REZZMAU5 – the collaboration between REZZ and deadmau5 – shouldn’t work as well as it does.

“We produce in two totally different ways,” says Joel Zimmerman, the man behind deadmau5. “I am so old school and she is so new school.”

Both artists hail from Niagara Falls, Ontario, and both are known for their innovative production, DIY ethos and big-stage spectacle. They’re both big thinkers and big presences, instantly recognizable for their larger-than-life visual trademarks – deadmau5 with his signature LED mau5head helmet and REZZ with her hypnotic spinning light glasses – and they both have dedicated cult fanbases.

They have different sounds and use different tools, but they come together to blend the best of both of them. It doesn’t happen often, but it’s special when it does.

REZZ – born Isabelle Rezazadeh – cites deadmau5 as an immeasurable influence.

“He essentially birthed me as a producer,” she says. “He birthed my entire interest in making music.”

With about 14 years of age separating them, REZZ grew up in a world deadmau5 created. Deadmau5 is one of the most influential artists of the last two and a half decades in electronic music. Though he doesn’t identify with the term himself, he was a major influence on the late-2000s/2010s EDM boom. His immersive and technologically innovative live shows inspired countless DJs and producers to amp up the spectacle and play to massive festival crowds.

REZZ was at some of those pivotal deadmau5 shows as a teenager, and he later became one of her earliest champions. He signed her to his label, mau5trap, and released two of her EPs and her first two albums, 2017’s Mass Manipulation and 2018’s Certain Kind of Magic.

In 2021, deadmau5 and REZZ officially joined forces with their first on-record collaboration, “Hypnocurrency.” It’s dark, spellbinding, and meticulously layered — a slow-burning cinematic journey that lands squarely between their two sonic worlds. To create it, they both had to step outside their comfort zones.

One of the things that characterizes deadmau5’s signature sound is his tempo. Most of his classic songs – like “I Remember,” “The Veldt” and “Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff” – fall within the same tempo: 128 BPM (beats per minute). Even the epic slow-build “Strobe” starts with a patient ambient build but eventually ramps up with a beat at the exact same tempo.

When asked what he learned from working with REZZ, deadmau5 doesn’t miss a beat.

“I learned that there are BPMs that actually do exist below 128,” he deadpans. “I didn’t know that all you had to do was click on the number and drag it down.”

When they’re collaborating, one artist comes in with a clear vision and a track sketched out, which gives them a basis to start from.

“I’m the type of person who really wants to just get an idea out by myself before even entering a studio with another person,” REZZ admits. “If we’re starting from scratch, my brain is like ‘I don’t even know where to go from here.’ The embarrassing process of making everything sound like s–t by yourself is something I’m ok with…”

“…as long as you’re by yourself,” deadmau5 interjects, finishing her thought. “I do the same thing. Even if it’s a non-producer person who’s sitting in the room with me, I’m just like,” he makes a shooing motion with his hand. “‘You gotta go.’”

That’s how “Hypnocurrency” began. REZZ started the track on her own, setting the tempo at 100 BPM. She knew that was slower and more ominous than his usual style, but she could already anticipate where he might take it.

“I was very heavily conceptualizing what I would imagine to fit into our world,” she says. “That’s something I love about collaborating in general, but especially with artists I really understand musically. I try to channel a vision that blends both worlds and makes it work for both of us.”

The two producers became REZZMAU5 for the first time in 2023 at VELD Festival in Toronto. A 16-year-old REZZ was there when deadmau5 played the same festival in 2016, and now she was standing side by side on him onstage. With mesmerizing visuals playing on a giant screen behind them, they performed songs from both of their repertoires and teased a new song: “Infralimininal.”

That would become their second released collaboration, and the first under the name REZZMAU5. This time, it was even clearer how much of his code was already in her programming. The song is a reinterpretation of deadmau5’s 2012 track, “Superliminal,” which REZZ has cited as one of the songs that first inspired her to create music. The new version drags it deep into her world: dark and pulsing, heavy and hypnotic.

But though there’s overlap in their styles, the way they get there is different. Some of REZZ’s most potent inspirations come from the movie world: sci-fi, horror and psychological thriller. For deadmau5, it’s video games or experiences in his rural Ontario oasis.

“When I’m stuck on an idea, I’ll go out on an ATV,” he says. “There’s this little trail I take, and I just do a loop around it. Then I come back and my head is clear.”

REZZ came up at a time when the EDM scene was already huge and dominant. For deadmau5, his early days were spent at illegal raves and community-focused shows in late-’90s Toronto. He often designed rave flyers, and “those serious ones with 3D skulls” for drum n’ bass nights.

The technology available was nowhere near as advanced as it is now. He’s always evolving and pushing, but he maintains much of his analogue approach. REZZ is much more digital.

“She does a lot of what’s called ITB – which means in the box,” deadmau5 explains, gesturing toward REZZ. “She’ll use her computer and her controller, very minimal hardware. I’m the opposite. I hardly ever touch my computer unless I’m editing waveforms or recording and arranging. The sound sources that I use come from the analogue world.”

He’s known for his studio full of analogue synths, modular gear and rare vintage equipment. It’s the stuff of gearhead legend. REZZ tends to work more with software synths, plugins and effects that all live inside her computer. By the time the productions hit the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), it gets easier to translate between them – but not always.

deadmau5 teases that they’re working on a new collaboration called “Atri,” the third in their slowly growing REZZMAU5 discography. It started as a track that REZZ started on the recording program Ableton, the most commonly used recording software. But when deadmau5 had ideas he could only execute in Cubase – his preferred program – the workflow had to shift. That meant exporting individual sound files, or stems, so she could then reopen them in Ableton. It’s like switching between two languages mid-conversation.

It helps that REZZ is so fluent in deadmau5. In one of the formative deadmau5 concerts she attended as a teen, she reveals, he played a track “that I f–in love” by experimental British producer Jon Hopkins called “Vessel.”

“You know that glitchy beat part that happens in the original version [of ‘Atric’] that I sent you?” she asks him.

“That’s what that’s from?” he replies, impressed. “I didn’t know that. That’s all I’ll hear now.”

Now that she’s been on that stage with him, the relationship dynamic has changed.

“Well, I’ll tell you how it changes,” deadmau5 says. “Now she tells me s–t doesn’t sound good. Change this, do that.”

She breaks into laughter, as he goes into an impression of her.

“Oh, he’s my hero, I love everything he does. Except for that.”

deadmau5 says it’s rare someone could give him that kind of feedback and he would automatically take it seriously.

“I like it, because I can count on less than one hand how many people could say that and I would actually be like ‘oh, hmm, she’s probably right.’”

While deadmau5 originally inspired her to start making music, the influence she takes from him is different now.

“Honestly, the longer I continue in this career – for me, it’s at the 10-year mark – I often think about how insane it is that Joel has been doing this for so long and still doing so much,” REZZ says. “I’m already wanting to chill and be more particular about what I do. I feel like I need to pace myself to get there.”

Being particular is the key, he says. If everything you do, in music or not, is noteworthy, then it will look like you’re doing more than you are. “Then everyone says ‘can you stop f–in talking about this guy,’” he jokes. It’s something she’s already learned. Her series of PORTAL shows is built around a massive circular screen with trance-like lighting and visuals that literally makes it feel like a portal to another dimension. You can see the influence of deadmau5’s Cube – a massive, rotating structure from which he performs and cues up visuals in real time – in its ambition and scope.

More recently, deadmau5 made news for a less polished set at Coachella. DJing under his alter ego Testpilot in a back-to-back with Zhu, he had a little too much whiskey. He apologized the next day on Instagram, calling it “probably my last Coachella show.”

But when asked about his most memorable recent show, he doesn’t miss a beat.

“Coachella, man. It was so f–ing legendary,” he says. “Definitely the most fun I’ve had at a show.”

What has he seen the reaction online?

“No,” he says. “What’s the internet?”

It’s a classically dry and ironic deadmau5 response, but it reflects his career trajectory: always looking forward, not backward, never too caught up in backlash or hype. Recently, deadmau5 made headlines with another surprising move: the sale of his extensive music catalogue to Create Music Group in a deal valued at $55 million.

The deal includes the master recordings and publishing of more than 4,000 songs, including the label catalogue of mau5trap. The Create Music Group partnership also includes the formation of a joint venture to release future recordings from deadmau5 and mau5trap.

“It was time to just let it go,” he explains. “I’m not so attached to [my catalogue] that I think it would’ve been some huge asset 20 or 30 years down the line. I mean, I’m sure they’ll make all their money back and more. But for me it was just time to reel everything back in, throw some money back into production for the next couple of years, and then start over. So, nothing changes. I’m still writing new music and doing everything I do.”

That includes his sporadic teams-up with REZZ, both on record and on stage. Last summer, they took the stage as REZZMAU5 at high-profile festivals Tomorrowland in Belgium and HARD Summer in California. Their next appearance together will be in a candid conversation at the Billboard Summit at NXNE [in Toronta] on June 11, where they’ll delve deep into their relationship and music-making process.

Aside from that, whatever comes next for deamau5 and REZZ, there’s one thing for certain: it won’t be predictable.

This article originally appeared on Billboard Canada.

Following the launch of Iron Maiden’s Run for Your Lives World Tour, manager Rod Smallwood has shared a new plea for fans to put their phones away at the band’s shows.

The British heavy metal veterans’ recently-launched tour takes place as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations, with the group kicking things off with a pair of sold-out dates in Budapest, Hungary last week.

Prior to the tour’s launch, Smallwood took to Iron Maiden’s website to request that fans put their phones back into their pockets and witness the show as it’s supposed to be seen.

“We really want fans to enjoy the shows first hand, rather than on their small screens,” Smallwood wrote. “The amount of phone use nowadays diminishes enjoyment, particularly for the band who are on stage looking out at rows of phones, but also for other concertgoers. 

“We feel that the passion and involvement of our fans at shows really makes them special, but the phone obsession has now got so out of hand that it has become unnecessarily distracting especially to the band. I hope fans understand this and will be sensible in severely limiting the use of their phone cameras out of respect for the band and their fellow fans.”

In the wake of the band’s first few shows of their latest tour, Smallwood shared a reflective post on social media over the weekend, thanking fans for their support of new drummer Simon Dawson, and applauding those who heeded his request for limited phone usage during the gigs.

“A huge thank you to every one of you who kept your phones down, respected the band and your fellow fans, and embraced the show the way it’s meant to be experienced – in the room with us,” Smallwood said. “That was a great boost for us and the band appreciated it greatly. It is so much better when they can see you unencumbered and that drives them on without that distraction. For the selfish few that didn’t and just had to keep videoing… I wish you nothing but a very sore arm!

“But they were few, and we do hope this support from fans, especially in the floor area in front of the sound desk, continues in Prague tomorrow and beyond,” he added. “As I said before, by all means take the odd quick pic as a memento of a great night, but otherwise please keep your phone in your pocket.”

Iron Maiden’s current Run for Your Lives World Tour marks their performances since wrapping the The Future Past Tour in São Paulo, Brazil in December. That tour was the last to feature drummer Nicko McBrain, who announced his “decision to take a step back from the grind of the extensive touring lifestyle.”

Patti LuPone has issued an apology after hundreds of members of the Broadway community condemned her recent remarks disparaging fellow Broadway actresses Kecia Lewis and Audra McDonald.

“For as long as I have worked in the theatre, I have spoken my mind and never apologized. That is changing today,” LuPone wrote in the opening of a statement released via Instagram on Saturday (May 31).

“I am deeply sorry for the words I used during The New Yorker interview, particularly about Kecia Lewis, which were demeaning and disrespectful. I regret my flippant and emotional responses during this interview, which were inappropriate, and I am devastated that my behavior has offended others and has run counter to what we hold dear in this community. I hope to have the chance to speak to Audra and Kecia personally to offer my sincere apologies,” said LuPone.

LuPone’s response arrived the day after after an open letter directed at her — and signed by more than 500 individuals in the Broadway world — was published in outcry to comments from the actress perceived to be “degrading and misogynistic,” as well as a “blatant act of racialized disrespect.” The letter was also aimed at “a culture, a pattern” in the Broadway industry: “a persistent failure to hold people accountable for violent, disrespectful, or harmful behavior — especially when they are powerful or well-known.”

In Saturday’s statement, LuPone acknowledged the message of the letter and expressed regret over what she said about her peers.

“I wholeheartedly agree with everything that was written in the open letter shared yesterday,” she wrote. “From middle school drama clubs to professional stages, theatre has always been about lifting each other up and welcoming those who feel they don’t belong anywhere else. I made a mistake, I take full responsibility for it, and I am committed to making this right. Our entire theatre community deserves better.”

The New Yorker ran a profile on LuPone earlier this week that quoted her calling Lewis — who’s in the Alicia Keys-created Broadway musical Hell’s Kitchen, which was performed next door to the LuPone-starring The Roommate in 2024 — a “b—-” for considering herself a stage “veteran.”

The piece had LuPone recounting complaints she’d made to Shubert Organization head Robert Wankel that sound from Lewis’ Hell’s Kitchen could be heard during her stage time in The Roommate. (Lewis had responded to LuPone’s complaints on Instagram at the time, and deemed them “bullying,” “racially microaggressive” and “rooted in privilege” for calling “a Black show loud.”)

“She calls herself a veteran?” LuPone said in The New Yorker article dated May 26. “Let’s find out how many Broadway shows Kecia Lewis has done, because she doesn’t know what the f— she’s talking about. Don’t call yourself a vet, b—-.”

LuPone also remarked that she had a “rift” with McDonald, who’d shown support for Lewis: “That’s typical of Audra. She’s not a friend,” LuPone told The New Yorker; McDonald later said she was unaware of the rift.

LuPone, a three-time Tony Award and two-time Grammy Award winner, in 2024 starred as Robyn opposite Mia Farrow’s Sharon in The Roommate for the dark comedy’s four-month engagement on Broadway at the Booth Theatre. She just wrapped a series of concert dates that ran across select U.S. cities from late January through late May, with a couple festival appearances slated for this summer.

In 2024 Lewis won her first Tony, for best featured actress in a musical, for her work as Miss Liza Jane in Hell’s Kitchen, the Broadway production whose performers were also awarded the Grammy for best musical theater album last year. Hell’s Kitchen is presently still playing on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre.

McDonald, currently leading the Broadway revival of Gypsy at the Majestic Theatre, has won six Tonys, two Grammys and an Emmy throughout her career. Nominated for her portrayal of Rose in Gypsy, she’s up for another Tony, for best actress in a musical, at this year’s ceremony. She holds a record number of total Tony nominations (11).

The 2025 Tony Awards will broadcast live to both coasts on CBS just a week from today, from 8 to 11 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 8; the show will also stream on Paramount+.

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Ava Max‘s “Lovin Myself” tops this week’s new music poll.

In a poll published Friday (May 30) on Billboard, music fans chose the pop singer’s latest single as their favorite new release of the past week.

“Lovin Myself” brought in 57% of the vote, beating out new releases from artists like Tate McRae (“Just Keep Watching”), Miley Cyrus (Something Beautiful), Lorde (“Man of the Year”), Leon Thomas (MUTT Deluxe: HEEL), Yeule (Evangelic Girl Is a Gun), and others.

“Lovin Myself” doubles down on Max’s streak of self-empowerment, with the singer declaring, “I don’t need nobody, I’m lovin’ myself!” as warm synths rain down on her voice.

Max revealed in early May that her third album, Don’t Click Play, will be arriving on Aug. 22. The forthcoming set features lead single “Lost Your Faith.”

The album cover sees Max braving the heat within a triangle of fire, her hands gripping its burning edges — perhaps a visual metaphor for the fire-emoji energy she wants listeners to feel when they hit play. The triangle itself resembles the familiar symbol for a play button. In April, she directed fans to DontClickPlayOnAvaMax.com, a site disguised as an online petition that cleverly teased an unreleased track.

Don’t Click Play follows 2023’s Diamonds & Dancefloors (which reached No. 34 on the Billboard 200) and 2020’s debut Heaven & Hell (which peaked at No. 27 and featured her breakthrough single “Sweet But Psycho,” a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2018).

Placing second in the poll was Tate McRae’s “Just Keep Watching”, which received nearly 15% of the vote. The fast-moving club track is featured in the F1 film soundtrack.

Check out the full results of this week’s poll below and visit Billboard’s Friday Music Guide for more must-hear releases.