Since ATTLAS began releasing music mysteriously as a part of mau5trap Records four months ago, plenty of rumors have drawn the artist's potential identity. The most popular, of course, is that ATTLAS is actually Joel Zimmerman. This theory is popular for two main reasons – ATTLAS has a similar, hard-to-define, cinematic house style and his avatar (which doesn't show his entire face) has a striking similarity to Joel Zimmerman.
This past week, Pete Tong welcomed ATTLAS along for a set and revealed his identity. According to Tong, he's a Canadian named Jeff Hartford. You can listen below to Tong as he introduces him on the show by saying, “there’s been a sneaky suspicion he’s Deadmau5 in disguise. However I can now reveal that he’s a fellow Canadian producer Jeff Hartford.”
ATTLAS confirmed this by announcing on his Facebook page, “hi, i'm jeff hartford.” The confession isn't enough for most fans, however. Some comments say “nice try, Joel.” If you look at his page, though, one fan actually comments on his wall in December by saying “Hi Jeff.”
Hartford tends to use more sampling and softer bells than Deadmau5 but their similarities are unmistakable. It will be interesting to see how their relationship unfolds and we learn about Jeff Hartford.
