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www.groovekorea.com / February 2014 64 MUsIC & ARTs Edited by Emilee Jennings (emilee@groovekorea.com) F elix Geoff Mena’s journey from serving as a tennis pro in a small city called Surprise to serving as a DJ and member of the U.S. Army near one of the most heavily armed borders in the world has involved a few unconventional career twists along the way. When he’s not fulfilling his military duties, he also produces and up- loads a weekly one-hour podcast called “From the DMZ” that features electronic dance music, trance, progressive house, a “Throwback Song of the Week” from the ’80s or ’90s and a “Chill Out Song of the Week,” as well as his self-produced songs. The cover photos for past episodes of his show, which include scanti- ly clad women, a bass guitar, a gun, bullets, the American flag, a tennis racket and balls, and the Seoul Metropolitan Subway, stand as markers of his eclectic past. Mena is open and candid about his occupations before arriving in Ko- rea, one of which happens to have been an eight-year stint in the adult film industry. There was also a stretch of time when he paid his bills as a tennis pro in Surprise, Ariz., a gig he kept until the following letter from a “concerned parent and Surprise resident” reached his employer: “My friend and I were talking to the tennis pro, Geoff Mena, about lessons, tournaments, etc., for our families. Once we returned home, we decided to Google his name to check his teaching credentials. It was at this time that we discovered that he also is involved in the adult entertainment industry. As a former Marine, I am certainly not a prude, but, after some discussion, Mr. Mena’s other career made us wary of him teaching our wives, daughters and their teenage friends.” Three days later, the city of Surprise fir ed Mena from his position of tennis program coordinator. The termination came as a surprise to Mena, who had told his bosses about his experience in the adult en- tertainment industry before he was even hired. In addition to acting in adult films, he’d hosted two uncensored Internet radio shows, “Recipes for Sex with Chef Jeff” and “What’s Cooking with Chef Jeff.” He’d also designed websites and produced multimedia content for the adult entertainment industry. Feeling no love from the tennis world despite his 12 years in the sport, Mena returned to the world of adult entertainment. He went out with a bang, producing and starring in one more big-budget adult online movie. But when the production wrapped, he hit rock bottom — literally. While drinking beer with a friend at Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery, he says he felt “stagnant, unchallenged, lifeless. I knew I needed a radical change.” One month shy of his 40th birthday, Mena sold all of his belongings and joined the Army. He wanted to reconnect with his values — hard work, passion and motivation — and get “tangible proof” of his integ- rity, the same integrity challenged by that former Marine in the afore- mentioned letter. After completing basic training, Mena was assigned to Fort Lewis, Wash., and then deployed to Camp Buehring in Kuwait. In May 2013, he reported to Camp Casey in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province. While a 44-year-old recent recruit might be able to call himself “an old man in a young man’s game,” as Mena does, the same doesn’t Felix G The G.I. DJ from the DMZ Story by Alejandro Callirgos / Photos courtesy of Felix Geoff Mena