A peek behind the mouse hat: Joel Zimmerman aka Deadmau5 tells all
Deadmau5.While there is some speculation as to the exact origin of his mousy moniker, most have decided it emerged from computer shorthand for “Dead Mouse,” allegedly the chat room username he adopted after discovering an expired rodent in his keyboard years ago — these claims remain unconfirmed.Regardless of the origin story, most of Deamau5’s followers probably associate the slender, tatted-up, 43-year-old music producer with his anomalous onstage appearance. He is often caught bobbing to his beats in a glowing, oversized helmet shaped like a smiling, cartoon mouse helmet.It’s difficult to know exactly what goes through the mind of the six-time Grammy Award-nominated producer who hails from Canada and has survived over a quarter century in one of the most trying creative industries known to man: music.Even more astonishing is how the prodigy has stirred up enough energy to develop his ‘Retro5pective Tour’ that transports fans through time with selections of the greatest hits from his illustrious career, on top of new, unperformed material.“It’s just kind of like an extra long show of me trying to cram in as much as I can from day one to now,” Zimmerman told the New York Post in an exclusive interview, just a couple of days after playing the Hollywood Bowl.The prolific EDM icon is looking forward to putting on potentially even longer sets at the Brooklyn Mirage in New York City on Thursday, May 2 and Friday, May 3.“For the Hollywood Bowl, it’s probably the most unionized, crazy venue in all of America so we’re very constricted to time,” he presumed.