On 22nd June Mau5trap/Parlophone/EMI will release a brand new EP from electronic dance music titan deadmau5. For those of you unwilling to wait that long your in long as ‘The Veldt’ the title track and lead single was released digitally yesterday. deadmau5 is an artist who is constantly looking for innovative ways to push his craft forward. With this release he’s set another yardstick of what it is to be an artist in this socially networked age.The mau5 recently overhauled his studio in his home town of Toronto. Since the end of his grueling North American tour he’s locked himself in and gone on a creative spree. Ever committed to his fan base, he has invested in a high tech setup so that he can Live Stream his writing / recording sessions and give fans a window into that process."Unlike the ancient, deadmau5 created the track live. The fans were ringside watching the creative process. This is a 180 from the bands a decade ago who claimed Napster was negligent in allowing their unfinished work to be exposed. Once again, Deadmau5 is using the tools to his advantage instead of being a Luddite resistance to change." Over the weekend of 17th / 18th March during a 22 hour Live Streaming session, deadmau5 created a new track titled ‘The Veldt’, inspired by a short Sci-Fi story written by Ray Bradbury (read Joel’s full blog post here HERE. He then uploaded it to his FML Soundcloud page for his fans to enjoy. At this time it was just an instrumental.
“I'm keen on short stories, since i lack the time to dip into a massive novel. And well, as some of you know, other peoples art, poetry, writing or otherwise can very easily juxtapose to your own craft, inspiring you to create your own personal extension or compliment to the work… hence the track itself…anyway, after being inspired, I felt… man, I’d really like to create a soundtrack to this.. a somewhat melancholic yet uplifting audio image of kids bestowed with insane technology which enables them to conjure up any setting or anything they desire… which in this case, as children sometimes wish their parents were dead by an unfounded retaliation to being disciplined. what a great story, I figured.” The next day he found that his fans were tweeting him about a fan’s vocal version they’d discovered on Soundcloud. He didn’t react to their tweets initially as he gets so many submissions, but the volume of messages was such that he gave in and decided to check out what all the fuss was about. This fan had taken his comments on board and based his lyrics on the short story. When deadmau5 heard the fan’s version he was totally blown away. This was all caught on video during the Live Stream.
“he righteously did his homework, and came up with just a few bang on verses that completely compliment the story and the mood, which is all i ever want from a song that contained lyrical content. Can’t give him props enough.” deadmau5 then messaged the vocalist, Chris James, that he was going to officially release it with his vocals (again all on his Live Stream). A short while later he got his manager and Chris on the phone to work out the details and asked him to add another verse. Again all captured on the live stream for his fans to see as it unfolded. As well as lead single ‘The Veldt’, the EP will also include another new track, ‘Failbait’, featuring hip hop legends Cypress Hill, as well as remixes of ‘The Veldt’. More details to be announced soon. ‘The Veldt EP’ is the first in a series of EPs from deadmau5 to be released over the coming months. These will be compiled into an album later in the year.
deadmau5 feat. Chris James - The Veldt is out now at iTunes: HERE
To celebrate the digital release of 'The Veldt' our friends over at EMI have given us an exclusive set of deadmau5 speakers + a t-shirt (see below) so you can blast 'The Veldt' out wherever you and your iPod go!! For your chance to WIN simply email us and tell us the name of the Sci-Fi author that inspired 'The Veldt'?
Email your answer to
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and the lucky winners will be announced on our Facebook page HERE
