Biography
Inception and debut single (1993—1996)
Mephisto Odyssey was originally formed in the fall of 1993 by musician, songwriter / producer Mikael Johnston and producer / songwriter Michael Ames. Johnston's high school friend and fellow musician Orpheos Dejournette joined the group shortly after. The group's first single, the self-released "Dream of the Black Dahlia” (1993) [2] , earned kudos from Bay Area promoters and the international underground scene including DJ Garth of Greyhound Recordings who was the first international DJ to play the track. Ames left the group permanently after the release of their first single.
City of Angels (1996—1998)
Mephisto Odyssey now fronted by Johnston and Dejournette continued to release singles on their own label Mephisto Records until 1996 when they signed to the progressive West Coast label City of Angels. At City of Angels the group shared the talent roster with Überzone, Simply Jeff, Christopher Lawrence (DJ), Sandra Collins and future break beat kings, The Crystal Method. After a handful of singles and the release of their first album Catching The Skinny [3] the then duo caught the ear of Warner Bros. Records A & R rep Troy Wallace. Wallace offered the duo the chance to work on a remix project with Jane's Addiction for the upcoming maxi single "So What!", Mephisto Odyssey co-produced the remixes with long-time friend and Primal Record Shop owner, Barrie Eves, who officially joined the group soon after. [4] The official release featured 3 remixes by Mephisto Odyssey and went on to spend 6 weeks in the Billboard maxi singles chart which paved the way for a Warner Bros. Records recording contract (December 1998). DJ Josh Camacho also joined the group soon after the band signed to Warner Bros. as a touring member. To date Mephisto Odyssey are the only artists to officially remix Jane's Addiction. [5]
Mephisto Odyssey reunite (2006—2008)
In 2006 founding member Mikael Johnston and DJ Josh Camacho reunited under the Mephisto Odyssey moniker to release several singles under their new Groove Quest label. Some of the singles released were "Superphonic" on N-mitysound Records, "Sexy Love" and "Bump." [12] In 2008 Mikael Johnston put Mephisto Odyssey in moratorium to become one half of the music production team Dresden and Johnston with long-time friend Dave Dresden. [13]
Current Work
In 2025, a 25th anniversary single for "Crash" is planned for release, on Pop Twist Records. The single will feature a 4K re-edited version of the original video; a new mix and master of the original song; a new version of the song, "Crash Reborn: Falling Star Edition," which includes a revised chord progression (written by Johnston) and features guitars by Brad Gillis and vocals by Wayne Static; with a video co-directed by Len Wiseman and William Instone. [14] [15] The "CRASH Reborn: Falling Star Edition" was released on December 31, 2025, on YouTube [16] and Bandcamp [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] On February 5, 2026, Mephisto Odyssey released the official video for Mephisto touring DJ Josh Camacho's "CRASH: Reborn - Camacho's Evil Club Remix" on the band's official YouTube channel. [22]
This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
