Last night, deadmau5 participated in a live stream Twitch Q&A that lasted nearly four hours. In terms of information gleaned and wisdom shared, it’s probably innumerable. For the Canadian producer who has been actively making music since the late ’90s, a lot has changed in the past approximately 20 years. He mentions the influences of the internet in its current state, but most importantly goes into detail about the value of human connections.
For the millennial generation, the internet is basically an integral part of society. But for Joel, and a lot of other ’90s kids, growing up with the internet was like seeing the most perfect butterfly in existence emerge from its cocoon (and then proceed to get shit on by younger butterflies, but I digress). The internet has certainly become an invaluable aspect of electronic music in the current era, serving to spread awareness and music while simultaneously sharing ideas and criticisms. However, the value of a real (IRL) human connection … you can’t put a price tag on that.
“If I had to do this again, at least in today’s climate, I would focus on being very offline.”
Joel goes into detail about how it’s still very old school, the way that young producers and DJs can go into a club and talk to the resident DJ or attempt to find a mentor. Being careful to emphasize that he did not make Skrillex, Joel also mentions how he first met Sonny at a random HARD Events party in Los Angeles while hanging with Tommy Lee. Sonny handed him a physical USB drive carrying Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites and Joel basically says, “If he had spammed me with email or on Twitter, I might have never seen that piece of music.” But since he was handed a physical object, it was much harder to ignore. 
Watch the first part of the approximate four-hour Q&A session below, and absorb all you can.
H/T Splice | Photo via Krystal Spencer Photography
