Three music loving, glass breaking global citizens who have taken on the ridiculously jovial mission of spreading trans-global beats, audio folklore, and border-jumping dress codes as far as it will reach from our outpost.
We are available for all manner of events from private parties to museum gallery opening receptions, weddings, concert after-parties, festivals, and anything else that requires a frantic dose of hyper-festive global appeal.
Our weekly party has been rattling the lower east side for over three years and we're waiting for you to come and sink your teeth into this crazed celebration of world-wide anthems!
Every Thursday at Mehanata Bulgarian Bar (113 Ludlow, between Delancey & Rivington). Live music at 9:30PM, Raphlex & Mishto at 11:30PM. Special appearances all over the place. Stay in touch to see where we'll be next!
Last week, Raphlex, Mishto, & Chico Selektah teamed up for a three way of ridiculously good dance floor killing trans-global beats and the entire room went nuts for hours on end… see evidence of our insanity below!
In other news, LAST NIGHTS PARTY WAS INSANE!! Chico Selektah, Raphlex, and Mishto together on the decks, people dancing themselves unconscious! We do it again tomorrow night, so rest your livers………… ..
Our close comrades and partners-in-throwing-NYC’s-most-insane-dance-parties (not to mention massively talented musicians with flavor you just don’t come across often) ESCARIOKA released their debut album, FACTOR SABOR. You can listen to the whole thing at Soundcloud.
ABOUT ESCARIOKA:
“ESCARIOKA is a multicultural collective that started late 2002 in Elizabeth NJ. Since the start, an explosion of energy that mixes ROCK N’ ROLL and HARD-CORE DUB TROPICAL RAGGAMUFFIN with flavors from around the world. ESCARIOKA is lead by Exequiel & Pablo D’ambrosio, Cristobal Miranda Hidalgo and Fernando Alvarez.
The meaning of ESCARIOKA is to keep sharing the party with positive messages against false truth in society, keeping hope alive, and combatting one’s ego to stay true. The bottom line is to enjoy ”EL BAILONGO” (the party).
ESCARIOKA has earned themselves a top spot in NYC’s world music scene, opening for bands like SKA-P,LOS DESTELLOS, CHICO TRUJILLO, FIDEL NADAL, MIMI MAURA, SERGIO ROTMAN (Fabulosos Cadillacs) and more.
The band will release its first album ”FACTOR SABOR” under the independent label of MEHANATA RECORDS. ESCARIOKA will keep promoting flavor, energy, happiness, identity, density, capacity, party, etc! This collective of artists are more than just a Rock n’ Roll band — they’re a group of close friends that consider one another family, and will work together to spread their message.
Thanks to all the fans and our family that support us in our shows, showing tremendous love – we want to say thank you so much!”
KANDAKE Dance Theater for Social Change is celebrating their 1st year as a troupe, and they’ve released this incredibly badass teaser video of their experimental belly dance performance piece(s), “Come Undone”. We’ve seen it first-hand, and it’s an intense thing to behold. Check it out for yourself:
Our Romanian homeboy Ionut Cercel, the 14-year-old idol responsible for the song we dance to three nights a week at Mehanata, has a feature and interview in VICE. Article below:
Ionut Cercel is the Justin Bieber of manele, a genre of Romanian music that can best be described as a questionable combination of Gypsy folk and modern dance pop. He is 14 years old, has five solo albums under his belt, and is the subject of dozens of fan-created Facebook pages.
All of this while dressing like a 45-year-old Vegas lounge singer (which, unsurprisingly, is a popular style in Romania). Recently, his brother started a clothing label under Ionut ’s name. Its target demographic? “Posh people.” I met Ionut for a coffee at a gas station—a place he “felt comfortable”—where he told me more about his style and I had a hard time resisting making jokes about coffee and Ionuts.
VICE: How do you select your clothes?
Ionut Cercel: Clothes are the only thing I spend a long time thinking about. I am very picky. I usually choose a suit, together with a shirt and a tie, depending on how they match and on my mood. I’ve liked wearing matching items since I was little. It makes people respect me, and it also shows I respect myself. If you are a serious kid, you don’t like to dress casual.
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How would you categorize the items in your wardrobe?
Stage costumes, school outfits, TV-show outfits, and accessories. I have about ten hats and 20 pairs of glasses. I like the round ones from Ray-Ban, because they cover up my face when I’m tired. I always wear this chainlet I got as a present from a Brazilian guy who owns a disco in Greece. I have to alter the watches I buy, because I have small wrists. When I want to look older, I wear a tie.
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What is the difference between your stage and school outfits?
The stage outfits are more serious—very elegant and expensive. The school clothes are classical. Everybody knows who I am at school; I don’t need to show off. But I have to look good onstage, because that’s what my fans care about. I dress quite posh.
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What does “posh” mean to you?
Fashionable. Clothes should show your best features. If it’s cheap, but I like how it looks, price doesn’t matter. Still, I feel expensive clothes fit you better. The shirt doesn’t need to have cufflinks, but it has to have a hard collar. I prefer fitted clothes; I don’t like clothes to hang about me.