John Juan Mendez (August 14, 1977 – January 18, 2024), who recorded as Silent Servant, was an American

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

DJ and music producer. Mendez was a member of the groups Sandwell District and Tropic of Cancer.

Early life

Mendez was born on August 14, 1977 in

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

. His parents, and older brother, Eddy Mendez, moved to the United States when Mendez was two years old. He was raised in

Westminster, California Westminster is a city in western Orange County, California, United States. Westminster was founded in 1870 by Rev. Lemuel Webber as a Presbyterian Temperance movement, temperance colony and was incorporated in 1957. Westminster is bordered by ...

and attended

Pasadena City College Pasadena City College (PCC) is a Public college, public community college in Pasadena, California. It was founded in 1924 as Pasadena Junior College. History Pasadena City College was founded in 1924 as Pasadena Junior College. It originally o ...

. Mendez grew up listening to

The Smiths The Smiths were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1982, composed of Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (musician), Mike Joyce (drums). Morrissey and Marr formed the band's songwrit ...

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

, New Order, My Bloody Valentine and

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (lead guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (rhythm guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of ...

. He started DJing at the age of 16.

Career

Mendez was a pioneer in the underground techno music scene of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. In 1999, he made contact with

Regis Regis or Régis may refer to: People * Regis (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Regis (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Regis (musician), full name Karl O'Connor, an English ...

, the founder of the

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

-based Downwards Records label, becoming a member of Regis's Sandwell District collective, with whom he released a series of singles throughout the 2000s. Mendez additionally acted as Sandwell District's art director. Mendez began releasing music as Silent Servant in 2006 with his ''The Silent Morning'' 12". Over the last two decades he released several singles, EPs, collaborative projects and also two full-length solo albums, 2012's ''Negative Fascination'' and 2018's ''Shadows of Death and Desire'', both on

Hospital Productions Hospital Productions is an American record label founded in 1998 by Dominick Fernow Ian Dominick Fernow is an American experimental musician, poet and multimedia artist. He is best known for extreme music released under the stage name Prurient, ...

. As Silent Servant, he remixed songs by artists including Daniel Avery,

Battles A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

, Boy Harsher, Drab Majesty,

JK Flesh JK Flesh is a moniker of English musician Justin Broadrick employed for his solo work within electronic music. Broadrick's usage of the title spans back to his work in the 1990s with Kevin Martin (British musician), Kevin Martin in Techno Anima ...

and Liars. Mendez was also credited with packaging and design on Drab Majesty's second studio album '' Modern Mirror''. In November 2023, he issued his last record, ''In Memoriam'', via Tresor Records. Mendez also formed the project Tropic of Cancer in 2007 with his then-wife Camella Lobo. The duo's first release was "The Dull Age / Victims" ten-inch single in 2009. Mendez left the group in 2011. Lobo said that Mendez was busy with other projects and she wanted to work on her own. After Sandwell District disbanded in 2011, Mendez formed the Jealous God label with Regis and James Ruskin in 2013. Jealous God focused primarily on EBM, industrial and

music. On July 27, 2016, Mendez announced that Jealous God would cease operations.

Death

Mendez died on January 18, 2024, alongside his partner Simone Ling and Luis Vasquez ( The Soft Moon), from fentanyl poisoning, while consuming cocaine, thought to be pure. Their three bodies were discovered at Mendez's Los Angeles residence after Vasquez's wife called for a welfare check.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silent Servant 1977 births 2024 deaths American techno musicians American people of Guatemalan descent Drug-related deaths in California Musicians from Los Angeles