UMEK: Artists from the East don't get as much support as they deserve

Ahead of his chocker Ibiza summer and worldwide touring season, we had the chance to catch up with one of the most hardworking men in techno.. UMEK.

UMEK - Behind The Iron Curtain Episode 104

How did you get into electronic music?

I’m not sure if your readers will really get this as this happened in a country that had just abandoned the 45 years long communist regime in the beginning of the 90's...

Try to imagine how would it be living in the country without normal event managements, modern radios and other mass media buildings no support for the concert and party scene, no decent record shops and no pop culture magazines. There was no Internet, satellite TV and radio was rare, and we had just abandoned a system in which the state controlled everything!

In the beginning the electronic music scene in Slovenia was literally non-existent. In the early 90's I discovered a show called Cool Nights, hosted by Aldo Ivancic, MC Brane and Primoz Pecovnik on the student union operated Radio Student. They played all kind of electronic music, from trance, rave, techno, and even some really dark stuff and soon after that they started their nights in the students union club K4. I became regular and after a while I got introduced to artists such as Jure Havlicek (Anna Lies, Moob, Sare Muratore, now the indie-disco scene's Sare Havlicek) who invited me into his studio and show me how their music was made.

I began making my first steps as a producer with two of my colleagues, using an 8-bit Screen Tracker with 4 mono channels and we sampled our sound from the tracks recorded from the radio on the tape cassettes. It was far from being professional but we spent all our time doing music. When Jure showed me the Roland 808 and 909 I knew that this was exactly what I wanted to do in my life!

As there was no copyright legislature in Slovenia at the time I started selling pirate cassettes for a local pirate record label with my friends and soon gathered enough money to buy first proper sampler.

What were your early influences?

The greatest influence for me as a DJ and producer now are clubs and the energy on the dance floor. In terms of artists who influenced my career choices there are some who deserve to be mentioned and they influenced me each in he’s own way. Todd Terry produced Royal House’s Can You Party was the record that really got me into house and electronic dance music at the first place.

Westbam was the leader of German techno movement in the early 90’s, so for me it is the symbol of music and movement that had a strong influence on me as a young person, moving me from sports into the music. I used to play everything with a good beat, regardless of genre, but later I decided to focus only on techno because of Surgeon and the rest of Birmingham crew. As a deejay I found a lot of inspiration watching Jeff Mills doing his mixing, Carl Cox was the #1 master of building energy on the dance floor. It was really amazing watching this guys mixing records on three decks at the same time. Claude Young was also an inspiration. I’ve always adored DJs that were not afraid fiddling with knobs and switches. I’ve learned that every piece of equipment you are using is there to be exploited to the limits!

How do you think growing up in Yugoslavia, later Slovenia has had an influence on your approach to music, if at all?

Mostly in the way we had to be more inventive, as we were always limited with resources. From all the communist countries, Slovenia was the most open to the West, but it was still very communist. There was a censorship in politically controlled daily media as well as in literature, music and wider art scene. We had pop culture, but it was totally different.

Even though hippy, punk and other alternative movements were seen as alien obstacles in Yugoslavia, they did influence the art, which was dominated by realistic themes and expressions. In the west the electronic dance scene evolved out of punk and 80's new wave, and the artists were also adapting new instruments and artistic expressions – but in our case the barriers of the alternative flag were really anti-establishment and they were also a strong force in the anti-communist movement, which became very influential in the music scene. 

I got involved in the music scene in the early 90’s, as a teenager, soon after the Yugoslavia disintegrated and Slovenia gained independency. Myself and the whole electronic music scene were determined by the communist past to build the scene from a scratch and learn to produce music of our own.

We made all the mistakes because we weren't in the position to learn from others, but that made us unique as we developed our own sound from those mistakes. Breaking trough on the international DJ scene was especially hard for me as I could not get decent gigs in Germany and other countries even when I already released dozen of good records on top international techno labels. This is still problem for most of the artists form the Eastern Bloc as the global music business and media is run by big western companies. That’s why I’m trying to push some regional talents so hard through my performances, label 1605 and Behind The Iron Curtain Radio Show (listen above). Artists from the east still don’t get as much support as they’d deserve just because they’re living and working in the east.

With your production style being so varied, what do you think it is that makes each track an UMEK track? What is your signature sound?

I change the production processes, tools, concepts and everything when creating new music, then as I do the final mixing and mastering, I add my fingerprint, like a baseline or bass drum to each and every track. A trained ear can also spot that distinctive balance between rhythmic sounds, hi-hats, synths and other elements so typical with my tracks. It is something that comes from within an artist - everybody creates his own groove based on what he feels, that’s very personal and that’s a fingerprint signature that’s hard to change.

What can we look forward to with your forthcoming appearance at Egg, London? How do you find the British audience?

I’ve always enjoyed playing in the UK, London and especially at the Egg, where I’ve been recently with my 1605 brand events. The vibe of these parties is amazing! The audience is very supportive and they like what we do just as much as we like playing for them. People dance, they scream, wave hands in the air and there’s a real madness on the dance floor! It doesn’t get much better than watching and navigating that club riot.

UMEK @ EDC Las Vegas 2013

You’ve just got back from EDC Las Vegas. How was that?

The whole American tour was amazing. Each new tour is better than the last one. It was another great experience at the EDC where I’ve become a regular act. The new thing is that Insomniac are now introducing me on the main stages of their festivals. This year I was moving the central arena and it was a challenge that I’m always willing to accept as it’s not business as usual. I have to approach it really smartly so as not to alienate the crowdm, who are not necessarily into the music I play, but not to lose my artistic integrity at the same time. 

Tell us about your upcoming Ibiza appearances with Carl Cox.

I’m coming back as a supporting act at Carl’s Revolution events at Space, which are, at least in my opinion, one the best on the island. I’m not saying that just because I play there - that was my opinion even before I was invited there, and I ’ve been to all the clubs on the island!

So what makes it different?

I’ve been supporting Carl for couple of years now and we’re doing four gigs this season. Playing music to his crowd, especially the one at the Space, is always a privilege as that’s the best audience a techno or tech-house DJ could imagine. They fill that huge club in a matter of minutes, after half an hour the door open the floor is packed and energy is such as on the peak of the night in most of the clubs.  It’s going to be my busiest Ibiza season so far as I’ve already performed at the opening of Jag Beach Club and Pacha in May and June, and I’ll be in Privilege on July 18th as well as at another club as a guest later this season.

Do you approach DJing in Ibiza differently to elsewhere?

No, not really. I play more or less the same way everywhere I’m invited, be it in Europe, States, Suoth America or Asia. The only thing is that I maybe pace up the set by one or two more BPMs when I’m playing big festivals and throw in couple of more big tunes from the 1605 catalogue.

UMEK & Groovebox - Cause and Effect

What stuff are you listening to at the moment? Are there any producers that have really caught your attention?

I’m playing a lot of stuff from Mike Vale, Groovebox, DJ Frontier and of course Siwell. These are the ones to watch right now. Hopefully management at the Egg will agree to have them at future 1605 parties, as they are fantastic all-around artists, DJs and producers.

Top 5 tunes currently?

1. Umek & Groovebox – Cause and Effect
2. Ant Brooks – Gatago
3. Max Bett & Tesla – Bassline
4. Vlada Asanin – Gangsta Shit
5. George Privatti – Dangerous Road

Finally, if you weren’t a producer/DJ, what do you think would you be!?

Right now probably already a retired basketball player with couple of champion rings on my fingers..

Thank you UMEK!

Find out where UMEK is performing here

Head here for Space Ibiza tickets