Deadmau5 Talks Video Game Obsession, Lazy DJs

There has been a lot of talk in dance music about the cost of touring and people retiring from touring. As you get more into these other ventures, could you see yourself making a move like that?
No, no. Never. No. Because I owe it to my fans to tour. If I wanted to just cash out and do my own thing and go ride ATVs for the rest of my life, then I’d just cash the fuck out and stop spending money in the music and show up to festivals with a couple of USB sticks, stick ’em in the player and just make money like a fucking madman. I’d be Calvin fuckin’ Harris. But that’s not what I want to do. I like the challenges that touring provides: all the logistics involved, all the technology and constantly keeping in the front of production that looks great.

“That’s my goal: to be the guy who unveils that crazy fucking thing that people saw. …”

There were only so many moments in music history where precedents had been set, like Daft Punk in their pyramid and then me with my LED mouse head at Coachella in the cube. I can count that on one hand, how many times those things have happened, across the fucking span of music. That’s my goal: to be the guy who unveils that crazy fucking thing that people saw and then tour it a little while so we can share it with everyone else.

If you want to retire because you’re sick of fucking playing a CD, do it! Fuck, we won’t miss you. Yeah, that was rough for you. Anyways, I have the “me” thing going on, so I’ll just be over there.

Usually a new generation comes up and displaces the older one. What do you do to avoid that, to keep pushing boundaries?
You can of course cheap out on something or not perform to your fullest or not keep updated on technology and just use some existing stuff. But I like to really throw a lot of wrenches in my fucking program just to see if it works. There’s no limit to how hard you can push your shit. I like to talk to my set designers, which is pretty rare for this day in electronic music. I’m no master of any particular trade, but I have knowledge about all of the ones that are involved with putting on production.

What new projects can we expect from you now?
You know what? I couldn’t even tell you because I don’t know myself.