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As producers, engineers, and songwriters for the Warner Bros. act "Mephisto Odyssey",
Mikael Johnston, Orpheos Dejournette, and Camacho gained the reputation of being eclectics,
pivotal in defining the nascent San Francisco house sound" (SF Weekly Sept. 6, 2000). After
signing to Warner Bros. Records (1998-2002), Mephisto Odyssey (Which included friends, and
co-conspirators, UK Transplant DJ Barrie Eves of "Primal Records", and DJ Camacho), built on
this reputation by working with a diverse cross section of bands also signed to the label.
They co-wrote, produced, and engineered the single "Crash" with the platinum selling metal
band Static-X. Crash was made into a music video by director Len Wiseman (Underworld), for
the full-length animated film Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, which also aired on MTV2
and MTVx. The band did extensive remixing while at Warner, for artists such as Los Amigos
Invisibles, Static-X, and Soul Coughing. A great success during this period was their work
as co-producers, engineers, and remixers for the Jane's Addiction maxi single "So What," from
the album Kettle Whistle. Mephisto Odyssey did the only remixes ever sanctioned and released by
Jane's Addiction. The single, which featured their work on four of five mixes, charted in the
Billboard maxi singles chart for 6 weeks.
Rewind to the 90's- Johnston got his musical start and influences from the rock and new wave
scenes of the 1980's, which is how he first met long time collaborator and fellow Mephisto Odyssey
founder Orpheos Dejournette. During the early 90s the two decided to put aside their guitar and
rock roots to check out the as-yet-uncharted territory of electronica. It proved to be a wise c
areer move for both of them. The duo's first single, the self-released "Dream of the Black
Dahlia," earned kudos from Bay Area promoters and the international underground scene.
Dejournette and Johnston continued to release singles on the Mephisto label and eventually were
signed to the progressive West Coast record label City of Angels, where they shared the talent
roster with Uberzone, Simply Jeff, Christopher Lawrence, and future breakbeat kings The Crystal
Method.
Fast forward to 2006 - Mephisto Odyssey continues to work with an eclectic and varied group of
artists. They have recently worked with Epitaph recording artists The Matches, Smash Mouth,
and I am the World Trade Center. They did a live mix of Rose Hill Drive, for San Francisco's
107.7 FM, and most recently, Mikael worked as an engineer for the European Grammy winning
Swedish band The Sounds latest album, Dying To Say This To You. Additionally, their own music
continues to appear in film and TV. In 2006, the song "Some Kinda Freak" was featured in the
Quentin Tarantino production Hostel and "Crash" was licensed for the MTV show I want a Famous
Face. Mikael ,Orpheos, and Camacho now continue the onslaught of releases for 2006 with the first
song "Superphonic" which will be released internationally on N-Mity Records (Spain) and here at
home at the flagship label (DiggityDope Records). Included in the first Single Will be remix's by
Italy's own MADOX of Mantra Breaks and Peter Paul from N-Mity.
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