Joey Beltram (born 6 September 1971) is an American DJ and

music producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

, best known for his pioneering singles "Energy Flash" and "Mentasm" and for remixing

Human Resource Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include m ...

's " Dominator".

Rave recordings

"Mentasm", co-produced with Mundo Muzique and released under the artist name Second Phase in 1991, became iconic within

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

culture, as it was the track that gave birth to the "mentasm riff" (also known as the "

hoover sound Hoover sound refers to a particular synthesizer sound in electronic music, commonly used in rave techno, hardcore techno, gabber, breakbeat hardcore, trance, hard house and hard NRG. Originally called the ''"Mentasm"'', the name that stuck was ...

"): a churning, dirgelike synth pattern that wormed into techno's communal

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and has since been mutated and reused in thousands of records. The "mentasm riff" is also strongly associated with

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

, the

Belgian techno Belgian hardcore techno (also referred to as Belgian techno or rave techno) is an early style of hardcore techno that emerged from new beat as EBM and techno influences became more prevalent in this genre. It flourished in Belgium and influence ...

scene, and the R&S record label, as well as

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

hard house UK hard house or simply hard house is a style of electronic dance music that emerged in the early 1990s and is synonymous with its association to the Trade club and the associated DJs there that created the style. It often features a speedy te ...

in their various permutations since 1994. Beltram was referenced as a pioneer in the late 1990s

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

scene by

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history, they achieved popularity in the late 1990s as p ...

, in their song "Teachers" off their 1997 debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''

Homework Homework is a set of tasks assigned to students by their teachers to be completed outside the classroom. Common homework assignments may include required reading, a writing or typing project, Exercise (mathematics), mathematical exercises to b ...

'' and author, Simon Reynolds, credited Beltram with having "revolutionized techno twice before the age of 21," when describing both "Energy Flash" and "Mentasm" in his book ''Generation Ecstasy''. Throughout the years, Beltram has continually toured at major festivals around the globe. He has also continued releasing techno, with his 1993 and 1994 tracks "Aonox" on Visible and "the Beltram re-releases" on Trax, the "Caliber" EP on Warp, and his 1995 LP ''Places'' and 1996 single, "Ball Park" on Tresor counting among his work in the 1990s. He was also invited to release another album, ''Close Grind'', on Daniel Miller's Novamute imprint under the JB³ alias. In 1999, he launched his own label STX with Arena, while he continued to release under Code 6 and JB³, as well as headlining events such as Awakenings, Coachella, Nature One, Mayday and Dance Valley. Returning to Tresor in 2004, he released the album ''Rising Sun''. And he has kept up a busy release schedule ever since, with tracks on Womb, Harthouse, Drumcode, MB Electroniks, and Bush. Perhaps his best-selling single of recent times is his remix of Oliver Huntemann's "Shanghai Spinner," which hit the Beatport Top 10 in 2009. It was also included in ''Simian Mobile Disco's Essential Mix'' at the beginning of 2010.

Selected discography

Singles

*"Energy Flash" (1990) *"Mentasm" (1991, as Second Phase) *"Cop Car" (1994) *"Caliber" (1994; UK #96Chart statistics of "Caliber EP"
Officialcharts.com; retrieved January 20, 2019) *"Game Form" (1995)

Compilations

* ''

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'' (1996) *"The Sound of 2AM" (1999)

References

External links

Joey Beltram
discography at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...