better Name'), signed to
Virgin Records, and currently commands huge crowds of Mau5-mad fans
with his outlandish, freaky mouse-head mask, replete with flashing eyes
and rictus smirk.
It's safe to say his visual prop has become just as iconic a
symbol as Daft Punk's robots and Orbital's lamp glasses, and Deadmau5,
like them, has risen vertiginously to become one of the biggest stars
of dance music. Zimmerman realises it's important to have a good image,
and the infamous mouse head is a work in progress, with a new sci-fi
model being designed to accompany his ever-more elaborate live shows
and DJ sets.
Joel reveals: "I went into the designer's workshop the other
week, and we got some of the LEDs working and receiving data. It's all
coming together now, but I have to leave it to [Deadmau5 tour VJs] The
Pixel Addicts to work out the software that's gonna run it. Hopefully
it's gonna be fun!" he gleams.
But while the new prototype may still be in development,
Deadmau5's shows this year have shifted up a gear, and now his dazzling
technical trickery has been augmented by further visual additions.
"We've spent a lot of time trying to come up with new visual
ideas for the tour. The focus this year has been creating an
audio-visual experience for the shows. That required a lot of my input
and a lot of back and forth with these guys.
"When you do more shows, you end up putting a lot more work
into the production. There have been little upgrades, but in the new
year we'll start talking about a custom stage."
It's in 2009 that we've seen a different side of the mighty
Mau5. Playing live at Barcelona's leading experimental electronica fest
Sonar allied him with other future dreamers, while tracks like his
Kaskade collaboration 'I Remember' garnered daytime radio play from
Radio 1. Deadmau5's curious blend of the populist and plain weird writ
large, then.
'For Lack Of A Better Name', the latest longplayer from the
obscenely prolific music maker, seemed to muddy the waters still
further; just when we think we've got him twigged, he'll hook up with
drum & bass metaller Rob Swire of Pendulum, as on the Gothic
electro lead single 'Ghosts 'n' Stuff', or deliver the big room minimal
masterclass 'Word Problems'. But according to Joel, this is just the
tip of the iceberg, and his debut album proper, due early next year,
will show his true colours.
"'For Lack Of A Better Name' is a continuation of what we did
with the first one - if it worked once I'm sure the kids won't mind
hearing it again! But as far as the true artist album, I'm trying to
get a good portion of January off so that I can work on it. I have a
little more than half of it already finished.
"There's a couple of collaborations on there. Musically it's
gonna be a 180 degree shift from what everyone is used to - stuff that
I enjoy doing, stuff that challenges me."
Indeed, a quick perusal of the Mau5's myspace reveals that
there's a lot more to Zimmerman than meets the eye. Lesser known tracks
like 'Seeya Next Tuesday' have a Daft Punk, low down disco funk thump,
while 'Failbait' is abstract wonky hip-hop - both possible portents of
what he might be cooking up in those furry sleeves.
The rise of Deadmau5 looks to continue unabated, and with
non-stop touring taking him into 2010, expect an even stronger position
next year.
"We're going to finish up this year with the UK tour, head back
to North America, do Australia, and finish touring this
lbum, while
playing some new music," he says.
Words: Ben Murphy