Mental escape
Encyclopedia
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MentalEscape (born June 1, 1983) is a Bosnian American
post Industrial-Electronica solo project with EBM
, Breakcore
, and Hard Trance
elements. The music can be described as dark and aggressive electronica as defined by the umbrella term. Similar artists to MentalEscape include Combichrist
, Tactical Sekt
, Grendel
and Suicide Commando
.
Mirza Causevic is a native of Sarajevo
, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina
, but grew up in Revere, Massachusetts
, U.S.
near Boston
, while spending summers in his home city Sarajevo
. He is fluent in English
and in Bosnian
.
In 2001, Causevic, under the pseudonym
Detrude, released his first single Industrial Whore, which hit #1 on the MP3.com
Industrial Rock charts.
The single was remixed by GITM (Ghost In The Machine) and both MentalEscape and GITM enjoyed having the song be featured on a compilation album released by Raw42 Records called Definitive:Twisted (circa 2001). A review from A&R
stated: "Industrial Whore (GITM Mix) by Detrude is a fantastic blast of industrial dance for the clubbers. Pounding, throbbing and sweat-inducing."
Misterbuster labeled the song as "generic techno rock" but also stated that it was very reminiscent of Lords Of Acid
. An early 2000 review from LISTEN.Com stated that MentalEscape "convolutes melodic Euro grooves with a metallic Industrial appeal and a Hardcore affinity. Throbbing beats and breaks immersed in a mass of chemical confusion hit hard and fast. Robert Miles
, outside of a Nine Inch Nails
show."
In the past, MentalEscape has disputed the classification of his music by review critics because it is 'always changing'. He prefers being labeled as "Universal Sound Engineer", hinting that he does not stick to producing only one style of music as he is an avid fan of Ambient
, Drum and Bass
, hip hop
, Industrial
, Heavy Metal
and Trance music
.
In 2006, MentalEscape was tapped to produce and write the music score for the indie feature film Duality
directed by Dominic Portalla, his colleague from college. This made Mirza one of the first Bosnians to score a feature length American film.
Later in 2008, MentalEscape composed a music score for a psych-thriller film entitled The Darkness Within (film)
parents in 1983 in Sarajevo
in Bosnia and Herzegovina
. Mirza and his brother Emir were given Arabic
names that stand for Prince (Mirza) and King (Emir). Although he comes from a family of non-practicing Slavic
Bosniaks
, Mirza has stated in his public records that he considers himself agnostic and a Cultural Muslim
.
On December 30, 1993, Mirza was severely wounded in the head by shrapnel during an attack on Sarajevo by the forces of Bosnian Serbs who had surrounded and blockaded the city in what became known as the Siege of Sarajevo
, the longest siege in the history of modern warfare. Midway through 1995, Mirza, along with his mother and brother, escaped from Sarajevo through an underground tunnel underneath Sarajevo International Airport
and climbed up via Mount Igman
, eventually finding a safe route to a family friends' house in neighboring Makarska
, Croatia
. Less than a year later, Mirza and his family moved to Revere, Massachusetts
, where he went to grade school and eventually to college, where he majored in Multimedia
and Digital Filmmaking & Video Production.
As a teenager, he became a DJ at local parties but shortly after decided to focus on production rather than spinning tracks at parties. In 2003, he co-founded a film and media production group called Door Eleven Productions with two friends, Dominic Portalla and Dennis Pinto. Door Eleven Productions has produced four short films: My Suburban Hell, Be Kind, Rewind, Billboard America
, Jimmy's Birthday and one feature length film entitled Duality.
Aside of music and film, Mirza is also a digital artist as well as a photographer.
MentalEscape (born June 1, 1983) is a Bosnian American
Bosnian American
Bosnian Americans are Americans whose ancestry can be traced to Bosnia and Herzegovina. A large majority of Bosnian Americans emigrated to the United States during and after the Bosnian war which lasted from 1992-1995. History of Bosnian arrivals to the United States, however, dates back to as far...
post Industrial-Electronica solo project with EBM
EBM
EBM may stand for:* Electron beam melting, a type of additive manufacturing for metal parts* Electronic body music, a music genre* "Epic Beard Man", see AC Transit Bus fight* Espresso Book Machine, a print-on-demand book printing press...
, Breakcore
Breakcore
Breakcore is a style of electronic music largely influenced by hardcore techno, drum and bass and Intelligent dance music. Its sound is largely characterized by a high-tempo, well-timed mingling of distorted kick drums , break beats arranged from samples of the Amen break, and audio samples from a...
, and Hard Trance
Hard trance
Hard trance is a subgenre of trance music that originated in Western Europe in the mid-1990s as the breakbeat hardcore production community began to diversify into new and different styles of electronic music, all influenced by UK hard house, happy hardcore and jungle/drum & bass...
elements. The music can be described as dark and aggressive electronica as defined by the umbrella term. Similar artists to MentalEscape include Combichrist
CombiChrist
Combichrist is a Norwegian Aggrotech band formed in 2003 by Norwegian Andy LaPlegua based in Atlanta.-Formation:The first material LaPlegua wrote was a few powernoise/techno crossover tracks under the moniker DRIVE...
, Tactical Sekt
Tactical Sekt
Tactical Sekt is an electro-industrial band formed in 2002. They use distorted vocals, EBM beats, and sampling. -History:Tactical Sekt was conceived by Anthony Mather in 2002 to 2003. Mather had experience with electro-industrial music in his former band, Aslan Faction...
, Grendel
Grendel
Grendel is one of three antagonists, along with Grendel's mother and the dragon, in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf . Grendel is usually depicted as a monster, though this is the subject of scholarly debate. In the poem, Grendel is feared by all but Beowulf.-Story:The poem Beowulf is contained in...
and Suicide Commando
Suicide Commando
Suicide Commando is a Belgian electro-industrial act created by Johan van Roy in 1986.- History :Johan van Roy, Suicide Commando's only member, began experimenting with electronic music in 1986. Three years later he released his first tape under the moniker Suicide Commando, and made an appearance...
.
Mirza Causevic is a native of Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, but grew up in Revere, Massachusetts
Revere, Massachusetts
Revere is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and located approximately from downtown Boston. It is named after the American patriot Paul Revere. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 51,755.- History :...
, U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
near Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, while spending summers in his home city Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
. He is fluent in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and in Bosnian
Bosnian language
Bosnian is a South Slavic language, spoken by Bosniaks. As a standardized form of the Shtokavian dialect, it is one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina....
.
In 2001, Causevic, under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Detrude, released his first single Industrial Whore, which hit #1 on the MP3.com
MP3.com
MP3.com is a web site operated by CNET Networks providing information about digital music and artists, songs, services, community, and technologies. It is probably better known for its original incarnation, as a legal, free music-sharing service, popular with independent musicians for promoting...
Industrial Rock charts.
The single was remixed by GITM (Ghost In The Machine) and both MentalEscape and GITM enjoyed having the song be featured on a compilation album released by Raw42 Records called Definitive:Twisted (circa 2001). A review from A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
stated: "Industrial Whore (GITM Mix) by Detrude is a fantastic blast of industrial dance for the clubbers. Pounding, throbbing and sweat-inducing."
Misterbuster labeled the song as "generic techno rock" but also stated that it was very reminiscent of Lords Of Acid
Lords of Acid
Lords of Acid is a Belgian-American post-industrial/techno band, led by musician Praga Khan. They debuted with the controversial new beat single "I Sit on Acid" in 1988...
. An early 2000 review from LISTEN.Com stated that MentalEscape "convolutes melodic Euro grooves with a metallic Industrial appeal and a Hardcore affinity. Throbbing beats and breaks immersed in a mass of chemical confusion hit hard and fast. Robert Miles
Robert Miles
Robert Miles is an Italian record producer, composer, musician and DJ in electronica and alternative music.-Biography:...
, outside of a Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
show."
In the past, MentalEscape has disputed the classification of his music by review critics because it is 'always changing'. He prefers being labeled as "Universal Sound Engineer", hinting that he does not stick to producing only one style of music as he is an avid fan of Ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
, Drum and Bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
, hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
, Industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
, Heavy Metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
and Trance music
Trance music
Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...
.
In 2006, MentalEscape was tapped to produce and write the music score for the indie feature film Duality
Duality (film)
Duality is a Star Wars fan film created by Mark Thomas and Dave Macomber that made its debut on the internet on February 10, 2001. It is one of the first fan films to exclusively use bluescreen footage composited onto virtual backgrounds.-Plot:...
directed by Dominic Portalla, his colleague from college. This made Mirza one of the first Bosnians to score a feature length American film.
Later in 2008, MentalEscape composed a music score for a psych-thriller film entitled The Darkness Within (film)
The Darkness Within (film)
The Darkness Within is a 2009 American independent film that is currently making its way onto the film festival circuit. It was written and directed by Dom Portalla and produced by Door Eleven Productions.-Plot:...
Biography
Mirza ("Mizi") Causevic was born to BosnianBosnians
Bosnians are people who reside in, or come from, Bosnia and Herzegovina. By the modern state definition a Bosnian can be anyone who holds citizenship of the state. This includes, but is not limited to, members of the constituent ethnic groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs and...
parents in 1983 in Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
. Mirza and his brother Emir were given Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
names that stand for Prince (Mirza) and King (Emir). Although he comes from a family of non-practicing Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
Bosniaks
Bosniaks
The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia...
, Mirza has stated in his public records that he considers himself agnostic and a Cultural Muslim
Cultural Muslim
Cultural Muslims are religiously unobservant, agnostic or atheist individuals who still identify with the Muslim culture due to family background, personal experiences, or the social and cultural environment in which they grew up....
.
On December 30, 1993, Mirza was severely wounded in the head by shrapnel during an attack on Sarajevo by the forces of Bosnian Serbs who had surrounded and blockaded the city in what became known as the Siege of Sarajevo
Siege of Sarajevo
The Siege of Sarajevo is the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare. Serb forces of the Republika Srpska and the Yugoslav People's Army besieged Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 5 April 1992 to 29 February 1996 during the Bosnian War.After Bosnia...
, the longest siege in the history of modern warfare. Midway through 1995, Mirza, along with his mother and brother, escaped from Sarajevo through an underground tunnel underneath Sarajevo International Airport
Sarajevo International Airport
Sarajevo International Airport , also known as Butmir Airport, is the main international airport in Bosnia and Herzegovina, located southwest of the railway station in the capital city of Sarajevo in the suburb of Butmir....
and climbed up via Mount Igman
Igman
Igman is a mountain in central Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is found directly to the southwest of Sarajevo, bordering Bjelašnica mountain and the city of Ilidža. Igman's highest point, Vlahinja Ridge, is 1502 meters , making it the shortest of the Sarajevo mountains.Igman is a popular destination...
, eventually finding a safe route to a family friends' house in neighboring Makarska
Makarska
Makarska is a small town on the Adriatic coastline of Croatia, about southeast of Split and northwest of Dubrovnik. It has a population of 13,716 residents. Administratively Makarska has the status of a town and it is part of the Split-Dalmatia County....
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. Less than a year later, Mirza and his family moved to Revere, Massachusetts
Revere, Massachusetts
Revere is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and located approximately from downtown Boston. It is named after the American patriot Paul Revere. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 51,755.- History :...
, where he went to grade school and eventually to college, where he majored in Multimedia
Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
and Digital Filmmaking & Video Production.
As a teenager, he became a DJ at local parties but shortly after decided to focus on production rather than spinning tracks at parties. In 2003, he co-founded a film and media production group called Door Eleven Productions with two friends, Dominic Portalla and Dennis Pinto. Door Eleven Productions has produced four short films: My Suburban Hell, Be Kind, Rewind, Billboard America
Billboard America
Billboard America is a 2006 drama film starring James Scanlon. It was written and directed by Dom Portalla and put out by Door Eleven Productions...
, Jimmy's Birthday and one feature length film entitled Duality.
Aside of music and film, Mirza is also a digital artist as well as a photographer.
Style
Causevic's art & media production is known for its elements of dark atmospheric surrealism, polychromatic images and dreamlike sequences. Some of his work is often created by calculating mathematical functions and transforming its results into still images with vivid colors.Influences
MentalEscape influences include:- Nine Inch NailsNine Inch NailsNine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
- The ProdigyThe ProdigyThe Prodigy are an English electronic dance music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex. Along with Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and other acts, The Prodigy have been credited as pioneers of the big beat genre, which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s...
- The Crystal MethodThe Crystal MethodThe Crystal Method is an American electronic music duo that was created in Los Angeles, California by Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland in the early 1990s. The Crystal Method's music has appeared in numerous TV shows, films, video games, and advertisements. The most prominent is the US television...
- Charlie ClouserCharlie ClouserCharles Alexander "Charlie" Clouser is an American musician whose activities include playing keyboard, synth, theremin, and drums. He is known for his abilities in music programming, engineering, mixing, and remixing. He was a member of the band Nine Inch Nails 1994–2000. Before he was in Nine...
- Adi LukovacAdi LukovacAdi Lukovac was a Bosnian musician, best known as the pioneer of electronic music in Bosnia and Herzegovina and leader of the Bosnian industrial band Adi Lukovac & The Ornaments....
- Luis RoyoLuis RoyoLuis Royo is a Spanish artist, known for his sensual and dark paintings, its apocalyptic imagery, his fantasy worlds and mechanical life forms...
- David LynchDavid LynchDavid Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
Credited remix work
MentalEscape has done remixes for the following artists:- Digit X
- Fiction PlaneFiction PlaneFiction Plane is a rock band from England. Originally formed in London under the name Santa’s Boyfriend in 2001, Fiction Plane is currently composed of lead vocalist, guitar and bass player Joe Sumner ; guitarist Seton Daunt; and American drummer Pete Wilhoit.-Recording history:Fiction Plane’s...
- GITM
- Kidney Thieves
- Shelley Harland
- Illegal Substance
- Novokain
- Shintuza
Other projects
- Door Eleven Productions (with Dominic Portalla & Dennis Pinto; all-purpose media studio)
- Blindecibel (with Michael Dark aka Novokain; Abstract Hip Hop/Ambient Rock)
- Billboard AmericaBillboard AmericaBillboard America is a 2006 drama film starring James Scanlon. It was written and directed by Dom Portalla and put out by Door Eleven Productions...
(with Dominic Portalla and Dee Sampson; experimental Darkwave Breakbeat) - Cyber-Funk Online (Defunct E-Zine)
- Digital RootDigital rootThe digital root of a number is the value obtained by an iterative process of summing digits, on each iteration using the result from the previous iteration to compute a digit sum...
(Defunct Online Electronics Retailer) - Mohadeva Designs (Web & Media Designs)