genre dance

Italian techno producer Deborah de Luca is off the HARD Summer 2025 lineup poster amid a public dispute regarding the font size of her name on the bill.
Late last week, HARD Summer posted a revamped version of the 2025 lineup poster that does not feature de Luca’s name, as the original poster did. In the comments section of the post, when a fan asked where de Luca’s name was, the festival wrote that the producer “informed us she will no longer be playing the festival.” But the Italian techno producer responded to their comment, saying, “That’s not right! You put my name smaller than others. I asked you to change it and you didn’t want to do it. Now you changed it by deleting my name.”

She then made another comment saying that “I’m very sorry, guys! But they put my name smaller than others, it was not dignified for my career. I asked to change it and they told me no. It was not my choice. I’m very sad, but I’m sure it will be a crazy festival and you will have a lot of fun.”

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The spot where de Luca’s name was on the original poster now features electronic foursome Ladies of Leisure. Sean Paul has also fallen off the poster, with the position where his name was in the original poster now occupied by Busta Rhymes. Other lineup additions include Barry Can’t Swim, Fcukers and DJ Gigola, whose names were all blurred out on the original poster for the festival, which happens August 2-3 at Hollywood Park at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The comments section on the revamped poster is a mixed bag of feedback, with many fans lamenting on de Luca’s absence and others being less generous. Representatives for de Luca and HARD Summer did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s request for comment.

As previously reported by Billboard, while such font sizes may seem inconsequential, they are often the subject of intense negotiations between artists, managers and agents and event producers. As such, situations like this one between HARD and de Luca are not unheard of.

Speaking to Billboard in 2015, Governor’s Ball co-founder Jordan Wolowit told Billboard that he once “had a very legitimate act formally pull off the festival the day before our announce, because they hated their billing. My initial reaction was to tell them to piss off — respectfully — but, luckily, good judgment kicked in and I acquiesced to their wishes — which was to be moved three spots up from where they were. It was kind of hilarious, actually. From then on, I have had a line in my offers that clearly states billing is solely at my discretion.”

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.

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“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.

REZZ

Matt Barnes 

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.

deadmau5

Matt Barnes 

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.

deadmau5 & REZZ

Matt Barnes 

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.

deadmau5 & REZZ

Matt Barnes 

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.

deadmau5 & REZZ

Matt Barnes 

This week in dance music: Grimes canceled an appearance at D.C. World Pride, citing “family issues,” we spoke to the CEO of Epidemic Sound about a new remix series, we caught up with Mau P at Coachella, where he told us about the pressure of being a new generation dance star, saying that “I love […]

It’s a Tuesday evening in May at Nightbird Studios, the recording complex nestled within L.A.’s Sunset Marquis. Within this infamous hotel rock and roller hotel, where Keith Richards once got behind the bar and poured drinks during the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, Anyma is tinkering away on a new album intended to end the current phase of his career.
A space packed with production equipment is certainly like a second home to the artist, but for him this place must also feel relatively mundane, given how much time he’s recently spent at Sphere. During a 12-date residency spanning this past December, January, February and March, the Italian American producer became the first electronic artist to headline the Las Vegas venue.

While already a longtime star of the global underground via his solo work and previously as part of the duo Tale of Us, this high-profile gig naturally pushed the producer to a new level of ubiquity, with his name suddenly alongside fellow Sphere residents including U2, the Eagles, Dead & Company and Phish. When asked how life is different now than it was on Dec. 26, the day before his residency started, he’s forthright.

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“Well,” he says in his thick Italian accent, “I’m less stressed.”

But those who’ve witnessed the not casual themes of heaven and hell, creation and destruction, humanity and transhumanism woven into his Sphere show and other previous visual output are right to assume the artist born Matteo Milleri is a deep thinker. Tonight, posted up on the couch in the studio’s dimly lit lounge, his webby tattoos peeking out from the sleeves of his hoodie, he elaborates on how the Sphere experience did, in fact, change him. And in fact, he’d hoped it might.

“I think if I would feel the same, it would not be a success for me,” he offers. “Because I put my ideas out there, so that they reflect back on me once they’ve been absorbed by the world. For me as an artist, it’s very important to feel like I’ve changed, evolved, improved my craft.”

Anyma is talkative, polite and emits a sense of gravitas while talking about his work, altogether seeming older than his 37 years. He began the Anyma (pronounced “ah-nee-ma”) project in 2021, fusing the work with both tech and lofty ideas about humanity, spirituality, technology, the past and the future. This Friday (May 30), Anyma releases The End of Genesys, the third and final LP in a trilogy, following 2023’s Genesys and 2024’s Genesys II. 

This new music, Anyma says, “was scored to the Sphere opera movie, so it was really written with a very big inspiration.” The tens of thousands of people who saw the show witnessed this inspiration in wild and often surreal visuals that depicted scenes of space, verdant forests, deserts, burning cities and a pair of recurring characters — a human man and a chesty cyborg who who meet in various landscapes, with him eventually plugging a heart into her chest, a moment that drew cheers.

For Anyma, the project was a natural extension of his longtime goal of creating something different in the live electronic world. “The reason why I went into the production of the visual experience was because I don’t really feel much from live events,” he says. “Of course, the underground dance stuff is great, because that’s its own thing. I’m talking about the big concerts, the big festivals, the big productions. For me, even with the technology and the budgets available, I just went home with my ears hurting. It’s difficult to even grasp an artist’s perspective when the production is overwhelming.”

His goal was to make a more intentional visual presentation that “you can just basically augment your purpose and your art with it… That was the whole idea behind everything.” In this way, Sphere was simply the most powerful tool for him to express ideas he’d long been considering. (Having a pre-existing visual identity also helped the team save money on the Sphere show’s mighty production costs.)

“Of course I’m happy it ended in Sphere,” he continues, “but it was supposed to exist even on its own on a world tour. I want people to think and to like, feel, you know? Maybe go home the next day and reconnect with a loved one or something, because they were moved.” 

His goal for for The End of Genesys is roughly the same. But while anyone who saw the Sphere show has effectively already heard the album, listening to these 15 tracks in your headphones — with no eye-pummeling visuals or seats shaking in time with the kick — is a different experience. Separated from its corresponding visual identity, the ears better grasp the music’s nuances.

The project includes several marquee collaborations, with the album’s banger of a lead single, “Hypnotized,” featuring vocals from dance icon Ellie Goulding. “Taratata” features previous collaborator and fellow tech enthusiast Grimes, “Human Now” has Empire of the Sun’s always-heady Luke Steele, and other songs recruit 070 Shake, Rezz, Sevdaliza and Yeat.

Anyma’s music has historically existed in the heavy and often cinematic realms of melodic techno, a genre that’s bubbled up in popularity in the broader dance scene over the last few years, a trend that’s partially a function of the success of Anyma and Tale of Us. (The topic of the duo is off limits, although Anyma’s agent, CAA’s Ferry Rais-Shaghaghi, told Billboard in February that “both guys are super-focused on their solo projects right now.”) But via the collabs and song structures, The End Of Genesys often adopts a more pop lean. This was kind of the point.

The previous two Genesys albums came at “a transitional part of my career, when I was still trying to understand how to crack the code with pop, electronic and dance,” says Anyma. And now? “I feel like I did it.”

“It’s the final evolution of the sound,” he says, “with the best artists I know, most of whom are my friends. It’s inspiring that I could connect all my knowledge and influences into a record and make it contemporary and potentially timeless. That’s not up to me, but I think some of this record is really timeless, and that’s what really exciting.”

Balancing all of these factors was tricky he says, “because these days people want very simple things on the dance floor, social media needs to be fast and that’s what’s really resonating with the younger generations.” He instead aspired to make music in the grand tradition of artists like The Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk and Massive Attack who made songs, he says, “that you could kind of vibe and dance to, but you could also sing. It was one cohesive artist statement with an edge of the rave culture behind it.”

Anyma

Courtesy of BT PR

The music will serve as material for Anyma’s many upcoming DJ sets, with his summer shows happening largely in Europe. The run includes an eight-week residency at Ibiza’s newest venue [UNVRS], a 15,000 capacity mega-club tricked out with a ton of technology.

He describes these upcoming performances as encompassing two worlds. The first is “DJ curation, longer sets, community and more forward thinking, exciting music… Then the big headline stuff and the bigger shows are more of a spin-off of the last act of Sphere, that aesthetic and those sonics.” He also says some of the new visuals will be AI-driven, with the use of AI currently a major focus of his work.

With all of these huge projects and big ideas, it’s hard to imagine Anyma in Netflix and chill mode, although he says it does happen. He’s based in Ibiza, where he enjoys the quiet of the farmland and the goats and the sea. Vacation for him is staying home, watching TV, listening to music and exercising for at least an hour a day, a habit that techno legend Sven Väth encouraged him to adopt. (“He saw me on tour and was like ‘You look a bit tired,’ and I was like, ‘You look great.’”)

But after the intense demands of Sphere, he says the most straightforward form of relaxation currently on his calendar is “going back to being a normal DJ.”

“This has been years of my life, of thinking, of my philosophy in the show. But creatively I also need to take a break — no artist creates just because there’s a screen. I don’t think I can do anything meaningful that way.”