Born in 79, A.J. Steele of Hypno Army has been producing music since 1997. Inspired by the local El Paso punk and metal scene, Latin Freestyle, Miami Bass, House, and Industrial, Hypno Army has a wide range of sounds and interests. A.J. was in a few bands in high school and started getting more serious about EDM production after meeting Dennis from Skylab 2000 of Moonshine Records. He did a few shows here and there but finding a club with enough room to accommodate the rig was extremely difficult.
He went through a few phases of Live P.A., Hardcore, Techno, Trance, Drum and Bass, and Electro and still has a bunch of that old stuff up on You Tube. He thinks it's crap, but says “Everyone has to start somewhere”. The hassle of having to carry all the hardware, and if one thing failed you didn't have your whole set, is what eventually lead to him dropping live P.A. for DJing. He still has mixed feelings on that.
In 2006, Hypno Army took a hiatus to focus on Shonen Neko Takaya. He was on this crazy Anime forum and figured he could make it something to do on, like, Tuesday nights. The more he spun Japanese Electro and House, the more he started to just love that sound. It just clicked for him.
Super Eurobeat and J-Euro were also a huge part of what he was doing back then. Those sounds still mean so much to him, and there is just something beautiful and powerful about Super Eurobeats. Right place right time, kind of thing. Local cons were bored of the DJs they had access to, and he was a perfect fit artistically.
People often ask him "You go by Takaya, but you're not Japanese?" Going by Takaya at anime con for several years, the name just kind of stuck. Social Media is also just weird like that.
Shonen Neko Takaya is a K-Pop and J-Pop music project that focuses on Asia region releases. After four years of non-stop comic/anime cons, cosplay related events, and Japanese cultural festivals, he decided he wanted to try something new. As much as he loved anime and cons, he was just ready for a change.
A.J. took a four year break from production and pretty much just focused on being the best entertainer he could be. Anime fans were never interested in whether Takaya was a great DJ, just that he played the music they wanted to hear. That allowed him lots of time to experiment with different DJ rigs and live hardware set ups, which was a fun gig. People just wanted their anime stuff and for the most part, a super easy crowd to please. He worked it ‘till he could work it no more. After playing at every single thing for four years straight they were sick of his music and the whole thing was no longer cool or new. Everything has its season and Shonen Neko Takaya’s was done in El Paso Texas.
In 2015, after moving to Colorado, Takaya began work on his Trap/Industrial Project Trapnest, as well as a very short lived Top 40 Trap Remix project The Original Harem Globetrappers. Globetrappers came first, but never really caught on. He thought he was just too new to writing trap music and had some things to learn still. Trapnest came because of a break up, and it sounded like how he felt on the inside, so it worked. The idea was to use his knowledge of industrial music (which was strong) and mix it with his knowledge of trap at the time (which was fairly weak).
This sound included lots of sync, cross modulation, bit crushing, distortion, and disturbing themes- everything from homophobia, misogyny, mass murder, and suicide. If it could possibly make someone uncomfortable it was up for grabs. He listens to those songs now and is still proud of that work. He doesn't feel the same way he did when he wrote them but can recognize the artistic growth.
In 2021 Hypno Army came back with all new top 40 remixes. He’d been working on new Trance related stuff for about three years before 2021, but when the pandemic struck he was stuck at home like everyone else and just spent all his time writing new music. He needed a new sound, since he was no longer hurting, and his girlfriend had an interest in Psy-Trance so he started exploring that sound more. He knew he wanted to play little bars in Colorado Springs and decided it would be fun to have top 40 remixes, but done in music he’d actually want to dance to. Colorado is a bass state so he knew he wanted to have trap and dubstep break downs, but with the core of the music being Trance/House/Psy. That's how he came up with his sound.
Hypno Army has since teamed up with Beat Sniper Productions, Subcaste Sound, Prototype, Nova Entertainment and most recently, STFU.
“Always down to help fellow producers and artists. No gate keepers, Only gate crashers. It’s easy for me to be friends with everyone and not have drama because I legit want everyone to succeed. I realize that’s probably a little too idealistic, but when having a good time is the goal, it’s hard not to win. I figure if I am having a good time, my audience is also going to have a good time. It’s just music... People to me will always be more important than music or money. I like to think of myself more as a fashionista than a DJ or Producer. I do it all for the love. I’m nothing to look at, but I am told I have great style. Jnco, Kikwear, and UFO were always a big part of my look when I was a teenager and now that I am back in an EDM environment it’s nice to get back to something that I have always loved. Psychedelic fashion and art is truly where my heart is. I’ve done so many extremes in the studio musically, so it’s fun to be able to apply some of those same ideas to fashion. I do a little video editing and graphic design, some lighting work with DMX, and I like to prepare meals when I find time. ”
Currently, Takaya is working on projects for Latin House artist Amanacer, K-Pop Extended mixes for *K-Drama* Extended Electro House remixes for his latest project Swing Viper. Lots of new projects and some coming back to some old ones.