The Bizarre Lore of DEADMAU5

In this deep dive documentary style video, we'll be taking a chronological look into the life and career of Joel Zimmerman, aka Deadmau5, one of the greatest electronic music producers of our time. Come along for a ride as we uncover quirky untold stories of Deadmau5, and dissect how those influences shaped him into the global EDM superstar he is today.
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Huge shoutout to everyone who has uploaded Deadmau5 content to KZbin over the years, without you this video wouldn't be possible!
Video Credits: Deadmau5, [mau5 freaks], Manu Gandham, Nerd, Leo Galván, Justice, Tiësto, Shawn Ryan Show, Game Archive - No Commentary Gameplay, Dracoony, rjf, ZigZag Production Studio, MusicRadar Tech, Froot Loops, OrgyMusic, Tech49 Aerial Videography, Bum, MRWIGLEY10, Nick T, MELLEE FRESH, Pete Tong, TonnyKampert, fredieflint, intrancewetrust2009, FXpansion, Gabriela Lourenço, SGFArchive, Whenuknow, James Wilson, Sam Sheffer, Zero Smoke, andy457, Ross Mahon, AleGonzalezPhoto, Nubbles, Musifinder, DJ Supermash's 2nd Channel, ChartsNAwards 2, TheRichest, Shmee150, Roy Lichtenstein, Sekanskin, TheStradman, Waka La, Sgt. Catbread, Vylet Pony, Leandro Andrade, Mr. Bill, Unofficial Deadmau5 Mixer Streams, klanko64

[@audioeats]

Hey everyone, this is the same video I posted a few weeks ago, but with some very minor changes (the first one got a copyright claim a few days ago for using footage from Top Gear). I decided to try out a new title and thumbnail to see if it would perform better, so I apologize if you clicked on this thinking it was a new video after already seeing the old one!

[@audioeats]

@rickyneves5895 It's all good, wasn't a strike, just a claim so it was demonetized

[@lostfootage1999]

Wait, what was the context of using footage from top gear?

[@audioeats]

@@lostfootage1999I had used a clip from top gear (just the video, no audio) when talking about Joel's love for the show and how he attempted to get on the show by having his fans tweet at Top Gear. So I ended up replacing the majority of the clip with photos instead of video.

[@micheallarsen8687]

​@@audioeats could you explain the difference under the guidelines?

[@base13music]

Cakewalk wasn't originally developed by bandlabs when Joel would've been using it. The original company that made cakewalk was called Twelve Tone Systems and bandlabs bought the cakewalk ip in 2018

[@dudeeebackout6279]

RIP Meowingtons. Forever a legend.

[@musicbysazid]

He just likes the word "Fucking" a lot

[@Чаты]

He’s a cool dude.

[@S14M07]

@@Чатыdef has the mouth of a sailor though

[@Чаты]

@@S14M07 True that

[@TheMM4F]

What you mean.. "just" as in singular?

[@jessepeterson5826]

Re: Deadmau5 vs Disney - My 2 year old son is a huge deadmau5 fan because he thinks it's Mickey Mouse. I pick him up from daycare and it's always, daddy play mickey mouse! I love it because I'll listen to deadmau5 all god damn day anyway lol

[@audioeats]

Lol that's hilarious 😂 Maybe Disney actually had a case after all

[@BillLambert]

Joel used to piss me off in his early years when he would alienate basically everyone on the forum by savagely criticising their (admittedly shitty) tracks. I'm a guy who often says the unpleasant truths and get both love and hate for it, but Joel was 10x more vicious than I could ever be... But then he would produce all this epic stuff and we just had to concede that he was on another level. There were so many mods debating whether he should be perma-banned from the site, because every time he showed up, he'd piss everyone off in the thread. He mellowed out eventually, but man those forum days were a roller coaster.

[@doncarloancelotti2256]

Unleashing his inner Canadian 😂

[@Whitesquall123]

Ya, he was a key board warrior for sure, but he talked the walk and walked the walk.

[@Cayde-8]

He had a right to, though. Deadmau5 is the greatest EDM producer and artist of all time. His production is literally, even now, decades ahead of its own time. He just doesn't want EDM riddled and littered with trash like it is today. He wanted these artists to be at their best. Otherwise he wouldn't be so critical.

[@user1739-y5c]

Are those posts still online? Where could I find them?

[@MusicByDamienA]

Idk given it was the early years, the tracks may have legitimately been complete shit 😂

[@R0w4nH0pk1ns]

the veldt came out when i was in school and there was a competition for a short story, i thought it would be funny to take the song inspired by a short story and turned it back into a short story. This little joke ended up winning and getting published in a book too

[@SuperWTFPanda]

Where can I find this short story of yours or the published book? :)

[@R0w4nH0pk1ns]

@@SuperWTFPanda tbh I couldn't tell you, it was some book collection. I think my mam has it still though so I'll see if I can get her to let me know or see if I can find it when I next visit.

[@SuperWTFPanda]

@@R0w4nH0pk1nsAppreciate it, I would be really interested in reading it!

[@TDGCmote]

bro wrote a short story about a short story lmfao what a literate fool

[@charliehill8068]

@@TDGCmotebrother have you ever heard of ulysses by james joyce…in case you didn’t know - it’s even a whole book about a book…

[@dsquareddan]

Tbh, I’ve been following Joel almost since the very beginning, Get Scraped days. Had Joel’s personal Facebook account at point in my friends list with less than 500 connections. You’ve really gone in here and done some thorough research. Well done

[@CozySlice]

Awesome video. Started it not thinking I would watch but stayed for the whole thing

[@audioeats]

Glad you liked it!

[@rubykujo]

Babe wake up, new deadmau5 lore dropped

[@thisisjdos]

the opening line "come out the other end as a vaguely known pseudo celebrity" fucking sent me idk why thats so funny

[@cruzarnett6408]

29:48 Funktion one sytem for the living room is crazy

[@giggitygoo675]

U can’t even buy those u gotta know a guy and even then it’s expensive

[@danielnoboa554]

@@giggitygoo675 bs, anyone with the money can get funktion systems lol

[@yourqualia6341]

It should be noted that 23:58 that IS deadmau5 in game. He played a show for the afterparty for the first Minecon in 2011. He played the game a lot and owned a popular server

[@WickenChingz]

I played on that server a lot. People built some crazy stuff on there

[@guyvermearns]

Amazing video! So well put together and I learned a lot about Joel from it. One thing that I always admired about him, is that he has always kept himself relatable and true to his origins. He is the producer's producer so to speak. Will be checking out your other content! :)

[@parjol9064]

Honestly this is the most interesting comment section I've found on a video yet. So many cool infos. Also I can't believe how the plane story is real wow.

[@d05music17]

Great documentary dude, enjoyed watching and learning some news things I didn't know.

[@audioeats]

Thank you!

[@MatthewWoodcroft-o9t]

During the pandemic I spent most of my time at my buddy’s place making music, Joel lived down the street you’d see him cruising his various cars down the street (most likely going to Tim’s lol) all the time. He’s a very private dude never tried to even say hi to him, trippy having someone so famous just chilling in the boonies down the street such a random spot lol

[@skankamusic]

The software was SONAR. Cakewalk was the developer. Gibson acquired Cakewalk in 2013- Bandlab bought it in 2018. Long-live the original Cakewalk devs and SONAR. Since 1987!

[@sampizzey4862]

Well, depends exactly when this was. Because their software was called Cakewalk before it was called SONAR :)

[@Tripwelleverday]

Joel gave me a fl studio 2.5 in 96 we were friends on aim lol haven’t talked to him since

[@Tripwelleverday]

Maybe it was 98 it was so long ago

[@audioeats]

Oh shit that's wild! Were you in the FL forum back then?

[@derrickforeal]

Fruity loops 1.0 came put in 1997. I got a copy at a launch event

[@Чаты]

Deadmau5 is absolutely amazing, his journey from just being a teen to circa to get scraped, project 56… then all of a sudden he’s famous

[@xletzyy]

Lol facts but that's the internet blowing these guys up. I remember him being super hated on back then. Now he gets Hella streams.

[@Чаты]

@@xletzyy what got him so much hate?

[@MikMik1011]

what a well researched and interesting watch! :D

[@TheRadioman78]

I never thought I’d be completely drawn in with the story of Deadmau5, but here I am….. and I have a level of respect for the man, and you for your excellent presentation. Keep up the amazing work. Got a new sub out of me today.

[@musicbysazid]

Such a detailed overview on a Legend

[@lucidama]

good video, surprised you don't have more views tbh

[@Whitesquall123]

Awesome video. I was into the EDM scene when Deadmau5 first hit the scene, it was a magical time. Thanks for filling me in with some of the fine details.

[@DanielOrtega-z2h]

started this on my way to work & finished it on my way back home , really good

[@WTFxCupcake]

Ahhh Stickam! You brought back some core memories for me!

[@magiicbeans6405]

24:09 Holy shit I completely forgot goat simulator is where I first found Deadmou5 all those years ago, that’s pretty neat now that I know his story what with all the gaming lol

[@maikeru2137]

Great work! I just realized I knew maybe 60% of this stuff... and also I can hardly recall any of Mau5' music at the same time. His internet presence used to be quite interesting.

[@tveirken1]

Great video! Thank you for this!

[@shavemangin]

He has lived 10 lives in 1 life, never shing away from the grind. So many side turns yet moving straight forward as fast as possible. Whatever he knows about life clearly if functioning on the highest of levels

[@OkayWrx]

so glad someone made a video on joels lore. I always wanted someone to that or an iceberg type video

[@codeworld4172]

This was so well done, thanks for this

[@serganteddy5]

It was definitely deadmau5 who was my entry into the genre! I heard "I remember" in a video that showed a James Bond video Remake of Golden Eye for the first time. Ever since then, it started out as a little phase, and now here I am in his camp of Mau5 fans.

[@LegendaryDale2001]

Your depth into these artists is amazing. You have earned my follow and i can’t wait for more.

[@snnnnzzzzz]

Best hour spent, ever!

[@disectormusic]

OKAY FINALLY SOMEONE MADE A VIDEO ABOUT JOEL!

[@bloodforthebloodgoat]

deadmau5 will be greatly missed when he retires. I loved this video.

[@watsoncastelino3205]

the bonus was hilarious

[@snkp.b]

Great work brother It take lot of research and time to make such videos, keep making these videos, would love to watch them anytime

[@audioeats]

Thank you!

[@Swamp_Walker]

I personally don’t love his specific flavor of electronic music. But that being said in my own production journey, I have learned so much from this guy. Just his mind set and how he approaches things, and his openness to sharing his process. Really an inspiration and a goat of electronic music

[@Zaynatsa]

Fun fact - You can see that Dred and Karma Vinyl in Toronto at PlaydeRecord, signed by mau5 and framed

[@LiLGhettoSmurfOG]

Awesome video, really enjoyed it all. Their is something about Deadmau5's music man, got to see him this May and last year and I really hope he continues touring.

[@yaxtro]

⚡Hi, I'm RETRO!⚡ Joel Zimmerman (deadmau5) is an absolute legend. His creativity and ability to push boundaries in electronic music are truly inspiring. His work has been a huge influence on countless artists, myself included! As I carve out my own path in this industry, I'm constantly striving to develop a unique sound and bring fresh ideas to the table. It's not always easy, but seeing the dedication and innovation from artists like deadmau5 fuels my own creative fire. Looking forward to seeing what he (and hopefully, I!) cook up next!

[@adamwright4135]

What musical boundaries has he pushed exactly?

[@henri-fillipbauer6579]

How could dead mouse not get a Grammy dead mouse his melodies are insane.

[@base13music]

bonus at the end was worth it (i've already seen it lol)

[@RotcodFox]

I enjoyed this entire video, but I wish someone would make a long deep-dive analysis of why deadmau5 music sounds so good

[@audioeats]

Alex Rome has a cool video on why Strobe is such an amazing melody

[@Pauluz_The_Web_Gnome]

Thanks man for this docu….it’s awesome! And Big Respect for D.M. ❤ Wish I was a musical friend of him in the early days! 😅

[@aicapitan3279]

i remember seeing him at creamfields. he had skrillex open for him. probably the best live performance iv seen. followed by pendulum.

[@stephenjones3636]

Fantastic video, and incredibly well researched! Deadmau5 is the GOAT!

[@frod0lesa132]

In this video I see that I have more in common with Deadmau⁵ than I imagined. My first Facebook I started using a profile photo of his helmet. On Orkut I also use But the most impressive thing is to see that many of his songs that people love, he hates and I really go through that. I even had a recent problem of losing all my files and not having a backup of songs that I didn't think were good enough and people told me to release them soon. It even felt sad. There was one that mixed Future Riddim with Brazilian Funk, it was really sick.

[@JK-mo2ov]

Incredible video. Thanks for making this.

[@satopion_roblox]

Gosh, I love deadmau5 so much, and it's a little nerve racking hearing say he's gonna slow down on mau5 shows, really hope I can meet him sometime 🐭🐭🐭

[@ez4039]

Great content mate this channel is going to blow up soon

[@audioeats]

Thank you!

[@8t8GTA]

Finally got to see him live at the Hollywood Bowl, just missed the 1st half because the parking would not let me in even though I pre paid. but was still my all time favorite concert.

[@slightlyshroomy]

I like your channel homie! Super fun content!

[@audioeats]

Thank you!!

[@Uriahdoeskendama]

I love your edm documentaries!

[@qualich]

Last clip is a classic lmao. Well done video man

[@curcapsicum]

You did Gerard so dirty for using THAT picture of him.

[@ReinisDebners]

Thanks for making this!!

[@addyourall]

95-99 best years in my opinion.. electronic music wise...

[@fabiofantini2759]

I started too discovering midi audio with a midi keyboard with Cakewalk pro audio with win95 and a sound blaster PCI 128. What a beautiful era

[@erra7552]

Proof that Joel not only has the most interesting music, but also the most interesting lore. Got to play Diablo 3 with him once. And got to meet him on his Cube V3 tour. Have the album, While (1

[@ButterChrome888]

the SRS intervciew is the best interview if you really wana get to know joel

[@audioeats]

100%

[@SEugeniusz]

that was great. I really enjoyed that!

[@petelongrs]

Thank you for your work here, very interesting.

[@j.t5705]

I'm a big fan of deadmau5 I really enjoyed this

[@CyPhaSaRin]

30:34 Lost my cat '07 - last week' as well, two in the space of a year was rough, we loved that cat.

[@_pokies]

❤

[@jluchette]

BSOD also means "Blue Screen of Death" after the MS fatal error screen, right? He's used that during his live sets as a graphic on the cube.

[@audioeats]

Some articles say it stands for "better sounding on drugs", and so does the Deadmau5 fandom wiki, but other articles say it means "blue screen of death". Someone mentioned that if you use wayback machine to look at early articles, they all say "blue screen of death", so that's probably the correct acronym. They do have a track called "better sounding on drugs", so that's probably what caused the conflicting info online.

[@kaytay5197]

Think about it. It probably meant one thing originally, and they put out the song with something totally different just to mess with people. That's the way Deadmau5 rolls...

[@8billiondoomed]

the testpilot bit is genius

[@spartaqq]

great video!

[@doncarloancelotti2256]

That irl Final Destination experience in Spain was crazy

[@babayaga20000]

really great video. fascinating stuff but mate you need to look up some of those pronunciations like Kiesza and Shotty Horroh

[@audioeats]

I definitely pronounced Kiesza correctly, but you're right about Shotty Horroh, I did mess that one up You can hear Kiesza pronounce her own name at the very beginning of this video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/aKa3Y5WJeLOAfpYsi=AP9awxPg7qQdb4Do Glad you liked the video! Thanks for watching 🙏

[@Lowhla]

WE NEED MORE DJ/PRODUCER LORE DEEP DIVES 👏🏻🖤 edit: please do one on bassnectar!

[@audioeats]

Check out Cult Figure Club, Ceeds, and Nawtystep, they make them too! Cult Figure Club and Nawtystep mostly cover bass music artists, and Ceeds does house artists

[@Lowhla]

@@audioeats 🙏🏼🙏🏼 bless - cant wait to check them out!

[@999waves]

Kaskade please

[@dannsteven]

Didn't know Joel was this cool

[@rougeneon1997]

Boy do I miss the PubG streams. Great video.

[@Rainbowdash143]

Cool video 👍

[@audioeats]

Thanks!

[@ankhabar]

I remember watching him stream, chatting with him online on myspace chat etc

[@theofficialstig]

I'd love to see him live before he retires

[@nabum7749]

great video! thanks

[@recca7]

I discovered deadmau5 from the Art of Flight intro and have been a fan ever since. The dude really knows his shit and it's cool that he's a hometown hero

[@audioeats]

I forgot about the art of flight! The whole soundtrack is so good

[@Thewookman]

53:29 I literally saw Edgar winter play with Ringo Starr not that long ago lol

[@fractalbender]

you forgot he did a custom audio build for Dota 2!!!! absolutely incredible design on it also

[@oneoftheordinary]

my introduction to deadmau5 was through Goat Simulator and the fictional DJ in the game Deadgoa7. i remember as a kid thinking the song that played (Petting Zoo) was really good so i looked him up and went from there.

[@ercanyesiltas]

many younger people have never heard of him and i cant even fathom that.

[@StuKaBomber]

Its 2 in the morning and i want to know more about deadmau5 i love the youtube algorithm

[@rdubb77]

A master at combining the almost underground with tasteful EDMisms. Polaris is his best track.

[@Skettalee]

Great video man I appreciate it.

[@SamiAkkad111]

Well put together documentary! Also, really great selection of music in the background. Can you compile a list of the songs used, that'd be great.

[@audioeats]

Thank you! They're all demo loops from splice, none of them are full songs

[@amynagtegaal6941]

7:20 love the drone shots of Utrecht, The Netherlands when talking about belgium

[@audioeats]

Those shots are definitely Ghent, not Utrecht. Both of those cities have similar structures and layouts, but if you look closely on the left in the first shot you'll see the Ghent clock tower, and in the second you can see the Belfry, St. Bavo's Cathedral, and St. Nicholas Church.

[@Guacamole1000]

@@audioeats get rekt amy

[@ttomoski]

Great and engaging summary! Just would be also worth mentioning Madeon as one of the biggest breakthrough artists that he made :)

[@potterb39]

frickin' love this cat.

[@ChasenRiley]

I was diagnosed in November 2021 and it started similar to yours I was numb from my hips down but I’m in remission and on Ocrevus

[@josephangelodelosreyes4206]

Awesome research dude.

[@Cazwhin]

Okay, now do this video for Daft Punk please

[@audioeats]

That's definitely going to happen!

[@CrapZackGames]

Do OMFG next! Bro was wild

[@Frogs84]

Geeked out lol

[@nowstanding]

Nice vid!

[@vincentpollack]

loved in awesome vid

[@beetlejuice390]

Until now, I thought BSOD stood for ''Blue Screen Of Death''

[@audioeats]

Someone else pointed out that if you find old articles about BSOD on wayback machine, it says it stands for Blue Screen Of Death, but the BSOD wiki fandom says it's Better Sounding On Drugs, and there's an EDM.com article that also calls it that, so I guess it could be either one. They do have a track called Better Sounding On Drugs, so it's possible it was just assumed that's what their name stood for and that's how it ended up on edm.com and the wiki fandom. So I'm not totally sure which one is right lol.

[@onlywatchingchannel]

Is this a re-upload ? I’ve watched this before

[@TraxtasyMedia]

with some small edits

[@audioeats]

Yeah I had to cut out some of the Top Gear footage because of a copyright claim from BBC, I just made a different title and thumbnail for this one. I meant to make a post saying it's the same video but I forgot that I had scheduled it to post last night, so I just now made a post about it. Sorry about that!