2015 has been quiet year for the outspoken producer, DJ deadmau5. He released his seventh artist album while(1<2) in June 2014 and has sparingly touring with the new 25-track album, focusing on releases for his label Mau5trap and then redesigning his live show with a whole new rig. Deadmau5 will be performing tonight at Governors Ball as the headliner on the main stage, where Drake spat hot fire yesterday. A heavy layer of secrecy has existed over the new deadmau5 set up, but radio.com got a sneak peak at the "Strobe" producer's new rig, titled the "Thunderdome."
The thunderdome was created by Leroy Bennett, a legendary lighting designer who has worked with some of the biggest names in music over the past 35 years. He has worked with names like Prince, Paul McCartney, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, Kelly Clarkson and Nine Inch Nails.
Bennett admits that this will be a bit different from those other major pop and rock acts.
"It's a completely different world, and it's a bit of a learning curve for both sides. With a lot of EDM stuff, it is flying by the seat of your pants. It's very difficult to do something that's very thought out and still looks cool."
The idea for the dome was the easy part — actually putting it together was challenging. It had to be resistant to all weather conditions since it will be used for outdoor festivals. It is open to deal with wind so the rig doesn't fall down.
Mau5 will be in the dome with built-in lights and video screens surrounding the dome. Bennett is making sure the lights are as important as the visuals on the screens.
"For me, it's all about layers and trying not to see any of the boundaries or the back wall [of the stage] or anything like that," Bennett says. "Video is a big element in the EDM world, but it becomes a bit same-y. We have it interacting with the lighting to break off the monotony of that."
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