Canadian dance music superstar deadmau5 has described how he once nearly killed a fan who rushed the stage.
“This kid has somehow climbed up into the Cube. I just panic, I kick back at him, and he just drops and lands on his back – bang. And he’s motionless,” deadmau5 told NME. “I take off my helmet and look down, and for what felt like a looong time I’m like, ‘I just paralyzed or killed that kid.’ Then finally he bounces up and is all ‘Wooo!’ at the crowd.
“Never been so relieved in my life. Scary. But it’s like, what were you planning to do, dude? Take over the show for me? Go for it, I get paid either way. Do what you gotta do, ruin the show.”
Notoriously press-shy deadmau5 — whose real name is Joel Zimmerman — opened up his mansion an hour outside Toronto to Joe Madden, a writer for the UK-based publication.
MORE: deadmau5 Says New Album Was "Rushed/Slapped Together"
The interview was ostensibly to promote his new album, W:/2016ALBUM/, which the 35-year-old described as “just the culmination of three years of s—t lying around on a hard drive.”
He added: “Some stuff I put out I’m pretty proud of, and some of it is just… work.”
deadmau5 explained why he prefers to collaborate with unknown vocalists instead of famous singers.
“I don’t want to be dealing with someone’s manager,” he said.
“I don’t mind splitting publishing 50/50. But say Rihanna, for example – and bless her, amazing singer – but she’s in the studio for two, three hours, hums some s—t out and then she wants 75 per cent of the f—king publishing? Are you off your f—kin’ tits?”
deadmau5 also talked about staying connected with fans (and haters) on social media.
“I see everything, every weird private message from every random psycho," he said. "I’m not shielded from anything."
Check out the full interview here.