deadmau5 recently hosted a Twitch Q&A that lasted nearly four hours and over that period of time, he offered some interesting advice. In terms of information gleaned and wisdom shared, it’s probably innumerable. For the Canadian producer who has been actively making music since the late 90s, a lot has changed in the past approximately 20 years. He mentions the influences of the internet in its current state, but most importantly, goes into detail about the value of human connections. Joel mentions that while the internet has certainly become an invaluable aspect of electronic music in the current era, serving to spread awareness and music while simultaneously sharing ideas and criticisms, the value of a real (IRL) human connection is soemthing you can’t put a price tag on that.
“If I had to do this again, at least in today’s climate, I would focus on being very offline”, he says. Joel uses the example of Skrillex as someone who reached out to him using a hard USB stick containing the Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites EP. It is also worth noting that he was careful to emphasize that he did not “make” Skrillex, pointing out that his music would have got there eventually.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this live feed is Joel’s recounting of his past, from his time producing at the back of a record store, to learning how to use various pieces of hardware, to his first ever released track under the Karma K alias, right up to his breakthrough track “Faxing Berlin”. The tale of how the name of “Faxing Berlin” came about is based around a conversation he had with fellow producer Max Graham, deciding on the name of the track when Max left to go “send a fax to Berlin”. He also hinted at a possible remake of the classic.
The mau5 answers numerous other fan questions in this Twitch live stream, including a meeting with Daft Punk, the Tidal music service, and the Gumball Rally. Check out part one of the interview below and for the other two parts, click here and here . Enjoy mau5 fans.
