deadmau5

Born in 1981 in Ontario, Joel Zimmerman, better known as deadmau5 (pronounced “dead mouse”), has become a legend in electronic music. He is most recognizable by his costume mouse head, called the “mau5head.”

His career began in the 1990s with a number of self-released compilations of original tracks that he created on his computer. Soon after the 2005 release of his debut album, Get Scraped, deadmau5 began his own record label, mau5trap, which now features a number of famous producers including Feed Me, Moguai, and Michael Woods.

In 2007, trance sensation Armin Van Buuren named deadmau5 “Producer of 2007” and in 2008, his popularity grew immensely after releasing a track with Kaskade, entitled “I Remember.” Later that year, he was named “Best Progressive House Artist” by Beatport and became the most awarded DJ/producer of the Beatport Music Awards.

Since then, deadmau5 has steadily become one of the biggest phenomenons in house music. He has worked alongside some of the biggest names in the house, trance, and electro music scenes, including Skrillex, Eric Prydz, Carl Cox, Calvin Harris, Wolfgang Gartner, and Justice.

Throughout all this, deadmau5 maintains that he is not a DJ. Unlike many other artists, deadmau5’s shows comprise largely of his original tracks and he is adamant about not using any CDs. His shows sell out in minutes and he has played at some of the biggest music festivals in the world, including Electric Daisy Carnival in Los Angeles and Creamfields in the UK.

He is best known for his tracks, “Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff,” “Raise Your Weapon,” “Strobe,” “The Veldt,” and “Aural Psynapse.”