Who ever said IT wasn’t cool? Tonight, technical whizz kid Joel Zimmerman (a.k.a. Deadmau5) proves that spending time with computer chips can be an awful lot of fun.
Zimmerman has been breathing electronics since the age of 15 when he started experimenting with old computer chips, enabling him to produce some pretty radical sounds out of them. Know in the industry as chip tunes, Zimmerman’s compositions started to attract the attention of some big players in the nu metal scene. He later collaborated with Mötley Crüe drummer, Tommy Lee. Now a little older, our technological phenomenon of the 00’s is able to boast an impressive CV of which the likes of computer Baron B. Gates would be fully dazzled.
The discerning music scholar would be forgiven to think that this evenings performance would be an indulgence of pure Nintendo-esqe beats. However, Super Mario doesn’t make an appearance, and instead the packed Roundhouse is treated to an extreme, out of this world experience, full of soundscapes you didn’t think were humanly achievable.
Donning an oversized mouse head complete with stupendous ears, Zimmerman is able to create an exhilarating sense of theatre around his performance. Explosions of glitter and enormous bursts of smoke engulf the venue, and a backdrop of cascading light fascinates all present, spurring bodies to move frantically to the innovative processions of beats.
Let’s be clear, Deadmau5 is NOT a DJ. He is a certain carpenter of sounds, a performer, constructing and puppeteering music to the extreme. Qualities can be taken from dance icons such as Armin Van Buuren and fused with more modernistic performers such as MSTRKRFT, but Deamau5 cannot be generically placed. His seemless mixes (using mainly self constructed hardware/software), romantic melodies and ethereal, pulsating beats conjure up an unforgettable experience tonight.
The night is brought to an uplifting close by current single ‘Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff’. Featuring vocals from Rob Swire of Pendulum, the track truly compels the whole room. Arms fly and eyes widen in awe of the emitting notes, and the surrounding space is submerged in pure, rapturous, ecstasy.
Words by Frazer Lawton
