There are some local artists who are destined for the lime-light, even if Orange County doesn't always have much to offer in that regard. This is something Myndset learned early on in his career as a hip-hop DJ. At the time he went by a different moniker and played every major club in OC feeding the masses their weekly dose of top 40 and hip hop beats. He felt hip hop was getting stale and was drawn by the sounds of electronic music – something that hadn't reached the popularity it has now and which he says “feed his soul.” He enrolled in OC Weekly's DJ competition to play at Ultra Music Festival in 2008 and won, landing himself a coveted spot at one of EDM's biggest festivals in the world.
“That was one of the best days of my life and such a cool experience, Myndset says. “I was like it's there for the taking if anyone wants but I can do this. So I practiced the shit out of my routine and brought out all my tricks as a true turntablist.” Yet the biggest thing he gained from that experience is that you can make it as a traveling DJ (something he had always dreamed of) and the world was his oyster with hard work and perseverance.
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After tackling production school to master his music engineering, he went back to UC Irvine to finish his business degree in Economics – which has come in handy now as he draws up his own contracts and doesn't let shady venue owners or promoters try to pull a fast one on him. But there was still something missing and in 2010 he created Myndset, his EDM DJ alter ego [he refuses to divulge his real name in interviews in order to preserve his mystique]. He wanted his audience to no longer see him as a hip-hop DJ, but focus on his remixes and natural progression in the dance music community. He felt the only way he could do that specifically in Orange County was to hide behind his robotic inspired mask which allows him to be a different persona and step on the house head's turf.
“When I was thinking about this character that I was creating the more I told myself when I put this mask on I had to be in this different mindset,” shares Myndset who's true identity still remains a mystery through his growing fan base. “I needed to get into this myndset when I was getting into this character and with the unique spelling it made it searchable on the internet. I wanted to make something unique and it was fitting on so many levels.”
Myndset took his business savvy and 15 years of deejaying experience under his belt to create a name for himself and has since been able to travel to markets all over the US as a headlining DJ at places like San Francisco, Dallas, New York, with Orlando and Portland on the horizon.
“The only way your going to be able to cultivate your sound in other markets and have a national fan base is by producing music in different cities,” Myndset says. With an original track titled “25th Hour” featuring vocals by Jason Caesar already under his belt Myndset is taking the necessary steps to make sure his DJ career continues a steady growth in this over saturated industry. His first song reached number 45 on the Beatport Progressive chart in November, a mile stone for someone who just produced their first single. Now with a new collaboration original mix titled “Swerve” with Wild Boyz on Techi Beats records out next week Myndset is ready to break his last record and continue his natural progression into EDM's elite.
Likewise his live shows grew the same way organically as he played small shows with only 200 people which then grew to 400 people, 600 and now he's headlining gigs at infamous clubs like Ruby Skye in San Francisco taking the same stage EDM heavy hitters like Chuckie and Axwell had the previous nights.
“I did this it at a grass roots level and I think that's really cool in building long tern relationships with fans,” says Myndset. “I get to know them, give them stickers, take pictures and send them birthday shout outs or mix tapes. That's important in creating those personal relationships. I would love to do that in every market.” This is exactly what you can expect at his gig this weekend at The Continental Room in downtown Fullerton for their “Electric Saturdays.” Not just a friendly novelty – which by the way only makes an OC appearance every couple of months after all you can only open for the same big acts at the same three clubs for so long as he bluntly puts it. Myndset packs as many as up to 50 songs in a short one hour long set keeping you on your toes with his own remixes and unique scratching skills.
“I come from an old-school background not just a guy that picked up a laptop yesterday.” says Myndset. “I try to give everything I have. I could be lazy and play 25 songs, but people deserve so much more why would I do that to them?”
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