Bobby Beethoven

Ashland Mines, better known by his latest moniker Bobby Beethoven, is a multidisciplinary artist, musician and lauded veteran of the global club scene with a career now spanning two decades. Formerly known as Total Freedom, Mines has cultivated a reputation as a sonic risk-taker whose work often exists on the fringes of traditional club music.

As a DJ, Mines has performed at international festivals such as Club to Club, Primavera, Sonar, Draaimolen and FFTK in Japan. Mines has been a mainstay at Evian Christ's Trance Party series since it’s inception and regular at major clubs like Fabric London, WWW Tokyo, and Berghain. His practice spans well beyond the conventional, blending art and fashion. His career has focused on collaboration and community building, with his long list of high-profile collaborators including Isa Genzken, Kelela, Jason Moran, Arca, Lizzi Bougatsos and Ryan Trecartin. He has also soundtracked numerous runway presentations from brands like Telfar, Hood By Air, Diesel, Helmut Lang and Mugler. Beyond his live performances, Mines has a notable curatorial and institutional presence. In 2012, he curated the performance series Blasting Voice at Suzanne Geiss Company and in 2016 served as a creative director for the 12-part record project titled Anthem for the 9th Berlin Biennale. His work has been presented at prestigious institutions worldwide, including MoMA, Tate Modern, The Walker, MOCA Los Angeles, The Shed, and the Park Avenue Armory.

„Music is the only good thing humans do. Like all of our other little spells – science, art, the written word – it’s all extractive, destructive, prone to abuse. I don’t understand music technically, but to me it just feels like a magic trick. I was DJing in high school and I’m gonna be a DJ until I’m too old to stand behind the decks and absolutely no one but me wants to hear it. I love all of us here and as goofy as the clown show looks I wouldn’t trade my place in it here with y’all for anything.“ Lampoon Magazine – Interview