Project 1 - Genealogy Tree

Deadmau5 has a very hands on approach to his music and live events. Instead of palming the stage and lighting off to a third party company, Joel instead makes all the graphics, animations and lighting by him self with some help of a few friends. He plays a huge part in designing the whole stage down to the last detail. His studio is also full of analog gear and tech from the past and the future, like he owns THE synthesizer used for the original R2-D2 sound, his studio is also one of the only Dolby Atmos mixing studios out side Dolby them selves. He has walls of modular synthesizers which he uses to make the bulk of his music instead of using plugins. And I just love his combination of sound and technology along with his casual stage performances and his fun and creative helmets.

In a Dancing Astronaut Interview Joel Zimmerman aka "Deadmau5" cites Nine Inch Nails as a major influence on his music making process:

“I was like, ‘I want to make music like that, how do I learn?’ That was the kind of kickoff for me. Having listened to all the top brand-name acts when I was going through high school that was the one that stuck out, that motivated me to go out and learn how to do it myself. I remember when Downward Spiral came out I rushed out to go grab it on cassette.”

Deadmau5 points to KISS as an influence to his playful performance style. He remembers that:

“nobody was talking about Gene Simmons’ crazy, Les Claypool-like bass solo. They were talking about when the drummer blew up a piece of truss with the rocket launcher.”

 Likening this destructive moment to his faux-computer issues and his “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” remix of Martin Garrix’s “Animals,” Zimmerman understands the philosophy of mixing live sets with entertainment.

The music that Deadmau5 produces draws a lot of similarity to that of Daft Punk. They both use nostalgic syntheses and punchy kicks with a strong techno dance vibe. Deadmua5 also wears his iconic mouse head helmet on stage when he performs his live sets, similar to the daft puck duo.

Eminem had a big influence on my teens and young adult life. He has helped me get though many rough patches and I have a few go to songs for if I need inspiration like Till I Collapse and lose Yourself. I've bought a few of his albums on CD and Vinyl in fact the first vinyl I bought was his curtain Call: The hits Deluxe Edition, and a number of his songs can be found littered through out my spotify likes playlist. His lyricism and flow inspires me to want to get into writing/ rapping  and his diss track on MGK and his album Music to Be Murdered By are on loop in my car and inspire me to want to make bass thumpers with a deeper meaning. 

In a book "EMINEM the way I am" Eminem states:

"The Beastie Boys' License to III played a big part for me. Because obviously, they were white guys rapping in a predominantly black music form. And they were just fun. One of the best live hip-hop shows I ever saw as a kid was Run DMC's Tougher than Leather tour."

"I spent a lot of time by my self, so hip-bop became my girl, my confidant, my best homie. It had so many emotions: LL could pap about the girls, and Rakim, with his wordplay, could get real deep with it."

In a video interview with the website BET "Eminem" (Marshall Bruce Mathers III) sates:

"I developed the flow from so many, other different artist like I was inspired by like, I had to say like early on LL, Beastie Boys, Run D.M.C and it became, you know and Rakim."

My parents grew up with Queen and thus so did I, some of my earliest memories are of listening to Queen in the car on the way to my grandparents. Songs like Bohemian Rhapsody, Another One Bites The Dust and We Will Rock You were my childhood, and listening to them now gives me the urge to learn the piano and guitar so I can preform covers of them. With the remastered versions made for the 2018 movie Bohemian Rhapsody, I have found a new found love for the complexity and composition of their songs.

In an article by Martin Kielty on ultimate-classic-rock.com, Brian May states:

“The Beatles built our bible as far as musical composition, arrangement and production went. The White Album is a complete catalog of how you should use a studio to build songs. ‘Happiness Is a Warm Gun’ and ‘Dear Prudence’ are blinding examples of how music can be like painting a picture on a canvas."

In an interview by Steven Rosen on ultimate-guitar.com, Brian May also states:

"And really Hendrix was my biggest idol; I saw him a lot in England. I loved him. I saw him in the very early days when he was supporting The Who and everyone was sort of skeptical and I didn't want to think he was that good and I was so knocked out I couldn't believe it. I never really copied him but the style and the feel influenced me a lot."

In article on U-Discover-music.com Martin Chilton sates "Freddie Mercury deeply admired David Bowie – and saw a link between the British singer-songwriter and Presley."

“The public want a showbiz type of feel. They get a buzz. Why do you think people like David Bowie and Elvis Presley have been so successful? Because they give their audiences champagne for breakfast? No, because they’re what the people want.”