Inside the Making of the deadmau5 Book: Building a Collector Object, Not Just a Book
Presales for our upcoming deadmau5 book are now live, and it feels like the right moment to share a little about how this project has been taking shape behind the scenes.
From the outset, the intention was clear. This was never going to be a standard artist monograph. The aim has always been to build something closer to a collector object: a book that feels considered, durable, and worth returning to over time.
At the centre of that is the archive.
Working with the deadmau5 team, we’ve been deep in a body of material that spans years of output, from early visuals through to more recent work. That has meant going through folders of imagery, production files and reference material, often comparing multiple versions of the same asset to make sure the right one makes it onto the page.
The process has been as much about restraint as it has been about selection. Images, references, fragments of moments: everything has to earn its place.
That means checking and rechecking. Verifying dates, captions, file histories and context. Making sure what ends up on the page is not just visually strong, but accurate to the story it is telling. It is a slower process than people often expect, but it is also where the integrity of a book like this is built.
The mau5 team have been wonderful to work with throughout: open, responsive, creative, diligent, and clearly invested in making this the best book it can be. That kind of collaboration really shapes the outcome. It gives the whole project a sense of care and makes the book feel grounded in something real.
What has emerged is an archive-led project, shaped into a physical object with a clear point of view. This is not just a retrospective pulling material together, but a deadmau5 book made to be lived with: handled, revisited, and kept. Not simply a record of the work, but something designed for the people who have followed him closely over time.
And ultimately, that is who this book is for.
The fans who understand the details. Who know the music, the venues, the highs and the lows. The ones who recognise the evolution. The ones who will spend time with it, return to it, and keep it close.
Because the ambition here is simple: to make something that lasts.
A book that gets pulled off a shelf again and again, and feels just as solid the tenth time as it did the first. A book to hand down through generations, gaining value as time passes.
From our point of view, the best collector objects do more than document a body of work; they hold a world together. That is what we at Soi Books, alongside deadmau5 and his team, have tried to do here.
We’ll share more about the process as things develop.
For now, presales are open.
Continue Exploring
If you’re interested in the thinking behind collectible publishing, read The Value of Limited Editions in Art Publishing.
And if you’d like to explore the deadmau5 book, you can find it here.
