Joel Thomas Zimmerman (born January 5, 1981), better known as Deadmau5, is … Read Full Bio ↴Joel Thomas Zimmerman (born January 5, 1981), better known as Deadmau5, is a Canadian progressive house, electro house and techno producer from Niagara Falls, Ontario. He is regarded as one of the world's most respected electronic music producers of modern times. In pop culture, he is known for wearing a large "mau5head" while performing at live events.
The Deadmau5 discography is currently comprised of eight studio albums, eight compilation albums, six mix albums, one soundtrack album, two remix albums, two video albums, seven extended plays, 55 singles, and 22 music videos.
Zimmerman's career in music began in 1999, releasing the vinyl pressed single "I Don't Want No Other" under Dred And Karma. Six years later, Deadmau5 released his debut studio album album, Get Scraped on July 26, 2005, which featured more experimental genres different from his future sound. Within the following year, Zimmerman finished three compilation albums, Project 56, Deadmau5 Circa 1998–2002, and A Little Oblique, which were released on his (now retired) SectionZ page.
On November 6, 2006, he released his second studio album Vexillology, which marked the beginning of the signature Deadmau5 sound. In 2007, Zimmerman founded his own record label, Mau5trap, which released his third studio album Random Album Title on September 2, 2008. This was his first album to garner mainstream success, coining his unique style of progressive house and featuring the singles "Faxing Berlin", "Not Exactly" and "I Remember" (with Kaskade).
During 2008, Zimmerman left Play Records. However, due to his contract agreement, Play Records was able to claim ownership of tracks he made during the time he was signed to the label. This led to the creation of the At Play series, which consisted of six mix albums released periodically from 2008 to 2015.
On September 22, 2009, Deadmau5 released his fourth studio album For Lack of a Better Name . In contrast of his previous album, For Lack of a Better Name is based around tech house. Despite this switch in style, the album contains two of Zimmerman's greatest hits to date: "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" and "Strobe". He expanded his EDM sound further with his fifth studio album, 4x4=12 which was released on December 6, 2010, and consisted of techno, electro house and the progressive house/dubstep mashup "Raise Your Weapon". In 2011, Deadmau5 released two non-album singles: "Aural Psynapse" and "HR 8938 Cephei", with the former being a modern remake of an old song Zimmerman made under the alias Halcyon441.
Zimmerman revisited his roots with his sixth studio album, > Album Title Goes Here <, released on September 21, 2012. The album consists of house music along with songs in the ambient, glitch, and trip-hop genres. In November 2013, Zimmerman deleted three years worth of music from his SoundCloud account, replacing them with 7, an EP of seven melancholy piano sonatas named after the seven deadly sins. The same month, Zimmerman left Ultra Records and signed with record label Astralwerks.
On January 7, 2014, Deadmau5 announced on Twitter that his next project was complete. However, it was preceded by the weekly release of four singles, "Avaritia", "Seeya", "Infra Turbo Pigcart Racer" and "Phantoms Can't Hang" until his seventh studio album While(1<2) was finally released on June 17. After this, Zimmerman would leave Astralwerks and not release any new music until May 27, 2016, with the digital single "Snowcone". This song was later included on his eighth studio album W:/2016ALBUM/, which was released on December 2, 2016.
In 2017, Deadmau5 would go on to release a compilation album of his older works, Stuff I Used to Do on January 7, and the single "Legendary" on August 25. On March 30, 2018, Zimmerman released Where's the Drop?, a compilation album containing orchestral covers of previously released music, with the exception of "Caritas", an entirely original song. From July 13, 2018 to February 1, 2019, Deadmau5 released the Mau5ville series, three EPs which featured original work along with remixes and songs by other Mau5trap artists. On January 25, 2019, the movie Polar premiered on Netflix, with Zimmerman releasing the soundtrack album, Polar (Music from the Netflix Film) the same day. In November, Zimmerman released three new singles, entitled "Satrn", "Coasted" and "Fall", released on the 16th, 22nd and 29th, respectively.
The following year, Deadmau5 would continue to release singles, with "Pomegranate" on May 20 and "Bridged By a Lightwave" on November 10. Both are expected to appear on Zimmerman's next studio album. On March 29, 2021, Zimmerman debuted a new, house-focused record label called Hau5trap, and simultaneously released the single "Nextra". He would go on to release "Hypnocurrency" on April 22 and "When the Summer Dies" on July 15.
Throughout his career, Deadmau5 has won 15 competitive awards and received 42 nominations. Amongst his major achievements, Zimmerman has won five Beatport Music Awards, four DJ Awards, three International Dance Music Awards, three Juno Awards, and has also received six Grammy Award nominations and one World Music Award nomination.
Zimmerman has also worked with a number of artists both underground and mainstream, including Melleefresh, Steve Duda, Kaskade, MC Flipside, Rob Swire of Pendulum, Chris Lake, Glenn Morrison, Wolfgang Gartner, Sofi, Chris James, Cypress Hill, Imogen Heap, Gerard Way, Colleen D'Agostino, Grabbitz, Attlas, Shotty Horroh, Lights, Mr. Bill, The Neptunes, Kiesza, and Rezz.
The name Deadmau5 originates from an incident where a mouse crawled into his computer and died. He posted this story on an internet forum, and members began calling him TheDeadMouseGuy. "Dead Mouse" was too long for an IRC login name, so he abbreviated it to "deadmau5".
The Deadmau5 discography is currently comprised of eight studio albums, eight compilation albums, six mix albums, one soundtrack album, two remix albums, two video albums, seven extended plays, 55 singles, and 22 music videos.
Zimmerman's career in music began in 1999, releasing the vinyl pressed single "I Don't Want No Other" under Dred And Karma. Six years later, Deadmau5 released his debut studio album album, Get Scraped on July 26, 2005, which featured more experimental genres different from his future sound. Within the following year, Zimmerman finished three compilation albums, Project 56, Deadmau5 Circa 1998–2002, and A Little Oblique, which were released on his (now retired) SectionZ page.
On November 6, 2006, he released his second studio album Vexillology, which marked the beginning of the signature Deadmau5 sound. In 2007, Zimmerman founded his own record label, Mau5trap, which released his third studio album Random Album Title on September 2, 2008. This was his first album to garner mainstream success, coining his unique style of progressive house and featuring the singles "Faxing Berlin", "Not Exactly" and "I Remember" (with Kaskade).
During 2008, Zimmerman left Play Records. However, due to his contract agreement, Play Records was able to claim ownership of tracks he made during the time he was signed to the label. This led to the creation of the At Play series, which consisted of six mix albums released periodically from 2008 to 2015.
On September 22, 2009, Deadmau5 released his fourth studio album For Lack of a Better Name . In contrast of his previous album, For Lack of a Better Name is based around tech house. Despite this switch in style, the album contains two of Zimmerman's greatest hits to date: "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" and "Strobe". He expanded his EDM sound further with his fifth studio album, 4x4=12 which was released on December 6, 2010, and consisted of techno, electro house and the progressive house/dubstep mashup "Raise Your Weapon". In 2011, Deadmau5 released two non-album singles: "Aural Psynapse" and "HR 8938 Cephei", with the former being a modern remake of an old song Zimmerman made under the alias Halcyon441.
Zimmerman revisited his roots with his sixth studio album, > Album Title Goes Here <, released on September 21, 2012. The album consists of house music along with songs in the ambient, glitch, and trip-hop genres. In November 2013, Zimmerman deleted three years worth of music from his SoundCloud account, replacing them with 7, an EP of seven melancholy piano sonatas named after the seven deadly sins. The same month, Zimmerman left Ultra Records and signed with record label Astralwerks.
On January 7, 2014, Deadmau5 announced on Twitter that his next project was complete. However, it was preceded by the weekly release of four singles, "Avaritia", "Seeya", "Infra Turbo Pigcart Racer" and "Phantoms Can't Hang" until his seventh studio album While(1<2) was finally released on June 17. After this, Zimmerman would leave Astralwerks and not release any new music until May 27, 2016, with the digital single "Snowcone". This song was later included on his eighth studio album W:/2016ALBUM/, which was released on December 2, 2016.
In 2017, Deadmau5 would go on to release a compilation album of his older works, Stuff I Used to Do on January 7, and the single "Legendary" on August 25. On March 30, 2018, Zimmerman released Where's the Drop?, a compilation album containing orchestral covers of previously released music, with the exception of "Caritas", an entirely original song. From July 13, 2018 to February 1, 2019, Deadmau5 released the Mau5ville series, three EPs which featured original work along with remixes and songs by other Mau5trap artists. On January 25, 2019, the movie Polar premiered on Netflix, with Zimmerman releasing the soundtrack album, Polar (Music from the Netflix Film) the same day. In November, Zimmerman released three new singles, entitled "Satrn", "Coasted" and "Fall", released on the 16th, 22nd and 29th, respectively.
The following year, Deadmau5 would continue to release singles, with "Pomegranate" on May 20 and "Bridged By a Lightwave" on November 10. Both are expected to appear on Zimmerman's next studio album. On March 29, 2021, Zimmerman debuted a new, house-focused record label called Hau5trap, and simultaneously released the single "Nextra". He would go on to release "Hypnocurrency" on April 22 and "When the Summer Dies" on July 15.
Throughout his career, Deadmau5 has won 15 competitive awards and received 42 nominations. Amongst his major achievements, Zimmerman has won five Beatport Music Awards, four DJ Awards, three International Dance Music Awards, three Juno Awards, and has also received six Grammy Award nominations and one World Music Award nomination.
Zimmerman has also worked with a number of artists both underground and mainstream, including Melleefresh, Steve Duda, Kaskade, MC Flipside, Rob Swire of Pendulum, Chris Lake, Glenn Morrison, Wolfgang Gartner, Sofi, Chris James, Cypress Hill, Imogen Heap, Gerard Way, Colleen D'Agostino, Grabbitz, Attlas, Shotty Horroh, Lights, Mr. Bill, The Neptunes, Kiesza, and Rezz.
The name Deadmau5 originates from an incident where a mouse crawled into his computer and died. He posted this story on an internet forum, and members began calling him TheDeadMouseGuy. "Dead Mouse" was too long for an IRC login name, so he abbreviated it to "deadmau5".
Moar Ghosts 'n' Stuff
deadmau5 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
After I'm gone
Your Earth will be free
To live out its miserable span of existence
It's one of my satellites, and that's how it's going to be
Your Earth will be free
To live out its miserable span of existence
It's one of my satellites, and that's how it's going to be
The lyrics to deadmau5's song "Moar Ghosts 'n' Stuff" are somewhat surreal and cryptic, but they can be interpreted as a commentary on mortality and the nature of existence. The lyrics suggest that after the singer (presumably deadmau5 himself) is gone, the Earth will be free to live out its "miserable span of existence," implying that life on Earth is somehow limited or constrained. The reference to the Earth as a satellite reinforces this idea, suggesting that we are all just tiny specks in the vast expanse of the universe.
However, there is also a sense of defiance and humor in these lyrics, which are delivered with deadmau5's trademark deadpan wit. Rather than being resigned to the limitations of life on Earth, the singer seems to be mocking them, implying that the idea of "moar ghosts 'n' stuff" is more exciting and interesting than the mundane reality of everyday life. The song as a whole is a high-energy dance track that blends elements of techno, electro, and house music, creating a pulsing, driving beat that matches the intensity of the lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
After I'm gone
Once I pass away
Your Earth will be free
The Earth will be liberated
To live out its miserable span of existence
To exist in its sorrowful form
It's one of my satellites, and that's how it's going to be
The Earth is like one of my satellites, and I have control over it
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Joel Zimmerman
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Arien Westerman
Love that bit around 1:48 where he picks you up to see if you are ok then drops you back onto the ground.
Caleb Garlipp
Being picked up and then dropped back down is a recurring theme if you get the right areas of the brain activated
Anony mouse
938
Aditya PS
888th like by me
Gábor Krausz
That's also where he adds the strings in
Arien Westerman
@TheScruffinator it's a metaphor holy shit
Stock Market George
I used to listen to this when i was young. But now i can really appreciate it. This man is a fucking genius.
Kerry Needs
Isn’t he just. Privileged to have seen him so much and met him! 🙌
Dokey Pokey
I think deadmau5 is the only electronic music producer that still uses the classic crescendo. Everyone else goes straight for the bass drop, which is more exciting but it's overused.
Turnt SNACO
That's incredibly cynical to suggest he's the ONLY one. Maybe one of few mainstream electronic artists, but you have to remember there are so many more electronic musicians in the world than just the ones everyone knows. It's unfair to so many musicians to suggest that he could even possibly be the only one who does something - as if all the small artists in the world who do that exact thing don't count just because you've never heard of them.