What’s 2 m tall, lives Behind the Iron Curtain, has 1605 reasons to run an awesome label, and flies? Meet UMEK, a techno legend from Slovenia.

UMEK is personally responsible for kickstarting the electronic music scene in his home country by first organizing illegal raves and then becoming one of Slovenia’s most wanted export products and the number one music ambassador to the whole world.

And he does fly! Around 100 times per year, visiting almost every continent each year. His gig diary ranges from dark underground clubs in Berlin to massive techno stages at the world’s most renowned festivals. 

Apart from making his name in the DJ booth, he’s also a tireless producer. He mostly releases on his own imprint 1605, and most of his tracks end up on the very top of Beatport’s charts. After more than 25 years as a professional musician, he decided to use his experience and skills in the entrepreneurial world. Together with his managers, he founded a music-tech startup Viberate (www.viberate.com), where they are building the world’s greatest music platform.

At midnight, on March 13th 1991, a basement door opened at Leipziger Strasse 126, Berlin. Through this door, many passed, on their way to defining new terrains in electronic music. There they found a dance floor in the vaults of a closed-down department store, with a unique sound bound to dense fog, building night after night a history that was also a vision of the future. 

This history has seen in Jeff Mills’ first sets on three turntables, Underground Resistance's first live appearances in Europe, grandiose Tresor Park parties, to various chapters of the Loveparade with Sven Väth in the 90s and since then countless generation-spanning parties. These moments represent the highlights of infinite personal clubbing experiences. It is the manifestation of the Berlin spirit, emerging from its considerable strife. This history is not without its complications - from temporary closure by the authorities and several raids in the early years to closure and demolition of the old location in 2005. What followed was years of wandering in exile and, finally, resurrection in the new home in Kraftwerk Berlin.

These stories, conversations and shared experiences within our walls forge a resilience that drives towards a shared ideal, the Tresor sound: community, resistance, and the world to come. This was observed in the newly re-unified German youth, who danced and celebrated together from the club’s inception, and into the present day through ongoing community work in Detroit. 

Tresor Records was founded in the same year and began to serve as a platform for exporting the new sounds associated with Tresor all around the world. Emergent musicians from Michigan, such as Juan Atkins, Underground Resistance and Drexciya, were pivotal in shaping these early years. Their visits to Berlin would kick-start dialogue between the youth movement in Europe and these musicians. This story is one of friendship and community-building, inextricably linked with cities like Detroit, Birmingham or Edinburgh, where like-minded friends built something truly special, where revelatory rhythms soundtrack decaying industry in corrupted metropoles. 

Tresor Records has been the fertile soil for dozens upon dozens of creative minds, from the very luminaries of the scene who developed electronic music over the last three decades through to contemporary protagonists who are currently defining the sound of the future -  A more than 300 strong catalogue displays an unmistakable identity - the Tresor spirit.

To those that have danced before, and to those that will dance in the future: the light at the end of the long Tresor tunnel is a signal. A flicker amidst the fog. This is our future. This is our place.

BOOKING REQUESTS
World: heike@familyaffairs.de

https://linktr.ee/torstenkanzler

Torsten Kanzler stands for impulsive and powerful techno. Like a chief engineer he operates his set and takes the crowd into a universe of mind-blowing drum-arrangements, creaking synths and warm growling basslines, using „Maschine“ of Native Instrument, two Allen & Heath Xone K2, and an iPad. His direct interaction combined with a spontaneous set with up to four decks spinning make his sets a true happening.
His gigs in all the high places around the globe stand for powerful and profound techno as well as his numerous productions, which make their way into well-known international acts' record bags. Numerous releases on in-demand labels or his own with passion run imprint TKR stand on their own and reflect his obsession and love for techno. Whether as a DJ, producer, or remixer Torsten Kanzler lives techno.

https://linktr.ee/zahnilive

Tief im Erzgebirge befindet sich nicht nur die ehemalige Karl-Marx Stadt, heute allgemein bekannt als
Chemnitz, sondern auch viel musikalisches Machwerk, sogenanntes Talent oder wohl eher schon
eine gereifte Marke!
Quasi ein fundamentales Evergreen, wenn man an hiesige Technofloors denkt.

Die Rede ist hier natürlich von ZAHNI!
Das deftige Chemnitzer Urgestein hat sich bisweilen in den Riegen des großen Live-Actings eingefunden
und mischt gewaltig die mitteldeutschen Hardtechno Areale auf.
Alex absolviert dabei nicht nur harte Solo-Marathons, sondern gibt regelmäßig auch noch Live-Shows in Combo mit niemandem geringeren als Schrempf
(bekannt durch Hanson & Schrempf).

Musik im Wandel! Zahni's brachiale Sets erreichen immer mehr die Republik, ob Nature One, Syndicate,Ruhr in Love oder regionale Über-Events wie die wohl
bekannten Partys im Mirage Ballenstedt oder allerlei im Leipziger Raum - kaum ein Event lässt Ihn auf dem Flyer vermissen.

Man macht sich halt, Alex hat definitiv überzeugt, mit der Zeit entstand eine immense Fan-Crowd.
Dein Beat in Gottes Ohr, Zahni hat es definitiv geschafft, manche fragen sich wo das noch hinführen soll -
Die Antwort liefert ein Blick in die Dateliste des Strezzkidz'. Sputnik Springbreak und Sonne Mond & Sterne sind nur 2 Stationen von vielen in diesem Kalenderjahr.

Auf Auf, immer heiter weiter!
Zahni lebt das, was er predigt: "wir können hier nicht anhalten".
Somit weis jeder wo die Reise hingeht - definitiv hoch hinaus!

WE MAKE STREZZ!!!

German/Deutsch
Life is live - Das Life von Alex ist im Moment mehr als nur live, denn Alex alias Zahni, ein 27 jähriger Hardtekk LiveAct aus Chemnitz, ist nicht nur einer von vielen Acts im Moment, sondern lebt genau die Vision die viele andere anstreben. Durch seine starken Live-Performances hat er sich innerhalb kürzester Zeit weit über die Landesgrenzen hinaus einen von den gängigen Techno Line-Ups nicht mehr wegzudenkenden Namen erspielt. checked seine Dates und achtet vor allem auf die dicken VS-Gigs mit Hanson-Gegenstück - Schrempf.Dass man „Zahni“ nicht mit dem Hardstyle-Act „Zany“ verwechselt, dafür sorgt schon sein Sound: Der Bass tritt jedem Tanzmuffel in den Hintern und die Snares schmerzen wie Peitschenhiebe, während man Melodien mit der Lupe sucht. Zahni live – das ist dieser typische nach Osten schmeckende Hardtekk der Marke Strezzkidz. Jenem Techno-Imperium aus den neuen Bundesländern.
Als Aushängeschild der Strezzkidz-Agentur wird Zahni auch weiterhin dafür sorgen, dass jeder auf dem Floor die Beine schwingt, hier bleibt keine Zeit für Kompromisse.
2010 spielte Zahni über 130 Gigs, 2011 sogar über 150, und als wenn dem nicht schon genug wäre ist das aktuelle Jahr schon fast ausgebucht!

World/English:
The live-act from Chemnitz is one of the most demanded acts of 2011 so far. His agenda of 2011 was totally packed with bookings at parties all over Europe. As a member of the Strezzkidz-clan, Alex has built up a “no compromises”-reputation. Another hardtechno artist that makes the step from Ruhr-in-Love to the huge Westfalenhallen: a new SYNDICATE hero!

Track Promos & Submission
Got a cool new track and wanna premiere it? Send it to us at:
trockensaftmusic@gmail.com

eMGee Sets is following