Deadmau5 is experimenting with an unlikely new marketing ploy: honesty. The EDM star has posted a series of messages telling fans that he dislikes his new “slapped together” album.
The producer, real name Joel Zimmerman, releases his eighth album – the thoughtfully titled W:/2016ALBUM/ – on 2 December. In a string of posts on Twitter he unveiled his disdain for his new creation. “Don’t even like it,” he said. “It was like ... so fucking rushed / slapped together. But I mean ... hey, if you like it I wanna like it too, just don’t.”
Describing his situation as a “love/hate thing” he explained that there are two tracks that he likes from the new record – Snowcone and Whelk When – but added: “At least you don’t have to sit here and endure me constantly peddling shit. Buy this, out now, buy that, wahhh click here.”
When asked why he released the record, the musician replied:
COZ I GOT FUCKIN MAD BILLS. https://t.co/E6ChMrF1GP
— dead mow cinco (@deadmau5) November 20, 2016
He said he was reluctant to put the record out but that someone “pushed” him to do it, and concluded: “Maybe it’s time ... to just sit down, and work on this fabled ‘album I like’ thing I’ve been wanting to do for the past 10 years.”
Deadmau5, who rose to fame at the peak of EDM and dubstep’s crossover into the mainstream, has previously been vocal about the costs of touring and studio time. Following his charting on Forbes’ 2012 highest paid list, he said: “I had to call my manager and say, ‘Yo! Where’s the other 10?’ Sure, we’ve seen $20m in the past two years, but that’s gone back into the studio, into tours – they cost up to $10m alone. It’s money in, money out for all of us, but the list makes us look like a bunch of overpaid dicks.”
