A City in Florida – deadmau5
Looking for deadmau5’s “A Summer in Florida”? The track is “A City in Florida”, from 4×4=12, and its title is a nod to Dutch producer Orlando Voorn.
- An electro house instrumental by deadmau5, track three on 4×4=12 (December 2010).
- It began as an unreleased deadmau5 remix of a track by Dutch producer Orlando Voorn.
- The title is a pun: Orlando, Florida, shares its name with Voorn.
Plenty of people search for “A Summer in Florida” by deadmau5. The track they mean is “A City in Florida”, a 5:40 instrumental on 4×4=12, the Canadian producer’s fifth studio album, released in December 2010. Its odd title hides a story about sample clearance and a Dutch techno veteran.
A remix that could not come out
Joel Zimmerman explained the origin on a Twitch livestream in 2018. The music started life as a deadmau5 remix of “Paco Di Bango’s World” by Orlando Voorn. He wanted to release it officially, but the samples could not be cleared. So he made a revised version with every sample from Voorn’s original removed, and that version went on the album.
The title keeps the trace of where it came from: Orlando, Florida, is a city that shares its name with Orlando Voorn.
Who is Orlando Voorn?
Voorn is a Dutch DJ and producer, born in Amsterdam in 1968, who won the Dutch DMC DJ Championships in 1986. He has recorded under a long list of aliases, including Frequency, Fix and The Nighttripper, and produced tracks with Detroit figures Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Blake Baxter. He is considered the first artist to build a musical bridge between Detroit and Amsterdam. Atkins and May are two of the Belleville Three; the third, Kevin Saunderson, made “Big Fun” with Inner City.
Inside 4×4=12
4×4=12 came out internationally on 6 December 2010 through Virgin, and a day later in the US and Canada through Ultra Records and Zimmerman’s own label, mau5trap. The title came from a slip on his Ustream channel, where he said four banks of four made twelve instead of sixteen. “A City in Florida” sits third, between “Sofi Needs a Ladder” and “Bad Selection”; “Some Chords”, “Animal Rights” with Wolfgang Gartner and “Raise Your Weapon” are on the same record.
The album reached No. 47 on the Billboard 200, went gold in the US and the UK and platinum in Canada, and was nominated for Best Dance/Electronica Album at the 54th Grammy Awards.
Charts, games and Florida
“A City in Florida” was never a single, but after the album’s release it entered the Canadian Hot 100 at No. 83 and reached No. 7 on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Digital Songs chart. In 2011 it was picked for the video game Saints Row: The Third, on the fictional radio station K12.
Florida also figures in a later chapter of his career: in March 2024 deadmau5 received the Legend Award at the Electronic Dance Music Awards, held at the Eden Roc hotel in Miami Beach.
Where it fits
The track belongs to the same stretch of work as “Strobe”, from 2009’s For Lack of a Better Name: long builds, few elements, plenty of patience. For another producer who works on that scale, read about Eric Prydz.
FAQ
Does deadmau5 have a song called A Summer in Florida?
No. The track people usually mean is “A City in Florida”, the third track on his 2010 album 4×4=12.
Why is it called A City in Florida?
deadmau5 explained on a 2018 Twitch stream that it grew out of his remix of a track by Dutch producer Orlando Voorn. The title points to Orlando, Florida, which shares Voorn’s first name.
Which album is A City in Florida on?
4×4=12, released in December 2010 by mau5trap, Ultra Records and Virgin. The track runs 5:40 on the unmixed edition.
