The Rise of #melloGang and the “Pacifistic/Trollish Battle” between Marshmello & deadmau5

“We are all Marshmello” (well…everyone but deadmau5).

If you know what EDM stands for but you haven’t yet heard of the sensation that is Marshmello, then you’re doing it wrong.

About a year ago, the world was introduced to a new producer/DJ who wears a white jumpsuit and a lampshade on his head…wait, what? Marshmello is his name, and future bass is his game. Comically, his listed genre on Facebook reads, “deep fluffy hybrid melodic sexy trap house.” Now that’s hawt.

Some might say it all started during this Skrillex interview. Staged or not, at 12:30, Skrillex gets a phone call from Marshmello himself. This is before anyone knew the name. Now part of Skrillex’s own OWSLA Record Label, Marshmello has quickly accumulated 1.6 million Facebook Likes, sold out dozens upon dozens shows and is quite simply taking over the world of EDM one hit after another. I could not find the official launch date of Marshmello’s Facebook page, but I know for a fact it took him under a year to get to 1 million Likes - It hit this benchmark on September 26, 2016.

Another thing that quickly gained him popularity was his most popular track to date, “Alone.” Marshmello actually gave the stems of this track to any producer that wanted them, and he ran a remix contest. Here is the winner’s entry, and I must add that it is quite good and was on my playlists for awhile!

In the music video for “Alone,” there is a mouse named, “Joel,” which is deadmau5’s (pronounced “DEAD MOUSE”) first name. That was clearly a playful shot taken at deadmau5…but as you can see later in this post, it was a well deserved stab at EDM's most renowned internet troll.

Maybe it is his masked-unknown identity…maybe it is his melodic, catchy-as-hell tracks, or maybe it’s the #melloGang movement itself that has appealed to so many EDM fans. Whoever he is, he’s talented, smart, personable, and humble all in one package. Take a look at this Facebook post from January 13, 2016…one of my favorites:

“...Find a sound that is true to who you are and stick with it..."

I got to see Mello perform at Royale, Boston, MA on April, 1, 2016. His set was amazing, and even after seeing almost 40 shows since, I still think it’s in my top 3 shows of 2016. He came back to the Boston area, namely the Tsongas Center in Lowell, MA on October 27, 2016 – another killer performance. He even stays after shows to meet as many fans as he can as revealed by this Tweet

The guy even gives away free tickets to some shows just for showing up in a Mello helmet…speaking of Mello helmets, the fans get so creative! I saw at least 30 unique helmets at the Tsongas show alone…

So, who is this masked phenomenon? Well, most people agree he is *potential spoiler ahead*………………..………….………….………….………….………….………….………….………….………….………….………….………….………….………….………….………….………….………….………….………….………….

a producer who went by the name of “Dotcom.” Others still think he’s Tiesto due to the “reveal” at last year’s EDC: See here. But that’s not important. What is important is what he stands for, his level of production, and how much energy, enthusiasm, and positive vibes he brings to the EDM community.

Now, were does deadmau5 fit back into this story? Well, if you’re looking for information about the “beef” between the two producers, “YourEDM” blog did a great write up on that, and you can find it here.

The last feud came about after Marshmello released his music video for his latest hit, Ritual. There were scenes (since deleted that can be found here) that featured a version of deadmau5’s character and helmet…well to put it lightly, deadmau5 didn’t take to kindly to it. Despite Marshmello’s attempt (whether it was sarcastic or not, we will probably never know) to create a friendship between him and deadmau5, Joel demanded it get removed, and long story short, it did.

Deadmau5 is coming to Lowell, MA (Tsongas Arena) on April 10, 2017. It will be interesting to see how he reacts to Mello helmets in the crowd, because I am almost sure there will be some. Fans love a good controversy. It kind of surprised me that deadmau5 is coming to Lowell…and then a friend pointed out to me that Joel recently tweeted this:

Soooo he and his team base their tour stop decisions on the states that Hillary won…interesting...I’ll leave it at that. In terms of new music, there is no word on a Marshmello studio album, but deadmau5 just released his W:/2016ALBUM/ today.

Last but not least, courtesy of yours truely, A MASHUP OF MARSHMELLO AND DEADMAU5…I think they should be friends, do you?

#deadmau5 #marshmello #edm #facebook #skrillex #feud #twitter #tiesto