The last years have been quite fruitful for the Romanian DJ Mentol and his music productions continue growing in popularity across YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, and TikTok.
Mentol. © Matei Marian Mihai
Mentol is a widely-known DJ and producer based in Romania who loves being among people, whether it’s a small party or a festival. Speaking of which, this summer, after the lockdown, he had the chance to play again at parties and took part in the biggest music event in Romania – UNTOLD.
In the past, he has been involved in several musical projects on the radio (Radio DJ Romania and Vibe FM), but now, you can always catch his podcast on Dance FM Radio.
He played sets at numerous festivals (Liberty Parade, Back to the Wild, Electric Castle, Murmur, Bukovel Romanian Days, and UNTOLD) in Romania and other countries: Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Ukraine, UK.
Here’s what Mentol had to say about his work in a quick Zoom interview:
1. Mentol x Katie Melua – Wonderful Life
“This track is close to my heart, and I’ll always mention it whenever I’ll get the chance, given the fact it is my first official production. As a child, I used to listen to the original version – Black: Wonderful Life, and when I first heard Katie Melua’s cover, it inspired me to work on a melodic deep house piece of music. It is signed by BMG Records UK Label, the same label Katie Melua is signed to. I am proud it has reached several lists on YouTube, as well as various ‘Algorithmic’ playlists on Spotify.”
2. Dj Dark & Mentol – Clandestina (Emma Péters Cover)
“A lot of my remixes are created together with my friend and colleague – DJ Dark. This will be the case for the following tracks in this list. Last year (2020), it was a fine autumn evening, so we were drinking tea and accidentally found this track. It is a cover for Lariste’s famous song, by Emma Péters. We started working on this one the same day and managed to compose the harmonious theme of the song, and the final result was developed in a fairly short time. It was very well received by our followers and we gained new listeners on all major platforms.”
3. Dj Dark & Mentol feat. D.E.P. – California Love
“This one is signed with an important U.S. label, Deep Universe, and has an exciting story: we put together 2Pac’s California Love lyrics, a melodic saxophone theme created by the famous Mr.Saxobeat, and the vocal cover of a dear friend of ours – a very talented singer based in Brașov. The result? A really nice track that reached lots of people in 2021.”
4. Dj Dark & Mentol – Mood (Salem Ilese Cover)
“We call this our baby gem, a 2021’s hit, among other productions. We chose this one while relaxing on vacation in an exotic destination. We listened a lot to the original version, which belongs to 24kGoldn, and because we liked it so much, we decided to make a cover remix of Salem Ilese’s version. So in just half a year, it became a real hit on social media, mainly Instagram, where it has been used as a soundtrack on over 400K videos with more than 500M views and lots of TikTok shorts. This kind of feedback assures us we are doing a good job!”
5. Dj Dark & Mentol feat. Georgia Alexandra – What’s Up
“This year I turned 29. On the same day, we released this track on the usual platforms we use to promote our music (both social media and music platforms). It is a cover version signed to our label (Sepaya Records) created by a gifted young artist – Georgia Alexandra, one of our main collaborators. This particular track is one of my favorite songs; I have loved it since childhood.
“In conclusion, no title is random. Every single track has a story. I like to create nice stuff with friends and colleagues who inspire me. Some of the tracks break the ice and go viral, while others are just nice, and we enjoy them, no matter the numbers (views, followers).”
