Troll aka Brian Arnberg, began DJ’ing in 1989 after being exposed to 80’s alternative, synth-pop, industrial, new beat, and acid-house music. Troll is the first Drum and Bass (DnB, Jungle, Breakbeat, Darkcore) DJ in Cincinnati and a pioneer in the United States DnB movement. As an underground staple to the Midwest rave movement, Troll has played all over the U.S. and has held residencies in clubs
such as DV8, Elevation, The Warehouse, Clique, and The Drinkery. Known for his quick and precise mixing skills, his sets typically incorporate an eclectic mix of the many styles of DnB to get a dance floor pumping and the bass bins pounding. In the beginning, Troll explored the early rave sounds at various nightclubs and Culture 7 Records. Soon after, he began incorporating a lot more of the faster tempo, break beats and sped up vocals into his sets—a style that was later termed as UK breakbeat and hardcore until DnB became a genre in it’s own right. In 1990, Troll got his first taste of turn-tablism from Mike Bollinger and his Uncle Phil, whose uncle owned the 80’s underground dance club “The Clubhous/The Metro.” Veteran DJ’s Mindcandy, Daisy and Will-B-There who were rockin’ the early club and rave circuit, gave Troll lots of support and the inspiration to push his sound further. In 1992, Jason Brooks (DJ Nauti-Groove) offered the moniker “Troll” to Brian (known then as Kid Tekno) because of the unique dark-side DnB he was playing. In 1992 – 1994, Brian with a few friends hosted a series of events in the Cincinnati area such as “Optic Fusion,” the “Phase” series, and the “Positive Vibes” series. It was at one of these parties where Troll met
In late 1994, Brian met Ria Matlib (DJ Mowgli). Ria at the time was highly motivated by the Jungle sound and in 1995, the two of them agreed on an arrangement; Mowgli would MC for Troll, and in return, Troll would teach Mowgli how to spin. Soon after, Troll taught DJ Braidey how to mix records and Cincinnati now had a crew of DnB DJ’s to play the many rave parties across the country. Troll was a founding member of the legendary CBS (Cincinnati Bomb Squad) along with other founding members Damon (San Diego), Mowgli, and Xian. Other great talent joined CBS later including Melloman, Perry Ellis, Braidey, J-Cru, and Sunmiazaki. Troll worked at Clubhead Records (Cincinnati) as the DnB specialist and was in constant rotation for many events the store owner and legendary rave promoter, DJ Bob A Dob, threw around the city. In 1997, Troll and Mowgli teamed up with Bob-A-Dob to form the first DnB weekly event called “Rinse Cycle.” Rinse Cycle hosted many out of town artists such as A-Sides, Dieselboy, Danny the Wildchild, Sine, and Titonton. A year later, Troll and Mowgli set up another weekly DnB night titled “Sweat” after Troll had been a resident DJ at Club DV8. Afterwards, Sweat was a name they continued to use at various club whenever they played DnB. Year 2000 sparked a great collaborative effort with many other DnB artists for a new weekly event titled “Gravitybass” where Troll was one of the residents. Other regular performers were K-Frey, Jeremiah, Spahn, Twilightsleep (a 5 piece live DnB band) along with MC’s Firecat, TNT, and Batre’. For many years, “Gravitybass” has hosted many distinguished artists such as Total Science, DJ Lee, Embee, Facs, and MK2. In 2005, Troll became a resident at Clique Lounge, continuing the “Sweat” DnB night series. He also deejayed a retro new-wave/synth-pop night with Jay Downs and Will Benson (Will-B-There) titled “BackBeat,” a name associated with a former nightclub “Cooters.”
In 2013, Troll along with some good friends started another retro-alternative night called "Retro Metro." This later changed to "Beat Faction" in 2015 and is now currently the longest retro-alternative club night in Cincinnati. For the last 25 years, Troll spends his daytime hours as a creative in the design and advertising industry. He has created cover art for Fuze Recordings out of London, which is ran by the highly respected DJ, Producer and label owner “A-Sides.” He has also produced some original DnB with MK2 (Nashville) and Terry D (Cincinnati). He also creates most of the marketing materials for the club nights he hosts. Troll has put out many mix tapes/cd’s over the years. Some of his early recordings reflect his early synth-pop, house and hardcore/breakbeat roots. His more recent mix compilations reflect the different flavors of DnB. Some of his sets can be found online at mixcloud.com/brian-arnberg or soundcloud.com/brian-arnberg. You can catch him the last Saturday of every month for facebook.com/BeatFactionClub at Mixwells (Northside) in Cincinnati where he plays the music that inspired him to dj and at special events playing the underground sounds of DnB.
