By Adam Stewart
Three years ago, you were more likely to hear Deadmau5 identified as "Dead-Mau-Five" rather than the correct (and phonetically clever) "Dead Mouse." But in that brief period of time, he has moved from obscure underground grinder to universal favorite whose distinct sound has shot him to the upper echelon of the Billboard Dance Chart. His rise continues with the news that he will be the house DJ at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards.
Though house music continues to slowly chip away at the mainstream, many people are probably unfamiliar with the styles and history of Deadmau5. That's why we've put together this series of essential "fact5" that every Mau5keteer must know.
Vital Statistics
Birth Name: Joel Zimmerman
DOB: 1/5/1981
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
The Sound
Deadmau5 combines elements from various house subgenres and spins them into a unique style style that is hard to precisely peg. There are bits of trance, strange electro experiments and forays into organic instrumentation — or at least his version of organic. "Lord knows there's enough sample libraries out there to get a clap sound," he told MTV News at the 2010 Winter Music Conference. "But it's kind of like putting a little bit of love into it when you're use an SM57 [microphone] and slap your ass and record it and then put that in the track."
Behind the Name
"Long story short, a mouse went in my computer and died," he explained to MTV News. "I found him in there when i was changing my video card, so I was talking to people on line about it on a chat room and everyone just started calling me that 'dead mouse gu.' And it just stuck. And the five was just because I couldn't spell it out d-e-a-d-m-o-u-s-e because it was too long of a name to have in that chat room, so I had to trim a character."
Key Tracks
"Ghosts 'N' Stuff" (featuring Rob Swire)
"Move For Me" (with Kaskade and Haley)
"I Remember" (with Kaskade featuring Haley)
"Strobe"
"Some Chords"
Awards, Accolates and Nominations
Mau5 currently sits at number six on the DJ Mag Top 100 and has scored himself three Juno Awards, three 2010 IDMA Awards (including Best American Artist, even though he's Canadian) and a 2009 Grammy nomination for Best Remix (Non Classical).
The 27th annual MTV Video Music Awards will be broadcast live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET.