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.

My new Album 'SEROTONIN' is out now: https://armada.lnk.to/Serotonin

Subsurface out now: https://found.ee/matzo_subsurface

Grammy nominated music maker, mixer and founder of @madzoomusic
llewis@littleempiremusic.com

Being one of the most in-demand Techno DJs of our times, Ben Klock needs little introduction. His name has been closely associated with Berlin’s legendary club Berghain since 2005. His monthly residency has formed the backdrop to his international success, providing an invaluable platform for his ability to create a room rather than just play to it.

Much of his early career was marked by marathon sets – a signature that played a considerable role in nurturing his skills and reputation – but even the more compressed sets he shares today evidence an intricate narrative and sense of flow that defines him as a DJ. It was these inherent abilities that led him to compile the fabric 66 compilation in 2012, before winning the BBC Radio 1’s Essential Mix of the Year award in 2015.

His releases on Ostgut Ton have become landmarks in the imprint’s history. 2009’s “Dawning”, the first of his collaborations with Marcel Dettmann kickstarted the label itself and remains a stand-out track in its discography. Another release of particular note is the Before One EP including “Subzero”, which many techno lovers still refer to as their gateway track into the whole genre itself. For many, however, it is his album One (2009) that best captures Klock’s talents as a producer. His skills as a remixer have also seen him rework tracks by a wide variety of artists, including Kerri Chandler, Depeche Mode, Robert Hood and Kenny Larkin.

Additionally, Klock curates with great passion his own label Klockworks, founded in 2006. With releases from DVS1, Stef Mendesidis, The Advent, Sterac, Etapp Kyle, Temudo and many more Klockworks became a synonym for unique, high quality Techno.

In 2017 Ben started his own event series PHOTON which is a unique concept show that blends light, architecture and music. Since then he toured PHOTON at special venues in major cities around the world such as Printworks (London), Gashouder (Amsterdam), Arca (Sao Paolo), to name a few. It quickly became a new standard for audio visual electronic music events. In 2023 the project returns after a pandemic induced break with a brand new visual and artistic concept.

Dj Howie Choe is following