Ca$h Bandicoot

Paco Mejino aka Ca$h Bandicoot might be the most affiliated producer/DJ in the Seattle area. Growing up as the youngest of five children, his parents always had music playing in the home and he constantly was looking up to his siblings and their different, unique tastes in everything from music and media to personal interests. Paco was fascinated by people and their subcultures from an early age, learning along the way what influenced each particular group, setting them apart and what made them intriguing in the first place. He started playing guitar and dabbled with making rap instrumentals before he fully took on producing electronic music.

What sets Paco apart from everyone else, is his ability to transcend all genres of music, blending each individual track in a fashionable manner to keep the crowd engaged and moving around. This includes original production and music that he has flipped or reworked, creating a new and fun dance atmosphere that also remains relevant and familiar. He started DJing house parties and gradually worked his way into playing clubs and venues, generating acclaimed hype every time he performed. See the Seattle Weekly writeup, Peep game below and follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat: @pmtrill

“I saw DJing as a way to perform my music with a bit less pressure since I’m mixing it with any tracks that I enjoy. There are enough people here in Seattle that are willing to listen and dance to music that is not Top 40 and on the flip side if I do ever play a popular radio hit , people can still have fun and get into it. In the grand scheme I would like to see even more people willing to let loose and dance out here.” - Wearefamous

Despite the name of that dumb Tom Hanks movie, Seattle’s a fairly sleepy city. We drink lots of coffee, then smoke weed, then drink more coffee to counteract the weed. Music from here tends to reflect that languid, cloudy vibe—everyone makes drone, dark techno, dream pop, slacker punk, or cosmic, laid-back hip-hop. Music for reclining and ruminating, maybe doing yoga, or, at most, swaying.



The first time I heard a HEAT Records track, Xxsory’s remix of Tampa rap diva Thast’s “Stop Hatin’,” I woke the hell up. The Seattle-based party night and label, founded by local club producer Korma at the end of 2015, has spent this year releasing tracks and remixes from underground local producers that run in the complete opposite direction of the familiar Northwest palette. These are sonic 5-Hour Energy shots—thunderous, banging body music that grabs your ass and hoists it in the air for you. But it’s ass music with a brain. HEAT’s built its identity on piston-like, cyborg percussion and wild, lithe rhythms that gyrate far, far away from your typical 4/4 fare. Guaranteed, HEAT tracks always pack plenty of bite.

“From my perspective, the HEAT releases are following a trend of heavy sampling, metallic sounds, damp and extra-wet FX, short reverbs, and lots of compression,” HEAT producer Ca$h Bandicoot tells me. “Weirdly enough, I think what binds all of HEAT’s artists together is that we each gravitate toward current mainstream rap and perhaps this popular gothic, Atlanta-style wave.”



Ca$h Bandicoot, aka Paco Mejino, has been DJing around Seattle for two years playing and producing Baltimore-, UK-, and Jersey-influenced club tracks, and in that time he’s also released one of HEAT’s standout records—the gloriously sleazy nocturnal workout of “All Night” from HEAT003. Mejino takes the lead again on the upcoming HEAT005 with “Bells,” an excellent track he collaborated on with Portland-via-Atlanta producer Xemnas (who also takes his name from a PlayStation character) after the two discovered each other via SoundCloud algorithms. The eerie tune kicks off with that trademark industrial clangor before the atmosphere breaks loose into a mutant party beat—something you might hear bellowing out of a haunted factory. Part of the fun of a HEAT record is listening to the lead track, then hearing that tune get broken down and reconstructed in the four or five remixes that follow—a treatment Mejino made global on “Bells.”

“I was really stoked to have reached out to artists from Sydney, London, Mexico City, and Atlanta [on HEAT005] and still retain the HEAT aesthetic,” Mejino says. “For me it’s an incredibly dope thought that our sound can be heard in major cities that I’ve never stepped foot in before.” HEAT 005 release party. Vermillion, 1508 11th Ave., 709-9797, vermillion seattle.com. Free. 21 and over. 9 p.m.–2 a.m. Sat., Sept. 10. - Seattle Weekly

Seattle DJ/producer Ca$h Bandicoot (real name Paco Mejino) has become a fixture on the local club scene over the last couple years, quickly emerging as a stand-out artist with his high-energy, party-starting, forward-looking sound. Deftly blending elements of Jersey and B’more Club with an ear for Ghetto house and cutting-edge global rhythms, his original productions, remixes, and blends have been turning heads and moving bodies both locally and overseas. He’s currently in steady rotation behind the decks as a resident of the progressive weekly club nights FWD (Wednesdays at Q) and Jet (Fridays at Barboza), and he’s also part of the blossoming BuildStrong team alongside fellow PNW artists Manatee Commune and Cuff Lynx. His exclusive guest DJ mix for Midnight in a Perfect World is a thrilling display of his kinetic and upfront style, as he seamlessly storms through 30+ underground tracks, sprinkling in a few of his own edits and productions along the way. - KEXP