Click Play Now on BlackGummy’s Exclusive Escape: Psycho Circus 2017 Mix

SoundFX: crickets, wolves, and owls can be heard in background.

Escape: Psycho Circus takes no prisoners! Or maybe it does. Permanently! Awwww. Lighten up! It’s all about the good vibes… just sent out through a more mysterious and slightly spookier-than-normal filter. And if there’s one DJ out there who knows how to broadcast the weird and eccentric in ways your brains, bits and bodies can’t resist, it’s Los Angeles’ own BlackGummy. The consensus on his Escape outing last year was simply: CRAZYPANTS. This year could even be: CRAZYFACE. Where do such ratings come from? Psycho Circus? Helllooooo.

“I’m really looking forward to returning to Escape this year and sharing all this new music with everyone,” he tells Insomniac. “Last year’s stage was incredible—can’t imagine what you guys are building this year. It’s going to be an unforgettable Halloween, and I couldn’t be more happy that I’ll be spending it with the Insomniac family.”

As far as tantalizingly dark backstories, there are few that can hold a candle—or a magic wand—to Iman Marouf (BG). Legend has it that on a 2013 journey through some of the darker, dustier corners of the Middle East and Asia, where traces of ageless magics are said to linger, the L.A.-based producer and DJ stumbled upon the now-infamous “black bear idol.” According to Marouf, the quest to convey the idol’s very consciousness to listeners is what informs nearly all of the artist’s music. “In perpetuum, in omnibus locis. In omni loco, in omni tempore” is the Latin phrase that graces Blackgummy’s SoundCloud page. Simply translated: “Forever in all places, everywhere at all times.” Yeesch! “The bear is very dark, ominous, and borderline creepy, and this quote reflects the bear’s menacing vibe,” asserts Marouf. Nooo. Not creepy at all!

At the very (very) least, it’s an intriguing mystery.

Which side of the debate fence you land on is completely up to you. Is what you’ll hear at Escape the product of Marouf’s channeling an ancient, black bear-shaped totem of power left behind by some former inhabitant of the planet—be they alien astronauts, arcade adepts, or simply our ancient ancestors? Or simply a very talented young producer with a knack for touching on the inventive to inform the imagination? This, dear reader, is for you to decide. But in anticipation of BlackGummy’s return to Escape, check out this hot-off-the-deck churn-up mix-down of heavy-duty progressive house in a head-on-collision with the whirling techno tendrils of BG’s neo-industrial sensibilities.

Catch BlackGummy doing his thing at Escape: Psycho Circus 2017, which takes place Friday, October 27, and Saturday, October 28, at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino, CA. For more information, visit the official website.