by RAF KATIGBAK

For New York's DJ Nikadeemas, "been there, done that" is more than just a cheeky T-shirt slogan. It's his life. From his involvement in the early '90s Portland rave scene to his instrumental role pushing, promoting and playing hardcore techno and experimental music as a buyer for distributors like Watts and Syntax, this unsung hero of hardcore has seen a lot of shit go down. From fearing for his life at a fire-twirling squat party to seeing guns pulled at events, Nikadeemas has certainly witnessed crazy shit. Ask him to talk about the most fucked up thing he's seen and his mind will flash like a Viewmaster on speed, finally resting on this one surreal snippet:

"It was the day after the first full-on hardcore party in northern California and we were heading into Hunters Point, which was a completely undeveloped major wasteland, to meet up with the investor and take care of some shady shit. The investor had pitbulls running around this freakin' warehouse, shitting all over the place, and it totally reeked of piss.

Being the bitch that I am, when I'm on the road, I refused to wait there, so I told the guys to let me just chill outside until they sort the shit out. I drove down the road to an empty dead-end street with brush and overgrowth all over the place, not a building in sight. I must've waited about 15 minutes when, all of the sudden, this car pulls around the street in plain view and proceeds to drive to the end of the other block. The driver then stops the car, gets out, steps back about 20 feet and tosses a fucking molotov cocktail at the vehicle.

Suddenly another car appears from around the corner, which the guy who dumped the car climbs into, and heads off like a bat outta hell. Then, you guessed it - BOOM! The fuckin' car that was set ablaze explodes. Undoubtedly this left a minor mark on my memory to this day. As to why I witnessed this occurrence in the first place, I do not know, nor ask."

With Manu le Malin, Torgull, Alan Sax, Iznogood and more at the We Are Slaves party on Friday, June 18, $25, info at www.imxrec.com or 440-5143

>> Music Listings