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An Interview with DJ MindCage
Posted: Sunday, June 20, 2010
By: Ilker Yücel
Editor

In this day and age, it's not uncommon to see musicians in the underground music scene branching out to become part of not one band, not two bands but several at a time. Not only that, but given the potential financial benefits in a scene that caters to the disenfranchised, many of these individuals take it a step further to add other activities to the resume, be it DJ-ing, graphic design, sound or lighting techs, etc. It's the D.I.Y. approach put to the ultimate practice, and if MindCage isn't representative of this spirit exemplified, than nobody is.

Having been a fixture of the Baltimore/DC music scene for several years, MindCage has had his hands in virtually all aspects of the goth/industrial scene. He's been a DJ in almost every major event and club night in the region for a decade and in recent years has been working with prominent DC-based promotion team Deep6 Productions to bring some of the scene's top high-profile acts to the nation's capitol. He's also been a member of various acts, primarily known as the second guitarist for industrial/trance rock group Mindless Faith, which has seen him perform alongside the likes of PIG, Fixmer/McCarthy, Bella Morte, Cylab and My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult. He's also performed live guitar for Chemlab following that band's return in 2004, as well as most recently playing live drums for goth act Ego Likeness. Ever the busy man, ReGen had a chance to speak with the eminent DJ and musician about what's on the horizon for him and what his thoughts are on the scene that he has done exceptionally well to support and promote for so long.

You're known in the local scene for contributing to a number of bands. How many bands are you actually in?

MindCage: Well, I recently worked with Angels on Acid providing some live drums, which I also have been doing for Ego Likeness in the last year or so. I've done some guitars for Chemlab's live shows, and of course Mindless Faith.

As you said, you've been drumming for Ego Likeness for some time, and that band has garnered quite a reputation in the scene.

MindCage: Yeah, we had been talking about it for quite awhile, and Steve had asked me if I wanted to contribute; he really seemed to want to work with me on it, and everybody knows them, I know them, so it was a no-brainer for me.

It's interesting to see you performing drums for them, because you seem to be better known as a guitarist, having worked with Mindless Faith and Chemlab.

MindCage: Ironically, I was brought into Mindless Faith as a drummer, because their previous live member Paul left to get his Masters in the UK, so I was brought in as his replacement in that regard. They'd just asked me to come down and play drums because the drummer was leaving, and they realized that they really wanted to control and program the drums, and there was a lot of it already present, so they said, 'Well, we're more looking for someone to play guitar on the tracks, and you play guitar, so...' It's funny, because not a lot of people really know that I started on drums. That was the funny thing about joining Angels on Acid, because I was playing in Ego Likeness on the Combichrist tour, and we were at Ground Zero in the middle of nowhere in South Carolina. So while we were down there, I asked Angels on Acid to come on up, and when they came up, they had no idea that I was drumming. They were like, 'Wait, but you're a guitarist. Why are you on drums?' After that, I was watching their set, and we started talking about adding some live drums, and I said I would love to do it, so that's how that happened.

Your main band for quite some time had been Mindless Faith, and aside from a recent appearance in Holland and the remix for Velvet Acid Christ, that band hasn't been too active, as the Sevanick brothers have been focused on Grains of Sound. What can you tell us about the status of that band? <[>MindCage: Basically, in July, Mindless Faith is going to be playing up in the Netherlands at Gothicfest with Skinny Puppy, Destroid, Misery and Angelspit, along with some other bands. That's on July 30. And then Mindless Faith will be playing its first show in the United States since 2006 at Freaks United here in DC, and that will be taking place at the Loft. Yes, the brothers have been working on their Grains of Sound material, and we are releasing some other material; we actually have a whole remix EP that will be coming out. It's mostly done, but there are still some details that we have to finish up on it. We also did the track on Electronic Saviors, and on that track, Paul Green actually wrote the lyrics and played violin on the track, as well, which was a very different sound for us. We recorded that last June or July, and I really love it. It shows our diversity.

Considering that you are a multi-instrumentalist and you've performed for so long with these other bands, when are you planning to release your own material?

MindCage: It's something I've been toying around with, but it's very tough to fit it in. With everything that's going on, between all of the other bands and touring and my promotional work and Djing, it's like I have to get into a really manic mode just to get anything done with those, let alone my own stuff. But there is some material that I have been toying around with whenever I have that kind of time, so I'm sure something will come up.

You have been a fixture of the DC and the Baltimore scene for quite some time, not just as a musician but also as a DJ and a promoter. Having been in it for so long, what have you noticed are the major changes in the scene since you've been in it? <[>MindCage: Well, it's funny because Baltimore seems more willing to advance with whatever the newer stuff is, as far as music goes, but in general, Baltimore is a very guitar-heavy town. They always seem to be very much into the guitar-driven music. DC can be very finicky with the stuff that they like, and you have the people who are much more into the synthpop stuff, and then there are the pockets of people who like the guitar stuff; there's enough of a crossover in between, but from what I've seen, DC has changed quite a bit, and they're starting to go all over the place, whereas Baltimore seems to stay pretty consistent, and both have their place. I love both towns.

Being involved in different kinds of music – Ego Likeness seems more gothic-tinged, while Mindless Faith is more guitar-driven, and both have their club elements – what direction do you see the scene going in, in terms of the different styles that are going on now?

MindCage: There is a lot of music out there, and it gets really overwhelming. The improvements in technology have a lot to do with that, because now you have a lot of people who are solo artists, and they learn on their own and just know how to produce music. Most bands these days seem to be focused primarily on one programmer or whatever, and it's hard to tell. A good example is the way Ego Likeness works, especially on the new material, because it's so much different from how they used to work 10 years ago. The music now is just more aggressive and there's a lot of clubbiness to it, but they've definitely developed a lot with the songwriting; it's more mature, I think. The Mindless Faith stuff has a much more trance-like, darker element, and you have the rock stuff going on. Every progressive album from both bands really tries to push the envelope of what they've done before, but it is all about diversity, and I think it's important to see that diversity in the scene more. I think we have been, but again, it gets overwhelming, so you just have to be selective I think.

So what's next for you? What's on the horizon for you?

MindCage: What's on the horizon for me is the excitement of Mindless Faith coming out with this remix EP, and I'm excited to actually work on new material for that. It's really just a lot of remixing and playing concerts; I mean...the anticipation of playing with Skinny Puppy...bi-atch!