Copyright Westword
World-renowned musical murine deadmau5 is leveling up. The Canadian electronic artist, whose real name is Joel Zimmerman, announced a new album alongside his latest single, “Ameonna,” on October 24 via his own mau5trap label. Scheduled for consumption sometime in 2026, the yet-to-be-named record is the first all-original deadmau5 release in a decade, since W:/2016Album/. “It was like, ‘Let’s just put it out.’ That’s just to sate everybody for now,” he says of the track, adding that it feels like it’s time for fresh deadmau5 material. While he’s been in and out of the lab, Zimmerman’s main focus right now is on his upcoming shows — particularly the annual Day of the Deadmau5 weekend at Red Rocks on Friday, November 7, and Saturday, November 8. “I’m going to get around to it,” he says of the album. “I’ve been working with another tech company on this thing that I’m doing that’s a possibly five-year long project. My head’s been there. Once the Red Rocks shows are done, I’ll get back in the studio and crank out five or six more.” The 44-year-old producer takes a drag from a cigarette. Sounding more like a tech CEO, he explains how he’s been working on much more than music at the moment, including a brand-new live production and behind-the-scenes elements that he’ll debut during the two five-hour Morrison sets. “I’ve been wracking my brain around new ways of performing with new user-end tech,” Zimmerman shares. “We got some pretty cool production elements that I don’t think has been done before that we’re going to try out. It’s kind of experiment. But all the industry standards of DJ gear is just not really doing it for me.” In order to prepare, he’s even been practicing in a reefer truck with the assistance of a “technology company that shall not be named.” “They rented refrigerated trucks to test this shit in cold conditions because Red Rocks in November is so hit or miss. We went through every variable with this thing,” he adds. “Basically, this company got more resources than Christ to have fun with what we’re doing.” He’s also creating his own code in order to maximize usability and dial in exactly what he wants whenever he hits the stage to perform his career-spanning catalog of deadmau5, testpilot and drum-and-bass. “A lot of people who make software don’t make APIs [application programming interfaces] because they don’t want people playing with their software and having fun. The killjoys who do that make life hard to get the application to do what you want,” Zimmerman says. “Now I’m in the arena of why don’t I write an application that’s mine with an open API that I can use? “I’ve been bashing my head around writing software and making things a little better for me,” he continues. “It makes my music a little more accessible for me to be able do things you just can’t really do on two CD players. It’s such a pain.” Zimmerman’s keeping it close to the mau5head right now, but he knows it’ll pay off and has dropped some teasers recently, including a short clip of mouse-headed mechanoid-looking character that Isaac Asimov could have come up with. “We’ll see,” he smirks. The pre-production aside, Zimmerman knows he can’t manically plan every detail, nor is he trying to. I’m going in still having no idea what I’m going to play, which is the fun of making this software,” he says. “That’s what I want it to serve. I want to go in and I want to jam. I don’t want a pre-recorded thing.” As part of the Day of the deadmau5 celebration, virtual EDM artist Deathpixie will also be performing. Plus, there’s a mau5hop pop-up at 95 South Cherokee St. from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day featuring one-of-a-kind designs and merch. Zimmerman is most excited for his latest collab with Atari — a Meowingtons’ Revenge video game. Having his own 7800 playable cartridge is “a childhood dream come true for me,” he says. “It’s pretty fucking cool,” he goes on, showing off his retro gaming collection, which includes an original Atari and Super Nintendo consoles and games. With so much going on, he hasn’t had a chance to plug in and play Meowingtons’ Revenge yet, but he’ll be at the pop-up, noon to 3 p.m., to see it and hang out this weekend. After all, it’s still about human connection. “We can shoot the shit,” Zimmerman says, “you get your stuff signed or just say hello.”
