Professional Griefers

Last updated
"Professional Griefers"
(2012-08-14) Professional Griefers.jpg
Single by Deadmau5 featuring Gerard Way
from the album Album Title Goes Here
ReleasedAugust 14, 2012
Recorded
  • September 2010 [1]
  • 2011 (vocal mix)
Genre
Length
  • 4:03 (vocal mix) [2]
  • 6:24 (original instrumental)
  • 3:02 (radio edit)
Label
Songwriters
Producer Deadmau5
Deadmau5 singles chronology
"The Veldt"
(2012)		"Professional Griefers"
(2012)		"Channel 42"
(2013)
Gerard Way singles chronology
"Professional Griefers"
(2012)		"No Shows"
(2014)

"Professional Griefers" is an electronic song by Canadian producer Deadmau5 and American singer Gerard Way, lead vocalist from the band My Chemical Romance. The song was released as the third single from Deadmau5' sixth studio album Album Title Goes Here on August 14, 2012. An instrumental version had also existed for about a year prior.

Contents

The two artists recorded the song together in a Los Angeles studio. It is an electro house song, and in its chorus, Way sings about a world full of "all the grievous things" he has done. The word "griefers " in the song's title refers to people who persistently harass other players in multiplayer video game s.

Its music video is influenced by video games like Chrono Trigger, and its plot consists of a futuristic showdown between Deadmau5 and Gerard Way, who fight using remote-controlled robots in an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) tournament. The music video had a budget of over one million dollars.

The song is featured in the game FIFA 13 and its soundtrack. The song is featured in the game Asphalt 8: Airborne and was also featured briefly in the TV show Arrow .

Background

Deadmau5 Denver Shop Popup 2023 (cropped2).jpg
Gerard Way East Scene 2.jpg
Deadmau5 and Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance.

Deadmau5 had performed an instrumental version of "Professional Griefers" live since 2011, approximately a year before its release as a single. [3] On March 22, 2012, a version of the song featuring vocals by Gerard Way, lead singer of My Chemical Romance, leaked online. [4] The leak occurred the same week that the producer commented on a website: "[...] I don't usually enjoy the idea of a 'collaboration' […] although you can rest assure whatever collaborations I have done in the past were the results of stuff I'm totally into, like Flipside, Foo Fighters, Cypress Hill, etc." [4] Regarding the collaboration, deadmau5 initially commented: “If I had been pressured by my label, I absolutely would not have agreed [...] Gerard is a really cool person and I could totally hang out with him." and that "I felt it was a kind of cool collab, because we could both break out of that entirely and just do this one thing that was like our forces combined." [5] [6]

Both artists recorded the song in Los Angeles, California, at a friend of Gerard Way's studio. CBS News highlighted the fact that they worked together instead of "sending digital files to each other over the internet." [6] Deadmau5 commented about the joint studio sessions, saying that “If he did something wrong…or not wrong [...] he could just go back into the little mic room there and scream away. That’s a unique opportunity you get between two artists on that level.” [6]

Musical and lyrical content

Spin magazine described Professional Griefers as "an outsize and aggro electro-house hit." [5] James Shotwell of Under the Gun Review stated that "the latest jam from Deadmau5 has all the fury of a punk rock club packed into a dancefloor ready beat." [7] David Jeffries of Allmusic also stated in a review of Album Title Goes Here that "Gerard Way may give "Professional Griefers" his full goth swagger." [8]

In the chorus, Gerard Way sings the lines "give me the sound to see / another world outside that's full of / all the broken things that I made." The verses in the bridges of the track include lines like "we got machines but the kids got Jesus." [3] The lyrics have been described by Brandon Soderberg of Spin as "a critique of popularization and mainstreaming." [9] The word "griefers " from the song's title refers to people in multiplayer video games who "deliberately harass other players in the game, usually in the most annoying ways possible," such as verbally abusing players, killing other players, siding with opponents, or crashing game servers. [10]

Promotion

Release

Deadmau5 uploaded a radio stream of the song to his YouTube channel prior to its release. [3] The official release was on August 14, 2012, and it was released as the lead single from deadmau5's sixth studio album, titled Album Title Goes Here (2012). [11] [12] Additionally, the track was featured on the soundtracks of the video games FIFA 13 and Asphalt 8: Airborne.

Music video

Sepulveda Dam, the filming location of the music video. Sepulvedadam.jpg
Sepulveda Dam, the filming location of the music video.

The video, featuring both Deadmau5 and Gerard Way, was directed by Paul Boyd and Jeff Ranasinghe and produced by Dave Stewart's Weapons of Mass Entertainment production company. [13] The music video for the song debuted on August 29, 2012 via Ultra's YouTube channel. [14] According to Deadmau5, the music video cost over a million dollars to produce, and upon its release, it was one of the most expensive music videos of all time. Regarding this, the Canadian artist compared himself to the electronic music producer Skrillex, who he had also known: "God bless Skrillex [...] I love that guy, but he puts out a new video... what, every four weeks? [...] I don't usually make music videos, but when I do, I go big." Filming took place in May 2012, outside of Los Angeles, California, at the Sepulveda Dam. [5]

The video's plot revolves around a confrontation between Deadmau5 and Gerard Way, who pilot two giant remote-controlled robotic mice to fight in an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) before an audience of two thousand extras. [10] The video begins near a trailer home whose residents are watching Deadmau5 and Gerard battle with the mice at the match inside a dome (a reference to the Thunderdome from the Mad Max franchise), with a crowd watching, consisting of the aforementioned 2000 fans. Throughout the video, it cuts to various people watching the match on TV. While Gerard is dominating the battle, a robotic version of "Meowingtons", Deadmau5' cat, enters and chews the wires to Gerard's controls. This renders Gerard's robot idle, which allows Deadmau5 to win the match. But immediately after, Deadmau5' beaten-up robot falls into the dome, crushing it, as everyone inside flees. The video ends with the robotic cat standing on some debris, gazing into the camera, before pouncing on it. [3] [15]

During post-production, which lasted around six months, the filming location of Sepulveda Dam was combined with the El Mirage salt flat in the Mojave Desert, California. The colossal robots equipped with mau5heads were also digitally added. Regarding this, Deadmau5 said that "the computer graphics are going to be insane," and that "the cool thing is that the seven figures [of dollars] we're spending are mostly going toward state-of-the-art rendering technology." [14]

Deadmau5 cited classic video games as influences, specifically the 1990s Japanese game Chrono Trigger by Nintendo, about which he commented: “There’s a robot in there called Gato, which is like a big, chubby fighting training robot. So you’d go into a battle in the game with this robot, and it would basically train you. I really wanted [the robots in the music video] to have that look, to be ungainly and post-apocalyptic.” [16]

Live performances

Deadmau5 performing "Professional Griefers" live at Lollapalooza Chile 2013 in Santiago de Chile Deadmau5, Professional griefers.png
Deadmau5 performing "Professional Griefers" live at Lollapalooza Chile 2013 in Santiago de Chile

The song's instrumental version had been performed at Deadmau5's concerts for approximately a year prior to its official release. The song was also played at the 2011 Lollapalooza festival in Chicago, where Deadmau5 mixed it with vocals from Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger." [3] Gerard Way also joined Deadmau5 on stage during their performance at the iHeartRadio Festival in September 2012, and they performed the track together. [17]

Reception

According to Billboard , "Professional Griefers" was one of the first Ultra Records songs to reach rock radio, receiving airplay on stations such as KROQ in Los Angeles and KITS in San Francisco. Billboard also mentioned that the track contains "rock barks" from Gerard Way. [18] The website Sputnik Music notes that "[Way] somehow manages to make the previously instrumental 'Professional Griefers' work, with its electro-pulses firing tectonic slabs of pure adrenaline." [19] The American television channel Fuse included the song in its list of "The 40 Best Songs of 2012," at number 19. [20]

James Shotwell of Under the Gun Review said in March 2012 that "Way's presence, if it really is Way (no one knows yet), is extensive, but you may find yourself tired of the redundancy before the final seconds are over." [21] Brandon Soderberg of Spin magazine said that "Professional Griefers" was "a strong contender for worst song of the year," and that it was "a critique of popularization and mainstreaming made by two popular, mainstream guys who think they're smarter than they are." [9]

Megan Farokhmanesh of Paste magazine commented that "[from the mesmerizing and totally relaxing song 'The Veldt'] there is a harsh leap to the next vocal track on the album, 'Professional Griefers.'" Loaded with Gerard Way's frenetic vocals, it's a track that combines crushing perfection with a harshness to the ears. There's no doubt about the song's energy, [...] but it's a risky "love or hate" kind of venture. [22]

Track listing

Digital download – Vocal Mix [23]
No.TitleLength
1."Professional Griefers" (Vocal Mix) (featuring Gerard Way)4:03
Digital download – single [24]
No.TitleLength
1."Professional Griefers" (Radio Edit) (featuring Gerard Way)3:02
2."Professional Griefers" (Vocal Mix) (featuring Gerard Way)4:03
3."Professional Griefers" (Instrumental Mix)6:24
Total length:13:25

Chart performance

Chart (2012)Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders) [12] 74
Belgium Dance (Ultratop Flanders) [12] 50
Belgium Dance Bubbling Under (Ultratip Flanders) [12] 2
Canada: Alternative Rock (America's Music Charts) [25] 26
Canadian Digital Song Sales ( Billboard ) [26] 51
Canadian Hot 100 ( Billboard ) [27] 66
Global Dance Songs ( Billboard ) [28] 9
Japan Hot 100 ( Billboard ) [26] 77
UK Singles Chart (Official Charts Company) [29] 81
US Alternative Songs ( Billboard ) [27] 28
US Dance Club Songs ( Billboard ) [27] 9
US Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales ( Billboard ) [27] 13
US Dance/Mix Show Airplay ( Billboard ) [27] 22
US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs ( Billboard ) [27] 30

References

  1. ↑ "Deadmau5 in the studio - 14.02.2011 - Part 1". February 13, 2011. Retrieved December 8, 2012– via YouTube.
  2. ↑ "Professional Griefers". Beatport. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Hogan, Marc (2012-07-09). "Hear My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way on Deadmau5's 'Professional Griefers'". SPIN. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  4. 1 2 "New deadmau5 Track Featuring My Chemical Romance Frontman Lands Online". newsroom.mtv.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-28. Retrieved 2025-12-04.
  5. 1 2 3 Martins, Chris (2012-08-29). "Deadmau5 Unfiltered: Behind His 'Professional Griefers' Video". SPIN. Retrieved 2025-12-04.
  6. 1 2 3 "Deadmau5 Talks His Organic Collaboration With My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way". Archived from the original on 2016-03-06. Retrieved 2025-12-04.
  7. ↑ "STREAM: Deadmau5 (Possibly ft. Gerard Way?) – Professional Griefers | Under the Gun Review". www.underthegunreview.net. Archived from the original on 2013-06-09. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  8. ↑ Album Title Goes Here - Deadmau5 | Album | AllMusic , retrieved 2025-12-05
  9. 1 2 Soderberg, Brandon (2012-10-08). "Deadmau5, '>album title goes here". SPIN. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  10. 1 2 "Deadmau5 And Gerard Way Duke It Out In 'Professional Griefers'". MTV News. Archived from the original on 2020-12-30. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  11. ↑ Interviews, Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews &; Murray, Robin (2012-08-09). "deadmau5 Announces New Album". Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews & Interviews. Retrieved 2025-12-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Deadmau5 feat. Gerard Way - Professional Griefers". ultratop.be. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  13. ↑ Professional Griefers Official Video
  14. 1 2 Behind the Scenes: deadmau5 ft. Gerard Way "Professional Griefers" Video Shoot
  15. ↑ deadmau5 (2012-08-29). deadmau5 ft. Gerard Way - Professional Griefers (Official Video) . Retrieved 2025-12-10– via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ↑ "Deadmau5 And Gerard Way Of My Chemical Romance Premiere Epic UFC-Themed Video For "Professional Griefers"". Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
  17. ↑ "GERARD WAY & DEADMAU5 performing 'Professional Griefers' together live". Coup De Main Magazine. Archived from the original on 2016-03-22. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
  18. ↑ Staff, Billboard (2012-08-31). "Fall Album Preview 2012". Billboard. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
  19. ↑ "Review: Deadmau5 - >album title goes here< | Sputnikmusic". www.sputnikmusic.com. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
  20. ↑ Interactive, Float Left. "Fuse". Fuse TV. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
  21. ↑ "STREAM: Deadmau5 (Possibly ft. Gerard Way?) – Professional Griefers | Under the Gun Review". www.underthegunreview.net. Archived from the original on 2013-06-09. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
  22. ↑ "deadmau5: > album title goes here". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
  23. ↑ "Professional Griefers (Vocal Mix) [feat. Gerard Way] - Single by deadmau5 on Apple Music". iTunes. 14 August 2012. Archived from the original on February 23, 2017. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  24. ↑ "Deadmau5 Ft Gerard Way - Professional Griefers". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
  25. ↑ "Canadian Active Rock & Alt Rock Chart Archive: Alternative Rock - September 11, 2012". 11 September 2012.
  26. 1 2 "Music". Billboard .
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Deadmau5". Billboard. Retrieved 2022-05-20.
  28. ↑ "Deadmau5". Billboard. Retrieved 2022-05-20.
  29. ↑ "UK Singles Chart Archive". 2012-10-06.
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