deadmau5 reveals the story behind iconic mouse ears on SiriusXM

Few images in electronic music are as iconic or recognizable as the infamous mouse head that has defined deadmau5. In a recent interview, the producer looked back on his early days and the development of the onstage persona.

The impact and influence of deadmau5 on electronic music can not be overstated. While his music certainly speaks for itself, he has also been largely defined by his onstage mouse helmet and the digital character that adorns his artwork and merchandise. The mouse character has become so popular that the Canadian producer even once had a brush-up with an even more famous mouse who happens to be at the forefront of a few amusement parks and a massive production company. Now it has been 25 years since Joel Zimmerman first debuted the mouse helmet on stage and during a visit to SiriusXM’s Putbull’s Globalization, he recounted the story with host Richard Vission.

Looking back to his early days as a DJ and producer, deadmau5 recalled how he created this 3D mouse head on his computer a few years prior to introducing it publicly. At the time, he sent it to his friend Jay Gordon from the band Orgy who jokingly superimposed the design on an image of himself. Gordon then told Zimmerman that he should wear the design when he DJs. While it took a few more years of Zimmerman batting the idea around in his head, he eventually acted on the idea and the rest is history.

Watch the full interaction between deadmau5 and Richard Vissions on SirusXM’s Putbull’s Globalization below.