Alright dear faithful readers, it's been quite a while since the last blog entry. This is a little bit of a rant, and I apologize if it gets out of hand...but this just needs to be said.
Okay, so last year I went to Ultra Music Festival for the first time. It was amazing seeing amazing artists and DJs like Crookers, Major Lazer, Armin van Buuren, and Swedish House Mafia. However, if there was one person's performance that I absolutely loved with every core fiber of my BEING it was deadmau5.
I first heard of him through Kaskade songs. I never really put much though into it, I just thought "Hey, I Remember and Move For Me are really great songs". I completely just brushed past him. I heard Hi Friend Ft. MC Flipside from a friend, and really got into the song. Being a Deep House lover, I didn't really listen to any other House music. At the time, I couldn't stop listening to it, it was too good! Towards Ultra though, I started doing more research into him. "Okay, he's a House DJ and producer that wears a big mouse costume on his head, cool" is a thought I think went through my mind when looking at the Wikipedia page. I eventually went and got all of his albums hoping to at least have knowledge of him before I went to Ultra.
When I get a new piece of music, I like to listen to it once, then upload something else, listen to that, etc. I listened to Get Scraped, Joel's first album, not knowing what to expect. After a listen through, I loved what I heard. The Oshawa Connection had a Matrix-like D&B feel to it. Intelstat was like a mix of D&B and Trance. The rest of the songs had very nice melody and were catchy. Vexillology was amazing as well. I love House music, I adore it. Vexillology and Full Circle took me on a journey through House music and the beats I loved so much.
So, it was then time for Ultra, and I had all these new artists and musical styles I had known of, but didn't really care about. Going to Ultra, I had only listened to 3 deadmau5 albums. I couldn't wait till he played his "hits" 1981, Dr. Funkenstein, and the others I had heard...oh how very blissfully ignorant I was.
Ultra was fantastic, I enjoyed it so much. During the day, I even bought a deadmau5 shirt. I couldn't wait to wear it when he performed as the closer! In honor of his colors (he usually had a blue and red mau5 head) I bought red and blue glow stick hoping to rush my way right up to the front, hoping that maybe he would see me with the shirt and glow sticks. Before he was about to perform, I tried to mash my way to the front...unsuccessfully. People were packing in flocking from EVERYWHERE to get to the Main Stage. I realized that it was impossible to get up front, so I had to settle for a good spot. It was decent, I could see the stage, the screens, perfect.
Then, when the stage darkened and the intro video came on, I lost it. It showed a deadmau5 head being assembled and dropped on Miami, leaving a deadmau5 shaped crater in it's place. Then...the lights came on and we saw him, right there, on the Main Stage. There he was!! deadmau5! Right there! I couldn't wait! What would he play first? Maybe 8bit? Or Bounce, that was a good one. The music started and...I didn't recognize it at all. Don't get me wrong, I loved it. I had just never heard it. Soon, Joel took his mau5 head off, making everyone cheer. The music kept on going, with the stunning visual effects in the back giant screens. This would be a night I would never forget.
After more AMAZING songs, I started hearing these drums. I looked at the screen to find...Tommy Lee?! I later found out, after Ultra, that Joel (deadmau5) and Tommy Lee were good friends! A female singer came on stage (SOFI)), and what ensued just cosmic. All three of them on stage killed it, I had never seen a fusion of live Electronic music, drums, and a vocalist. I was certainly excited and enjoyed every second of it.
deadmau5 continued with more rapturous beats before I heard...Killing In The Name? No way...he was NOT going to play a Rage Against The Machine song. That would be TOO bad ass. It actually turned out it was a remix, a super, fantastic, amazing (I have used that word like 4 times already but hey, it's about deadmau5, what do you expect) remix. When the "Fuck you I won't do what you tell me" part played, I stuck my middle finger in the air. Joel flipped the bird too sending me into a smile.
The set he did was simply fantastic. I had never heard anything like what I was then hearing. I completely lost track of time, so it was a bit of a surprise when I heard the Mario dying sound from Super Mario Bros. as the set ended. What a clever way to end it. I cheered and cheered, giving praise to an amazing artist.
After Ultra, I found more out about deadmau5. I listened to more of his music and did more research. I fell in love with his music and the man as a producer. Soon, he became my favorite DJ (loose term on him) and producer. He performed songs from his album For Lack of a Better Name at Ultra. My knowledge skyrocketed and I then found out how ignorant I was.
Another thing, Joel is my role model, my hero, and an inspiration. After going to Ultra, my dream of becoming a DJ and producer was re-ignited. I started to listen to all kinds of Electronic Dance Music after Ultra, grabbing anything I could get my hands on. Eventually, soon after Ultra, he became one of my favorite artists. I follow his blog religiously and was VERY excited when I found out he was the official House artist of the VMAs.
However, well to quote the mau5 himself "Sometimes things get complicated". Opinions started surfacing saying he "sold out". In addition, I stumbled upon this link: http://www.raveready.com/White-Reject-the-Mainstream-Shirt-p/freemain5tream.htm
After seeing this I literally went, "What...the...fuck?"
Begin ranting. Has EDM culture really become a bunch of hipsters who's entire focus has become to hide music from the world? How in the hell do you say something sucks JUST because it's mainstream? How ignorant do you REALLY have to be to go and judge someone JUST because they have FINALLY become popular? Joel says in his blog that selling out means doing something against ones moral fibre for personal gain. Saying he's sold out, or saying he's bad JUST because his music has caught a lot of attention is not only reflective of how much of a dumb ass you really are, but it show's how musically ignorant you really are. How are you going to go and hate someone just for becoming noticed by a lot of people? If your favorite artist got noticed one day, made it big, would you suddenly hate them?
This may be just me ranting, or me just telling the truth that has been coming for a LONG time. Everyone just assumes just because an artist has become big, they haven't remained true to his roots. Why is Joel my hero? Because he is just like all of us. He proves that with dedication and hard work, you can live your dreams. I simply ADORE the music he makes, I honestly do. He is so down to earth, it's not even funny. He loves his fan base because we have supported him throughout his career. And no matter how many giant cubes he performs in, how much he upgrades his live shows, or how big he gets, he has never sold out just to get more money. Times change, and music does with it. If you close your mind to only one genre of music, just think about the world of other tunes out there.
Not only that, but how does "rejecting the mainstream" make you cool? When I like a song, I like it because it's good, not because everyone ELSE likes it. If you only listen to music NO ONE has heard about, how exactly does that make you cool? Joel mentioned in his blog that people want to be a part of something bigger than them, something they can identify with. But when too many people join, the group disbands and finds something else to do. Are you really defined by not going with the majority? Why not just think for yourself about what YOU want to do. If a bunch of people don't like it, or if a substantial amount of people do, who gives a crap? It's what you do. You can't let other people inadvertently control your musical tastes and choices, it's just stupid.
I don't know if Joel will read this, I hope he does. But even if this goes unnoticed by my favorite producer, I will still love the skinny tattooed Canadian who wears a giant dead mouse head. I love Joel, I support him, and I think that he deserves every bit of fame he gets because he's earned it. Since I know Joel knows his memes, I think there's one that applies the most to the hordes of ignorant masses out there...
"Haters gonna hate"
