We want our artists to be as we define them, not as they wish to be defined. Not unlike Robert Smith of The Cure not believing his music to be goth (see “Primary“), deadmau5 was not happy with being labeled a DJ either, despite being rated #5 on DJmag.com’s TOP100DJs in 2012. “I didn’t come up as a DJ, so I don’t play by DJ rules,” he stated. This ultimately a truth-in-advertising as his artistry does not match the simpler DJ characterization of someone who primarily mixes two records made by other artists using sound effects. deadmau5 makes his own unique music… when he is not enjoying video games.

“Music is 80 percent fun and 20 percent work.
Video games, for me, is all fun.”

So when he was approached by the Netflix team creating the new Resident Evil series soundtrack, it would seem a match made in heaven. He would draw on his vintage JUNO and Jupiter analog synths to build a grittier, more treacherously malevolent sound for the track he would submit. “‘Dystopian suburbia’ is the kind of vibe I had in mind when making this song.  It’s been pretty cool because I like that weird, corporate overtone of this entity that owns the village if you would. I just imagine what that would be like while roughly composing the song with of course the vocal accouterment of Ms. Skylar Grey. She’s an amazing talent to work with and she just nailed the lyrics.”

“You don’t have to give up to let go.”

.

Born Joel Thomas Zimmerman, deadmau5 (pronounced “deadmouse”) is the wildly popular band named for the dead mouse he once found in his computer during an attempted video card upgrade. The moniker caught on in the chat rooms where he shared the story; the unique spelling a happy accident of a maximum character limitation. His popular persona is that of a masked music artist, in the same vein as Marshmello and Daft Punk, only with two large round ears borne atop a stark-raving mouse head. The mask was never a necessity, as he had performed successfully without it, however, it certainly became iconic, building up brilliant brand recognition.

“I don’t believe there’s a cap on creativity and passion.”

His main game is EDM, dismissing its popular designation as Electronic Dance Music in favor of Event-Driven Marketing. “Disco evolved into Chicago warehouse. Then there was techno; eventually, it evolved into EDM.” “The industry has always had a problem with the 18-to-25 market, but EDM is perfect – a unique identifier for a group in that mental and fiscal state; in their youth, but free to do whatever they want.” His music is an unavoidable consequence of clever marketing, strong business acumen, and a muscular musical talent built from years of hard work and dedication to his art. And he can play games anytime he wants.

“I’m just a little artsy-fartsy computer dude.”

~

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Check out his Lamborghini Huracán… or rather his “Nyanborghini Purracan“