UMEK

Four channels behind the iron curtain

When Eastern European techno was still being written in illegal raves and vinyl crates, UMEK was already mixing on four channels and turning Ljubljana into a hub for the international dance floor. Since 1993, at seventeen years old, he pushed the Slovenian electronic scene from the underground to the big stages, with a fast mix, aggressive phrasing, and a sound that has gone from raw techno to tech house and back to peak time darkness.

1605, Recycled Loops and the label as a weapon

In 1995 he launched Veto Records together with DJ Primus and Boštjan Marušič; a year later Absense was born, with a hard techno style. In 1999 he founded Consumer Recreation —also with Marušič— and Recycled Loops with Valentino Kanzyani, from which Earresistible Musick emerged in 2001. Astrodisco appeared in 2006 and, in 2007, 1605 (Sixteenofive), the most far-reaching label of his career: his own A&R, a massive digital catalog and, later, GrooveSector, a sub-label dedicated to hardgroove. Tracks like Gatex, Lanicor, Cryptic Speech, Vibrancy or Predator have become anthems of his catalog; in 2010 he signed two number ones on Beatport —OMGWTF and Back In the Race— and the album Responding To Dynamic.

From the DJ Mag list to the return to darkness

Between 2006 and 2015 he remained in the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs, reaching 29th place in 2007. That same year he signed an Essential Mix on BBC Radio 1. The weekly show Behind The Iron Curtain, launched in 2011, has been broadcast on more than 130 stations. The 2012-2015 cycle took him to more commercial waters —Spinnin' Records, Ultra, Toolroom—, with Tomorrowland and the main stage of Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas in 2013. In 2015 he cut that phase short: he recovered the darkest techno, reactivated the electro alias Zeta Reticula and concentrated releases on 1605. The awards backed him up: best techno artist at the 2010 Beatport Music Awards, best techno DJ at the 2013 EMPO and several International Dance Music Awards, including best techno/tech house artist in 2014.

Viberate, LabelRadar and the 1605 machine

In 2016 he co-founded Viberate, a music analytics platform, and published the Techno Masterclass with Umek course with Toolroom. On December 21, 2018, he celebrated twenty-five years of his career with a sold-out event in Ljubljana, with messages from Carl Cox and Slovenian President Borut Pahor. Every May 16 he organizes Dan Elektronike; in August, the charity event Party with a Cause. Today he continues to release on 1605 —including the GrooveSector axis—, maintains a touring pace between Berlin clubs and festivals like Creamfields, Awakenings or Ultra, and operates the label as a data and talent machine, now also with LabelRadar for demo submissions.