Richie Hawtin's Respect For Deadmau5

Inthemix are reporting that at an EDM conference for the Electric Daisy Carnival festival in Las Vegas, techno legend Richie Hawtin declared an unexpected admiration for Deadmau5, of all people.

The conference hosted by Insomniac featured a variety of prominent EDM artists including Steve Angello, Kaskade, Above & Beyond and Rebecca and Fiona, along with Hawtin. The panel was opened up to questions from the audience, where Hawtin was asked who he admires most in the industry. Previously mentioning Detroit originals like Blake Baxter and Derrick May as some of his main influences, it came as a surprise when Hawtin acknowledged the masked, progressive house artist Joel Zimmerman, also known as Deadmau5.

“There are so many answers for that question,” Hawtin answered. “I was in Toronto a couple of weeks ago, and I went over to Deadmau5’s house. He was there setting up his studio, and we hung out and chatted all day. His mum was there. We talked about how he has lived and breathed electronic music for the last 10, 15 years. We were talking about ideas and what he’s trying to do with his show."

“From an outsider’s perspective, it could look like Joel is manufactured, or something like that. But I really respect what he’s doing, because he’s taking it to another level, a level that I never thought possible when I started. And he’s still kept control and is realising his own artistic vision. We play totally different music, but that’s what I respect about our whole scene: we’ve kept control and we’re on our own paths. That’s what I respect.”

Hawtin is full of surprises when it comes to tastes and influences. When given the opportunity by UK Mixmag to interview any artist of his choice, he chose the equally controversial, 'destroyer of dubstep' Skrillex, which you can read about here.

Listen to Richie Hawtin on Pulse Radio.