NYS Music 20​13

Tag: mentally ill

  • Prepare for the Cosmic Dust Bunnies and Friends this Saturday at The Hollow

    CosmicDustBunnies

    Don’t miss one of the biggest parties of the weekend tonight in Albany at The Hollow when Cosmic Dust Bunnies touch down to bring some mind melting music. The doors open at 9pm for the 21+ crowd with admission set at $10 put on by Full Circle Music Productions.

    The lineup for the night includes two DJ sets with Leila, a dark spin jam master with a love for deep bass lines, and Mentally Ill, another lover for heavy bass lines whose turntables will bring you to the brink of insanity. Digital Dharma will also be stopping in to perform a set of high energy electronic rock with live instruments. The Cosmic Dust Bunnies, known for their epic late night sets at festivals such as Catskill Chill and Backwoods Pondfest, will end the night with their new wavetronica stylings guaranteed to send the crowd shooting out of this galaxy.

    Keyboardist Chris Sellas from the Cosmic Dust Bunnies took some time out of their busy schedule to talk to .

    Susan Rice: Cosmic Dust Bunnies. I kinda get a “energizer bunny” image. Why that name? How does it reflect your music?

    Chris Sellas: We are all kind of nerds when it comes to video games and space, two of our favorite things Cosmic Dust Bunnies kind of sounds like the best of both worlds…I bet it would make a kick ass game that’s for sure! It’s also a real thing in outer space, a cluster Cosmic dust within a specific galaxy… So when you Google us you will either get our pages or NASA which I think is pretty cool. I think our Bunny would keep going and going and going and going…lol

    SR: You had quite a fall tour, traveling all over the East Coast. What makes Upstate New York stand out while on the road?

    CS: I think spent a good deal of my childhood living outside Buffalo, I’ve always loved upstate New York. Albany is such a great time, people there have lots of energy and are enjoying the scene that is happening there.

    SR: Given the time of year, do you have a favorite holiday to play shows on?

    CS: Halloween is always fun. We just did a show this past Halloween and we all dressed up as Star Wars characters and played Star Wars medleys. it was a lot of fun and our fans loved it. This year we will also be doing a New Year’s Eve show in Massachusetts with Dopapod, consider the source, viral sound and more. That’s gonna be a blast!

    SR: You shared that you went to Funspot in New Hampshire, the largest arcade in the world. Which game best describes your sound?

    CS: I probably have to say sonic the hedgehog… That and Streets of Rage 2. Fun spot was a blast, nothing better than four player Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game!

    SR: What can fans look forward to in 2014? Any new music in the works?

    CS: We have one album which should be dropping around Christmas time and will be hitting the studio for a follow up shortly after. We will also be having some of our producer DJ friends doing some remixes as well so look out for that.

  • Orchard Lounge Goes Late Night at The Putnam Den, October 25th

    A crisp late night in Saratoga began with DJ Leila and Jon Santolla (aka Mentally Ill) throwing down a heavy set to warm up the audience. Even from down the street it was obvious that this dynamic duo had taken the stage at Putnam Den with a vengeance. The set varied from hard drum and bass to more down-tempo trancy beats that layered into each other infiltrating the crowd with intensity. Leila and Santolla were the perfect opener to set the tone before Spencer and Bethany of Orchard Lounge took stage.

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    Orchard Lounge electrified the crowd into an all night dance party. The bar was pumping out glasses of water for all of the crowd, ragged form the hard dancing. Although the crowd was small, it left nothing to be desired in the way of energy. Bethany repeatedly looked up from her table and pointed out to the crowd mouthing “I love you guys,” clearly feeling the amount of energy the crowd was permeating out into the venue. A few times throughout the show, Bethany even jumped down off stage and let Spencer take charge while she fraternized and danced with her adoring fans. It is not very often that you see artists with as sizable a following that Orchard Lounge has being so down to earth and engaged with their fans. The entire set crossed so many boundaries and genres and took the night to levels of intricacy that are rarely seen from a set of DJs. One thing is for sure, when Spencer and Bethany take stage – there is no laziness and their stamina is impressive.  Orchard Lounge took no breaks and continued the party well into the early hours of the morning, as the crowd lost no steam for the dance party that raged on. There was absolutely nothing lackluster about their entire set, which is why Orchard Lounge holds the following and fan base that they do. It is evident that all parties involved had a great time for O-Lounge’s first Saratoga experience.

  • Orchard Lounge, Mentally Ill and Leila to Tear Up ‘The Den’, Friday October 25th

    Orchard Lounge, DJ Leila and Mentally Ill are all scheduled to perform what will be a fantastic show at The Putnam Den tonight,  October 25th. All three acts played a show earlier in the year at the formerly named Bayou Cafe, now the Hollow, in Albany, NY. With excellent feed back and a large draw, they will once again take stage, this time in Saratoga, NY.
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    Orchard Lounge is known for bringing their fusion of a wide variety of genres together to create unique sets that keep the masses coming back for more. O lounge is the collective of Bethany Lokken and Spencer Lokken who have set themselves apart from the typical club DJs we have all become accustomed to hearing night after night. The duo has toured festival to festival as a fan favorite, opening for major bands such as Sound Tribe Sector 9, The New Deal, The Disco Biscuits and Future Rock.
    Both Dj Leila (Leila Harrison) and Mentally Ill (Jon Santolla) bring high energy, hard hitting sets compiled primarily of Drum and Bass with gritty beats. Both artists run the Drum and Bass Coalition out of Albany and tour extensively on the East Coast festival circuit.

    This is going to be a show you definitely do not want to miss.
    This show is ages: 18+ and doors are at 8 pm, show starts at 9 pm.

  • The Road To Bella Terra: Bujak, Mentally Ill and DJ Leila Lay it Down at Red Square, July 27

    Bella Terra means “Beautiful Earth” and the location and site of the festival certainly capture just that. The festival takes places in Stephentown, NY at Gardner’s Farm at the base of the Berkshire Mountains. The site is beautiful, the artists are amazing and the festival is ever growing. The Albany Drum and Bass Coalition, Leila Harrison and Jon Santolla (or Bad Manners/DJ Leila and Mentally Ill) did their part in creating hype around the up and coming festival with their Bass Fix, “Road To Bella Terra” edition.

    The show this summer evening took place at Red Square, promising a great night of live music and awesome chances to win various Bella Terra merchandise and tickets. The night traded off with sets of Jeff Bujak, DJ Leila, Mentally Ill and the collaborative efforts of “Bad Manners.” As always, Jeff Bujak’s light installation wow’ed the crowd throughout his sets while he pounded on his keys sending the crowd into fits of dancing, hooping and personal glow-stick light shows. Bujak pulled out various samples from The Beastie Boys to 50 Cent turning The Red Square into a giant dance party. Jeff Bujak has always been a great set to catch at a festival. His energy alone is sure to lively up your Bella Terra weekend so make sure you make it to his set.

    DJ Leila and Mentally Ill traded off on their sets playing some solo tunes and some collaborations which they refer to as “Bad Manners.” Each song ranges from down-tempo, trancier sounds to very high tempo drum and bass that could walk the line of sounding metal. Both DJs are well known in the area for their hard, fast and dirty beats, as well as bringing underground Drum and Bass to a music scene in which it had previously gone unnoticed. They clearly both bring very influential and necessary aspects to the Albany music scene and “Bass Fix” has become a year long, monthly staple at Red Square.  All three acts certainly set the tone for the quickly approaching festival. Make sure you catch all three artists sets at Bella Terra Festial, August 15-18. Buy Tickets