DJ Mental69 (aka DJ Rave-C, Casey, DJ Mental) - Denver , Colorado . Â
Good Music Is Good Music No Matter What Genre It Might BeDJ Mental69 (aka DJ Rave-C, Casey, DJ Mental) - ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" / Denver , Colorado . ..:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /
I spent most of childhood listening to Jazz and fusion, and funk – Weather Report; Chuck Mangione; Billy Cobham; Stevie Wonder; Steely Dan; Pat Metheny; Tower of Power;Spyrogyra; Miles Davis. I became entranced at an early age with the rhythm sections, and the synthesizers. My older brother is a virtuoso drummer, and that also lead towards the beats. My older sister, and singer. I was trained in music as a french horn player.
The first record I ever purchased was the Soundtrack from the movie Star Wars. Of course, after purchasing it, I realized that what I was really after was the Cantina Disco Remix that they had been playing on the radio. My quest for synthy lead sounds drew me into sounds like Kraftwerk, ELO, Jean Michel Jarre, Devo, Eurythmics, Yaz, Thomas Dolby, Tangerine Dream, Herbie Hancock, Grand Master Flash, Japan, Pink Floyd, Brian Eno, and Depeche Mode (to name a few). From there I was drawn to industrial sounds: Front 242; Ministry; Cabaret Voltaire; KMDFM; Psychic TV; Chris and Cosey; Nine Inch Nails; Nitzer Ebb; Skinny Puppy.
Around 1988, I had my first encounter with House music. A DJ (DJ K-Nee)was spinning it in the basement of an industrial club, and I loved it. He said "this is "house" music. I was hooked on getting my hands on as much chicago Acid House as i could - especially acid house remixes of my favorite industrial bands. I worked my way into spinning a 2-hour show featuring beatmixed club and industrial tracks for a college radio station in Boulder (1989) and started getting my first club gigs. While working there, I began to email reviews into an underground magazine run by Miss Moneypenny out of New York . She liked what I was doing, and added me to the staff - posting reviews and Top 10 Lists.
Then the real DJ'ing began. I went to Japan in 1990 and DJ'd raves and clubs for 9 months while going to college, and got my first exposure to the Rave scene DJing as DJ Rave-C.
From there, I became a "somewhat" prolific DJ in the early 90's rave circuit, including events and clubs throughout Japan (9 months) (Needles / Extasy Boys / Osaka / Tokyo), Texas, California, Washington, Vancouver, Baltimore, DC, and Colorado - over 75 raves, and 100's of club performances. I have also produced 32 events to date as Mental 69, The Neural Network, The Messiah, Fantastic Hosts, Groove Squad, and Aural Pleaser Industries. (Oh yeah, I speak Japanese and German.)
“Mental†was the nickname I picked up in my formative years as a tempermental pole-vauter. “69†is the year I was born and my favorite number – Hence “Mental 69†was born. All double entendres intended.
A purist - but only in that I seek the finest grooves from all genres. My sets often span several genres seamlessly. Of course, there are favorites. As a producer, I am drawn to creating feel good funky vibes, and trippy atmospheres. I try to use the soundscape as a 3 dimensional palette of experience.
Current public appearances are significantly limited to include only a few club gigs, and a few special events per year. Look for some original productions to appear on this site in October, along with a few DJ sets!