IAmA dead mouse that tours, makes music, plays video games and has a stupid cat. AMA.

I saw that you posted a Cyanide & Happiness animation on your Facebook one time. I make those cartoons. I appreciate it, brah.

anytime... love those comics! :D

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trololololol

to be fair to my other hemleted counterparts.... id fuckin take that disney money and make it rain all over daisy duck too.

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oh.. but "laser pen" guy can eat a dick.

well, i dont go out of my way to "ban" anything... and i certainly dont make people buy "deadmau5 sanctioned heads" at events (even though ive been approaced with it many many times now) i personally like seeing something new at the shows... so im always counting on seeing craptons of awesome fan made stuff while im up there. and im never dissapointed.

Will you sign my internet?

who should i make this internet out to?

what was the deal when you collapsed in DC last year?

that was the deal. i overexerted myself, was dehydrated, and i passed out. it happens sometimes. my bad.

How irksome is it when people refer to you as "Dead-Mauw-Five"?

not anymore than it is "deadmau5" ... my names joel.

what all goes on inside the helmet during live shows? like what all can you see and control?

cartoons mostly... huge fan of Invader Zim!

What I want to know, as a huge fan, is why the total lack of any progressive style house recently? I loved 4x4=12 but I really miss the amazing melodies of Strobe, Brazil, Move for Me, I Remember... Any chance of that ever coming back?

of course.

Hey Deadmau5,

I am a massive faggot fan of yours, have all your albums etc. I also make music of my own. I have a few questions I'd love to get answered by you - mostly concerning production. These sort of questions never seem to get asked/answered on Livestreams.

• How long was it until you were happy with the quality of the music you were making? When abouts did you reach that point of feeling like you were really happy with your production? What skills did you have most trouble learning? (probably goes a long way back)

• How do you feel you've improved most since let's say, Get Scraped?

• What advice would you give concerning creating samples from scratch? And do you have any advice in general on drum production?

• In terms of production and/or songwriting, what would you say took you the longest time to perfect? And how did you go about doing so?

• And lastly, are there any artists you can't stand at the moment?

Thanks.

1. i dont think i'll ever be 100% satisfied with any of my work... i dont think anyone ever really is... always feel like i could be doing better... which at least makes me feel secure in the sense that i have ALOT more to accomplish in life.

2. Musically? i feel im still trapped in that melancholic kinda meldoy structure vibe i always have been, if anythings improved it's been my knowledge of mixing and refinning the sound on an engineering standpoint.

gotta answer more q's... so... hope those 2 do you over for now.

How is meowingtons doing?

funny you ask, i just saw a picture of him my mother took and emailed me... he is very confused by all the renovations, but im sure he still knows where his food bowl is.

How are you enjoying patch 1.8?

endermen suck basicly.

Does new Steinway mean you're going to be making more beautiful piano tracks like Faxing Berlin? there's something awesome about shiny piano parts over crazy house electro.....

you bet, were just building a new room for it now! :D

so did you hire Joel Zimmerman as your agent just to Troll the shit out of Promoters?

more or less.

SO you signed Skrillex to Mau5trap and then he went and did OWSLA. How are you supporting his own record label or do you care?

well the TL DR version is... loved skrillys stuff, signed his EP, Atlantic was all "whatever dude, do whatever you want, the FFTL shitk is ours" okay... so we did, was successful, Atlantic went "FUUUUUU... give him back. look we found loophole!" so skrilly goes back to label hell machine, owsla i think is his way out of that. so im happy.

What portion of your shows are mixed live and what's recorded ahead of time? Dope show either way, saw you in Hollywood

honestly... about 70 40. there is a LOT of programming involved to make a show a show... think of it like a movie... they dont do it all in one take. there are oppotunnities to busk it and improvise from time to time, and those windows are set in stone throughout the show... but... there is always a structure to follow to keep things working exactly how you want it to work and look exactly how you want it to look

how was playing Lollapalooza in comparison to any other large events you have done?

was great! actually... very diverse... i love playing these festivals where so many artist and bands and all sorts of stuff get together for a big ol crossover soup.... great way to be introduced to new music outside of any "genre" you might be stuck in. plus... chitown fuckin rocks.

Your favorite video game music?

FF3 for SNES i suppose.

Also how do you feel about Dubstep?

i love that band! i met the drummer, Chad... such a cool guy.

In three words describe your feelings towards David Guetta

spiky converse shoes.

Do the shows begin to blur together? How do you stop that and after so many gigs is the joy still there?

joys still there... its just a big blurry joy.

Its 2 am. you're hungry. what snack do you prepare?

rooms service usually. :\ if theyre open.

Is it true that you are a dick in real life? Because you seem so friendly

im a friendly dickhead.

What do you think you would have done with your life career-wise if you hadn't pursued music?

probably would have stayed in the creative department... im a beast with MS Paint.

How do you feel about YouTube, and YouTube Partners who potentially make money off of your work?

Do you, yourself, upload to YouTube? Or would all these results be "stolen" in this case?

Thanks!

i dont care really... its pennies on the dollar when you really think about it (which you shouldnt) but its also more exposure to more people to become into your craft... which is better in the long run to have continual believers in your work then a few pennies from some viral "hot for now" stint.

Just want to let you know your apology was not enough. That beachball you pelted at my face at Voodoofest last October in new Orleans... That hurt bro. That hurt my pride.

Nah, just kidding. That was somewhat of an honor. Got to say deadmau5 hit me in the face...with some balls?

Yeah.... Anyway RELEASE MORE SHIT YOU FUCK.

YOU WILL ACCEPT MY BALLS AND LIKE IT!

im tryin dude! im workin on a ton of shit on the road! promise!

How close are you with Skrillex, Feed Me, and other artists on your Mau5trap label? Do you guys hang out often?

sure, whenever our tours collide we usually catch up for dinner or crash in on each others shows.

What inspired you to make Strobe?

a plugin actually.

Why do you hate the media so much?

i dont know... it just gets a bit repetitive and speculative to me.

Do you worry you may have opened the doors for new generation of costume-clad EMD performers?

not at all... im glad i helped kicked open the door for people to get more interesting on stage. :) interesting and entertaining is what i want when i pay to go see a show... not a black cloth covered picnic table and a guy playing CD's in front of an LED wall. ;)

How is Meowington's hip?

he got his swagga back... no more limpingtons :(

Hey I was in Tommy's public disservice announcement project and I've been actively talking to Scott recently about potential music stuff... and I'm in montreal!!! I wanna meet you!

aw i love scott! tell him im still in the market for a polyfusion system!

How heavy is the Cube set-up and how do you ship it around the world?

when on tour, we usually route shows in such a way that the stage can be shipped via 2 of those 14 wheelers truck things. its usually driven, but flown cargo when the shows are overseas.... we (mostly) travel with 2 tourbusses (one for the 18 core crew who tour with us) and 3 tour trailers, sometimes 4 (when we bring our own sound). depends really.

Karma Killer - Narshe

That is all.

wow, good find.... that was aeons ago. I love thed whole soundtrack from that game.

Do you use Reason at all? If so, pros? cons?

con: no third party plugin support. pro: rewire.

does an excessive amount of touring impede with your creative process?

yes. bigtime. i love to be in my room, with my stupid cat, in my chair, with my gear. its just... a certain comfort zone i need to be in to do the things i want, musically. i suppose :\

Your older albums aren't on Spotify - any particular reason for this other than label BS?

nope.. probably not... sounds like typical label BS to me if anything... ill ask next time the powers that be get back to me.

what was your opinion of the concert you played at Roskilde Festival. personally i thought it was awesome but how would you compare it to your usual venues and crowds?

you cant compare roskilde to anything. matter of fact, when people talk about festivals in the united states.... i talk about roskilde. :D

hi joel.

hi.

How did you get into H.P. Lovecraft's work and how has it influenced you? Particularly the "Cthulhu Mythos".

i dont know, i like the tongue in cheek shit... like FSM and whatnot. It just suits me well i suppose. Just picked it up one day and said "oh, rad... i like this" kinda like what some people did with the bible.... sorta.

Hey Joel, why is the tour called "Meowingtons Hax"? I'm really looking forward to seeing you in Amherst in a few weeks!

we had to name it something. dunno, its just what came to mind.

dont woory, im still here... just trying to catch up with you all while touring.. s'kinda hard!