Royal Sapien

Royal Sapien is New York City-based producer and DJ, Ben Mautner.
Originally hailing from Cincinnati, Ben quickly embraced the midwest rave community and began DJing at age 12. By 14, he was spinning at parties and organizing events of his own.
The Royal Sapien nom de musique came about in 2002 when Ben started focusing intently on producing dance music. Making tunes specifically for his own DJ sets, the earliest club-friendly songs were bootlegs layering classics like CeCe Penniston's "Finally" over Olav Basoski's "Opium Scumbagz," (as played by Olav Basoski!) and Tori Amos's "Caught A Light Sneeze" over Hybrid's remix of BT's "Godspeed." One such mashup, Kosheen's "Catch" over Ferry Corsten's "Punk" was actually picked up by a label and released as a very limited edition record, selling out almost instantly. Another bootleg breaks remix of Iio's Rapture caught the attention of a Florida-based label who also issued a very limited edition bootleg that reached #1 on Satellite Records' breaks chart.
Royal Sapien moved on to more high profile remixes for the likes of Oxyd Records in Italy. The remixes of Salt Pervert's "5am Soho" reached #1 on the DMC Buzz Chart. Now, five albums and over three hundred productions later, he is planning dozens more releases on Olaris Records and a new studio album. Royal Sapien is also on Fade Records in New York, recently releasing special edition remixes for Funk Harmony Park's "My Truth," which have been lauded around the globe as "an emotion-laden chunk of beauty" and "stunning." The Back Room mix was the most requested song of the week for three weeks in a row on Santa Monica's mega-station KCRW.
Royal Sapien mixed the new Fade Records compilation Audio Tour 2 with Chris Fortier, a retrospective of Fade and sister label FDS, released to critical acclaim in May 2007 and garnering five dancing men from DMC Update. As of 2007, Royal Sapien productions are being played around the world by Chris Fortier, Jimmy Van M, Hybrid, Hernan Cattaneo, Jondi and Spesh, D:Fuse, Chloe, and dozens of other top-flight DJs. Look for Royal Sapien releases on Olaris, Oxyd, Fade, Proton, Looq, Polytechnic, Elektrotribe, Quarterlife, Arctic Wave, Amalgam Audio, Strater, Bellarine, Airport Route, and many other fine labels.
At the moment Ben is planning DJ dates around the world to spread his unique fusion of all beats electronic. He has been featured on John Digweed's Transitions on Kiss100, the Transitions Podcast, XM Satellite Radio, Sirius Satellite Radio, Proton Radio, Frisky Radio, the Balance Record Pool Show, Global Scum paired with Dave Seaman, and many other broadcasts. He hosts Royal Sounds, a monthly two hour live format show on Proton Radio, in addition to his monthly show Movement on Frisky Radio that explores progressively eclectic sounds. The free Royal Sapien Podcast can be found in the iTunes Music Store.