On Thursday, seemingly out of nowhere, deadmau5 hosted a Reddit AMA. He touched on topics like being an outsider, his new stage setup being confirmed for Governors Ball, how he feels about synthesizers. From news on the 20 minute version of ‘Strobe‘ to his greatest regret, here are the things we learned.
1. He really enjoyed outing Skrillex’s phone number to the public:
“most satisfying troll. ever.”
2. He revealed his greatest fear:
“being burned alive.”
3. He doesn’t appreciate people who mispronounce his name:
“how do you feel about people who pronounce your name “wang butt””
4. He wishes he could play more old tracks in his live sets:
“yeah… thats a pain in the ass… its like, they give you a timeslot… and you just want to play all your new stuff… you know? i figure thats what i want people to hear…. but occasionally ill sneak in a classic of course”
5. Fans can send him items in the mail to sign:
“of course, i get a pile every now and again and ship er back… the PO box is somewhere on my facebook page still i think”
6. That 20 minute edit of Strobe is complete!
“it is done thankfully…. my only thing is, i hope it doesnt subtract too much from the orioginal…. i had to make it in such a way that the track could be at least “reproduced” in a live-ish fashion… since its for a “live PA” type show… so… of course theres the odd track mixed in that gives it a little help, but im happy with it!”
7. He became a car fan later in life:
“that came much later in life. funnily enough, as soon as i was liscensed to drive one…. once my foot made that connection with the pedal, and the car made the connection to the road… it fell into place pretty fast!”
8. He gave a reason for why he is so outspoken publicly:
“i probably have some mental health problems.”
9. He’s been making music since he was young:
“ive been making music since.. i was 13? perhaps? just toyed away on a p[iano my grandmosther left me, until i took an interest in computers and graphic design… and found a way to combine both!”
10. He revealed his favorite iteration of the mau5head:
i love the carbon one… simply because its the lightest by far. 😀 i am big on comfort when it comes to donning massive headgear.
11. More music is on the way:
“i was actually thinking of a followup to Seven which is in the works… of course the contrast to the first 7 (being the dealy sins) i’d like to do the 7 virtues…. and do it all on modular synths…. which is a nice contrast to the piano only “sins” “
12. But his appearance on Top Gear probably isn’t:
“im starting to lose hope 🙁 all i can do is wait.”
13. He talks about whether his crazy synth setup has benefits over emulated synthesizers:
“the nerd technical answer to synth emulating analogue is “never” but… were hitting that “close enough” stage. But the benefits to me is tactile feedback, or “performing” a sound….not to discreit “controllerism” … but its the tiny nuances that “controllerism resolution” just cant achieve.”
14. He’s thinking about scoring a movie:
“i’ve been working on getting a special project on my plate… and who knows where that will take me… i’ve always just waited for the right film for me… it wouldnt feel right just taking any old fuckin movie that would be some box office smash or whatever.”
15. He’s a bit of a loner:
“honest answer: i dont really feel connected to any kind of community. i dont mean any disrespect, but i dont think i’ve ever really felt a part of any group…. i always, and sometimes still do, loathe that i’ve never really had any connection in my passions with others… but, perhaps maybe that was the disconnect i needed to do the things i do?”
16. On Porter Robinson and criticizing “EDM”:
“ive been saying that before it was cool.”
17. His Guvernment show will require close attention from the audience:
“actually, i dont think ill be carting a mousehead to guv…. i know im going to catch shit for that…. but have to been to guv when its packed? you dont wanna be wearing no friggen mouse head. believe you me. also, im going to need to be paying attention up there… that particular show will require a good bit of constant attention from me…. so no fist pumping this time im afraid :(“
18. He can’t crack the mystery of the Hardstyle kick:
“i have consulted with 7 of the worlds leading audio engineers and sound designers…. For 8 months, we rented out an isolated chamber deep inside the hills of west virginia to solve this mystery. Night after night… scratching our heads to unlock the secrets of this EDM holy grail. 3 men were lost in the process and we resorted to cannibalism. To this day, the deep mysteries of the hardstyle kick still eludes us until further funding is available.”
19. He dropped some hints about his new stage setup:
“were passing around the stage drawings… and setup and production and all that now actually… “team beating” as i like to call them, this week. But the Guvernment nightclub finale show will be somewhat of a precursor to the newer show builds….. im more and more keen on taking a mixing console and a whole lot of synths on stage now as oppossed to being the ableton guy with a laptop in a massive show production.”
20. His greatest regret?
“Twitter”
