Deadmau5-ed

We got a chance to speak with one of the best dance music acts to ever embrace electronic music...

He has effortlessly changed the way people spell ‘mouse’ and loves taking potshots at his fellow deejays. He is extreme to the extent of getting his prized Ferrari 458 wrapped in a Nyan cat theme and fitting it out with an even wilder number plate reading EPICLULZ. He might have played sold out shows in some of the biggest party hubs across the globe, but at the end of the day, Joel Zimmerman (the man behind the moniker) is just a crazy kid on a whirlwind trip. And yet, he is also one of the biggest electronic music acts to hit our shores for a performance. Two years back, we — the self-confessed EDM nuts — couldn’t have even dreamed about witnessing this mega star for a one night gig in India, but here he is with a three city tour on his maiden Indian tour — where we got him talking.

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Even as we ranted about our miseries over being an EDM starved country, the great DJ was of a different opinion, “India is a country with an unquenchable thirst for EDM”, he said on being asked about what he thinks about the now-growing-out-of-proportion dance music culture in India. Well yes, why shouldn’t he say that? After all, he is not just any DJ. The man who is known for his online brawls as much as his Mau5head — a carbon-fibre headgear designed specially for him — seemed super excited about the tour. “It’ll be my first time. I’ve heard so much about the culture that it drives me all the way”, an overenthusiastic Joel states as he praises India.

For starters, Joel is not very fond of interviews, and that’s what made us think really hard about how to go about this interaction, so we start by asking him how his usual day begins. And he came up with a doozy, “Usually, Pharrell and I go for a coffee run every morning, we halt at Tim Horton’s, where Pharrell orders a Caramel Apple Bagel. Also as a part of my day, I groove through my morning routine with a fitting playlist, some toast and my cat”. For those of you who don’t know — Deadmau5 runs a video series where he grabs hold of celebs and drives them down for a coffee date.

Not only is he smart, he is also someone who’s very clued in — with his music, his surroundings and the countries he visits for his larger-than-life performances. We can say this for certain as the man known for consistently experimenting with sounds was quite keen to meet Trilok Gurtu, which left us completely baffled.

We quickly brought another question to the table — something that would make him talk or diss a lot – and asked him about his inspirations in the music scene. He humbly responded, “I have always just worked in the studio. I’ve listened to so much and like so much”.

Next, we questioned him about his new album that hits shelves soon and saw a smirk on his face and a twinkle in his eye before he erupted, “I am finally content and proud of completing my new album. The new album is a double record that has 2 continuous mixes and 25 tracks”. Taking a cue from that we asked him about any collaborations he was looking forward to this year. To which he replied rather cryptically, “There are so many good producers coming out of Toronto right now, which makes the scene so good”. It made us feel like he wanted us to watch his footsteps in the coming months.

Lastly, we asked him about how he bacame fascinated with Punjabi music, which got him raving about Daler Mehndi and his Tunak Tunak Tun. Not surprisingly then, he invited Daler Mehndi for an on-stage collaboration at his Delhi gig and also took him on the Buddh International Circuit for his version of Coffee Run. Still reeling from his show and our quick chat, we couldn’t help but smile when he left the country with the tweet, “I have no words to describe the love in India. I don’t”.

From the April 2014 issue of FHM India.