‘Professional Griefer’, ‘Nyan Cat Lover’, ‘Coffee Run Specialist’, ‘Gear Geek’; call him what you like but if you’re a fan of any form of electronic music it’s absolutely certain that you have always lauded Joel Zimmerman and closer to home, have longed to witness him come to India and exhibit his prowess whilst treating us fans to his gritty, grinding sound packed with tasty grooves, soaring leads and possibly the most innovative synth-work you may have the joy of experiencing.

A prime advocate for innovating sound and consistently doing something new and creative, which hasn’t been done before, Zimmerman’s love for music (mind you, almost all forms of music) is apparent from the aforementioned drive he posses. To add to that, he is widely regarded as one of the most lionized “brands” in dance music and given his extol & dexterity, that comes as no surprise whatsoever. Never one to be paradoxical, Zimmerman is always out there, and is almost always a consistent presence one way or another. Whether it’s as ‘the good’, ‘the bad’ or ‘the angry’, he remains one of the most engaging and polarizing personalities in dance music.

Deadmau5 as he’s popularly known is the quintessential DJ/producer and truly an extraordinary musician. As would be expected, when the first winds of a possible tour of India were felt they left each and every connoisseur of electronic music across the country uncontrollably excited and the confirmation, which came shortly after, added to the hysteria tremendously. It would be safe to say that fans across the country, not being able to thank Mr. Shailendra Singh and his incredible team at Sunburn enough, are with each passing day growing increasingly eager to have arguably the biggest tour of the country ever, transpire before their eyes.

With the tour drawing closer and closer, we recently were slated to conduct a quick 15 minute interview with the dance music luminary before his impending arrival to India however, what we were treated to instead was a highly insightful, yet amusing and entertaining two hour conversation which gave us a fascinating peak into the mind of the man himself.

As the conversation began, Joel seemed to be in the mood for a fun conversation rather than a formal tete-à-tete, as he went on tell us how he had already had two interviews, which weren’t very interesting and how he wasn’t too fond of interviews since he found most of them boring.

Putting things into motion, we asked him what he fancied doing the most upon his arrival in India for his debut outing of the country. Naturally, he responded by telling us that he was keen on seeing his Indian fans, to play them music and indulge in some curry. However, at the same time he had us amused when he added that he was exceedingly eager to ride an elephant and high-five Trilok Gurtu.

As the conversation progressed further, Deadmau5 continued to keep us amused while at the same time provided us with some brutally honest insight. Upon being asked by us as to why he’d chosen to limit his presence at festivals and concerts, he explained that he’d been busy on some new projects and because of that had been withdrawn a bit, though he also said that sooner than later he would be back on the road full time again for a couple of years. Citing Nine Inch Nails as an example, he added that, another reason for him not being so active when it came to touring was his interest in playing his own music and that DJ’s who choose to play other producer’s music could afford to tour a lot more. However, in all humility he also acknowledged that he wasn’t the only producer to have too much on his plate and make an effort to treat fans witnessing him live to his own music.

Moving ahead, we were immensely keen to know Joel’s opinion on the evolvement of dance music over the years and more recently how, it had gone into the ‘commercial’ space of (so called) ‘EDM’ since over time he has chosen to be markedly vocal about his feelings regarding the shift. Although, he didn’t exactly pinpoint what he felt he made it clear that he was hopeful and that he reckons there may be a split in the market if underground music which hasn’t been heard yet makes a comeback.

Joel had us in splits a little later, as we moved on to lighter things. First as we dwelled upon the two instances when he trolled his comrade, Skrillex by wearing a T-shirt with his private number on it at the Grammies and another time when he ordered controllers from Behringer in bulk in his name, he told us how he regards himself to be the bigger troll of the two and how Skrillex had always been a good sport. Transitioning to a little about his cat, Prof. Meowingtons and his umpteen tattoos, we moved ahead and touched upon his recent jocular coffee run’s, as part of which he told us that he thought the one with Tommy Lee was pretty funny and how he was more than keen to go with us on one while in India, only this time on an elephant!

Candid as ever, the mau5 had us surprised yet regaled when he cited a reference to famous bhangra superstar, Daler Mehndi and even seemed to know about his song, “Tunak Tunak”, which possibly seemed to inspire him to animatedly tell us how he desired to produce a Bollywood video and wanted to get in touch with a few big directors in India. He also went a bit political while keeping the humour in tact, when he told us how a certain politico reminded him of his old family doctor.

Closer to the end of the conversation, Deadmau5 turned a bit somber and insightful for a bit when we touched upon an instance our team witnessed in Miami last year, as he told us how even though a certain craze develops among the media when fame and wealth come to an individual, he chooses to remain unfazed and just let it happen while he goes on to ‘embrace the chaos’ rather than fight it.

Bringing the gripping conversation to a close, Joel told us how it had been therapeutic, cultural and educational for him and just before he bid us adieu, he had us amused once again.

It would be safe to say, that our conversation with Deadmau5 was an experience in its own right and one which, as individuals we’ll cherish for some time to come. Truly, one of the most inspiring individuals we’ve had the pleasure and privilege of talking to from the dance music industry, we look forward to his tour of India and await our planned coffee run with him on an elephant!