MentalEscape
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| mentalEscape | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Mirza Čaušević |
| Also known as | mentalEscape, Mizi, Miz |
| Born | 1983 |
| Origin | Sarajevo & Revere Beach & Boston |
| Genre(s) | Electronica Aggrotech Ambient Industrial Dark Elektro EBM Big Beat |
| Occupation(s) | Artist Film Producer Music Producer Photographer |
| Years active | 2000-Present |
| Label(s) | Afterfade |
| Website | www.mentalescape.com |
mentalEscape (real name Mirza Čaušević, often credited as Mizi Causevic) (born on June 1, 1983 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina) is a Bosnian American Industrial-Electronica solo project with EBM, Aggrotech, 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, God Module, Flesh Field and Suicide Commando.
mentalEscape 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. Fluent in both English as well as Bosnian.
In 2001, mentalEscape, 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.
As of 2007, mentalEscape is working on a psychological thriller-horror music score for an upcoming film entitled Darkness.
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[edit] Biography
Mirza ("Mizi") Causevic was born to Bosnian 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Similar Artists
[edit] Influences
mentalEscape influences include:
[edit] Credited Remix Work
mentalEscape has done remixes for the following artists:
- Digit X
- Fiction Plane
- GITM
- Kidney Thieves
- Shelly Harland
- Illegal Substance
- Novokain
- Shintuza
[edit] 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 America (with Dominic Portalla and Dee Sampson; experimental Darkwave Breakbeat)
- Cyber-Funk Online (Defunct E-Zine)
- Digital Root (Defunct Online Electronics Retailer)
- Mohadeva Designs (Web & Media Designs)
