VE/RA is one of techno’s most electrifying new talents, known for her high-energy sets and relentless, driving sound.

Her breakout moment came with Love & Peace, a collaboration with Rocketman that hit #1 on the Beatport Hype Charts and gained support from Charlotte de Witte, Amelie Lens, Adam Beyer, and more. Later on, she made her Drumcode debut with Can’t Get Enough, followed by Hypnotized on Codex, Dance Therapy on Filth On Acid, Shouldn't know on Arcane and No One Else on Exhale. 

On stage, VE/RA has already played at Tomorrowland, EDC Mexico, Mysteryland, Parookaville, R2, Thuishaven, Ritter Butzke, and more.

With an unstoppable drive and a growing catalog of explosive releases, VE/RA is a name to watch in techno.

@slashlabel 
@spielraum-amsterdam resident 

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@OliverHeldens’ HI-LO alias is reserved for his deepest and darkest records. His 2020 tracks ‘Zeus’ & ‘Kronos’, landed in the top 10 of the most supported Techno tracks on 1001tracklists in 2020, which was a contributing factor to Oliver being awarded the coveted spot as the #1 most supported producer platform wide. His releases inspired by the Greek Gods, like ‘Poseidon’, ‘Athena’, ‘Hades’ and more recently ‘Saw of Olympus’ and the ‘Balearic Mornings’ EP with Dutch techno giant Reinier Zonneveld on Filth on Acid, garnered millions of streams and support from all across the Techno scene and beyond, contributing to HI-LO’s #6 best selling Techno spot of the last year on Beatport. With no signs of slowing down in 2021, HI-LO’s delivered a massive remix for Nina Kraviz’ ‘Skyscrapers’ and his debut EP on Drumcode ‘Hypnos’ which includes the title track plus the dance floor stomper ‘Hera’ that seen further support from the likes of Adam Beyer himself, Dubfire, Joseph Capriati, Pan-Pot, Robert Hood, ANNA, Joris Voorn, Nicole Moudaber, Sam Paganini and many more, proving HI-LO is here to stay as a Techno mainstay for the long haul!

https://www.beatport.com/artist/hi-lo/12692
https://www.instagram.com/officialHILO
https://www.soundcloud.com/official-HILO
@HeldeepRecords
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Instagram.com/officialhilo
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Management: contact@anna.dj

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Einmusik, the solo project of Berlin-based producer Samuel Kindermann, is a cornerstone of melodic techno and house music. Born in the late ‘70s, Einmusik’s early influences—spanning Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk, and Drum ‘n’ Bass—shaped his emotive, atmospheric sound. Since his 2003 debut “Weekender,” he has crafted a career defined by intricate melodies and immersive soundscapes, with key releases like “Jittery Heritage” and albums “5 A.M” and “Serenade.”

In 2008, he launched Einmusika Recordings, a Berlin label fostering both new and established artists, solidifying his impact on the scene. Renowned for his dynamic live performances, Einmusik’s recent highlights include his 2019 Cercle stream at Preikestolen, Norway, amassing over 15 million views, his remix of Tinlicker’s “Starchaser” in 2024, and original tracks “Let Me Out” and “Hypnotized,” showcasing his evolving artistry and command of mood-driven techno. With over two decades in the game, he remains a vital figure in electronic music.

No accurate depiction of electronic music culture would be complete without special mention of Deborah De Luca. Widely acknowledged as one of the most prominent flag-bearers for Techno globally and a regular fixture inside the world’s most distinguished DJ booths, Deborah has the unique ability to transfix crowds with her electrically charged, technically nuanced sets, fusing hard techno with minimal grooves and melodic soundscapes to absorbing effect. A pioneer in the use of social networks as a promotional tool, whilst somehow managing to retain a strong sense of discretion in her private life, Deborah is unrivalled in her determination and passion, earning every part of her current status as one of the most exciting talents to emerge from the international Techno scene over the past decade.
Born under the shade of the infamous Vele di Scampia – one of the toughest districts in Naples – the now-globally recognised DJ, producer and label head came from humble beginnings, forging her path to international success against unlikely odds. However this was to become her making. “You shouldn’t let anybody tell you what you can or can’t become”, she expounded in a rare interview, referencing her early livelihood as a nightclub dancer. “It’s true, in recent years I have gained popularity, but I am very grateful for the long journey it’s taken”. More than anything else, Deborah’s roots and her unwavering ethic are an integral part of the flourishing artist we see before us today.
Deborah spent the formative years of her musical career in Northern Italy, following a brief stint at fashion school in Modena. Cutting her teeth on the European club circuit, where she quickly realised music was her true calling, Deborah’s hard work and relentless determination eventually began to pay off and in 2013 she launched her very own imprint Sola_mente Records. Created as a platform by which to release her own music, free from creative pressure and external constraints, the label went from strength to strength and in November 2018, Deborah marked a decade-long career in the industry with the critically acclaimed release of her debut album ‘Ten’. A huge milestone for the Italian producer, ‘Ten’ represented an important rite of passage and a body of work that she would cherish indefinitely.

For Rune Reilly Kölsch, Kompakt has become a great label to call home. In 2013 the German imprint celebrated 20 years of record releases at the cutting edge of electronic music, championed in June by one of the most genre re-defining albums and personal music projects for an era: Kölsch’s landmark long player, ‘1977’.

A melodic autobiography on black wax, the Kölsch project has seen 36/37-year-old Rune take stock of a diverse and successful production career and draw upon his own personal beginnings: a nostalgia for childhood, family, friends and the confusion of applying his split-cultural heritage to what it means to think of ‘home’. As Rune freely admits, “being half Irish, half German and living in Denmark – it was all one big messy period of my life.” 

Born to hippie parents in the freetown of Christiania (a commune-like autonomous borough of the Danish capital Copenhagen) his childhood was spent surrounded by creativity. His mother was an artist whose family had roots in German politics and his father a singer songwriter who travelled through Asia playing music in the early 70's. Kölsch, however, did miss out on building friendships and found solace in making up “this imaginary world that I would spend days in,” before the family moved to Germany – a period of memories, relations and characters from which ‘1977’ derives its titles.

For Rune, the tracks he began building from 2010 took in this personal reflection, his being “completely locked in to reminiscing about what shaped me as a kid and into the individual that I am now” – contemplating his unique past to form the brickwork of ‘1977’, one of the most future-facing techno albums of recent years.

Influenced by hip hop, pop and the incredible legacy of Jeff Mills and Derrick May, Rune started producing in 1995, embarking on a string of success stories. In 2003 he released the multi-million selling, saxophone-infused ‘Calabria’, that saw collaboration requests pouring in from artists as diverse as Nicki Minaj, Shakira and Flo Rida. He then set up Tattoorecs – releasing pioneering underground tracks with no titles, just tattoos for artwork, that garnered critical acclaim and support from minimal and techno trailblazers such as Sven Väth, Richie Hawtin, Magda, Tiefschwarz and Ricardo Villalobos.

This appreciation of the complete musical spectrum has gifted Rune with a devotion to groove and melodics and with it the dexterity to input real creative change to the genres he reveres, not least his beloved techno. “2010 was the year of the ketamine house wave, where the music was 118 bpm and everything was extremely boring”, reflects Rune. “I wanted some melodic techno, some energy back in this scene. People needed the energy to express themselves and go crazy for a bit.”

This notion faced opposition, even from within Rune’s close circles. But it was Kompakt founder Michael Mayer who had the insight to see what Kölsch was trying to achieve. Rune’s conviction that vibrations and melodics are the key to human response had tipped the balance, underlined by his experience as a hip hop DJ where he “needed something to catch me and drag me in. And that’s what techno should do!” Here too he drew on his love of Jeff Mills and Derrick May, recalling how “they used to make mistakes all the time. It would be a big mash of all kinds of stuff, but at least something was happening. That’s what I was missing and that’s what I’m trying to change with the Kölsch project.”

The result is ‘1977’, a personal collection of dancefloor destroyers that are continuing to send clubs and festivals across the globe into melodic supernova. Take this video of Kölsch’s set at Belgium’s I Love Techno festival, one of Rune’s 2013 highlights, where “people were doing sit downs, singing along to all the tracks”. Watch it. It puts the hairs up on the back of your neck. “The response was overwhelming,” said Rune in a recent interview with Mixmag (who named Kölsch as one of their ‘Stars Of 2013’), as “when you think about it, it was just a bunch of childhood memories with a kickdrum underneath.” 

Elsewhere he’s ripped up the airways with an acclaimed Essential Mix for Pete Tong on BBC Radio 1, delivered his incendiary soundscape to Singapore’s world-renowned ZoukOut Festival, boomed his live show through the heaving basement of London’s XOYO and played the hallowed Space Terrace – in his words “a boyhood dream since I started going to Ibiza in 1999. That was what I wanted from life!” So opening Amnesia in 2014 with Joris Voorn will be a bonus then...

While these are reasons enough to keep the beaming smile beneath Kölsch’s trademark black fedora, his humility remains just as striking. While tracks like ‘Goldfisch’ have taken pivotal positions in the set lists of world class DJs from across the dance music spectrum – traversing the underground with Seth Troxler, while simultaneously providing credible new euphoric highs for the likes of Axwell – Rune remains joyously down to earth. All despite producing, with ‘1977’, an album that has crossed as many cultural and musical boundaries as his own childhood past.

From the face-twisting melodic drive of ‘Opa’ and ‘Bappedekkel’, to the chord-surfing piano groove of ‘Der Alte’ and the euphoric crescendos of ‘Lorely’, ‘Oma’ and ‘All That Matters’ (all hits in different countries), the fact remains that whether in your living room, on the dancefloors of the world’s greatest parties, or simply in your headphones on your way home, Kölsch’s ‘1977’ has re-defined techno and become an achievement that speaks for itself. 

Words: Phil Dudman – Clubs & Live Music Editor, Mixmag


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