Uroš Umek or as he’s known to the world, simply, Umek, is a Slovenian born producer and DJ. He’s been setting trends and rocking dance floors for two decades now and there are still no signs of him slowing down. He’s tireless in his techno and tech house production and with more than 100 gigs per year, probably one of the busiest techno DJs out there.
He’s not only been rocking our ears with his own productions for labels like Toolroom, Spinnin, Great Stuff, Intec and many more, but has also been heavily involved in choosing who to sign to his arty imprint 1605, which mostly supports young and talented artists who haven’t yet made it on the global party scene.
We had the phenomenal pleasure of catching up with him at Tomorrowland 2014, and as another instalment of our #TomorrowlandRewind Series, we bring to you an exclusive heart-to-heart with this Slovenian techno titan!
TBB: It’s a pleasure to talk with you Umek! Playing at Tomorowland, how many times have you been here?
Umek: It’s just my second time. Yeah, I’m looking forward to going on stage and playing at the Carl Cox and Friends stage. It’s always great!
TBB: How is it any different from playing in Slovenia and festivals in your hometown?
Umek: It’s way different ‘cause this is, I guess, probably 10 times bigger than the biggest crowd back home The quality of production is amazing and the people here have come from all over the world and this doesn’t happen in my country. Even though we have an amazing crowd and it’s always great to play at home, this is way bigger.
TBB: You have spearheaded the tech movement. How does it feel, you’ve been DJ-ing since 1993, Correct?
Umek: Yeah, actually, from 1993 it was professional. I actually started Dj’ing in 1991 or something like that.
TBB: So, 20 years plus?
Umek: Yeah, 20 years and you know I was just thinking that these 20 years just went by so fast, it’s unbelievable! It’s just like when I started I was literally the youngest guy in the scene!
TBB: So, you’re still in your 30’s?
Umek: I’m 38!
TBB: You’re still one of the youngest guys here.
Umek: Yeah! The time flies fast. The times are changing. America finally got into electronic music. So yeah, things are great and growing.
TBB: Over time, over these 20 years, your inspiration in terms of producers and DJs are constantly changing or have you kept it the same?
Umek: I lost my musical heroes, or I don’t know how to say it. I mean of course I respect all these guys but back in the day I was looking to producers like Todd Terry, Westbam and Sergio later on. But last 10 years, I don’t have any new inspiration with certain producers. There are guys like Dj Mayer and I would love to produce with them. But I never had a problem in my head as to what I’m going to do next. I don’t need a special reason to make music. I make music because I’m eating or I’m breathing air, it’s so easy. So, I’m not really inspired. But maybe sometimes, on a very rare occasion I’m inspired by things that are happening in my life. But usually I just sit down and write music.
TBB: So, we’ve come to know that the ex-president of Slovenia is a big supporter of your music. Tell us about it. How did this happen? What is it like?
Umek: Yeah, it’s kind of funny because he’s been a big supporter of mine for a while now. He’s a big fan of mine. His right-hand’s daughter is a big fan of mine. And when we went to the President’s office, my Gatex record was hanging on the wall. We did some promotional videos for the youth about not drinking too much. So yeah, I mean it’s so cool. He’s not a president anymore, but few months ago I met him at a Turkish airport, and we were talking about electronic music and I was like, what the hell! I mean, now his presidency is over, he doesn’t need to know everything but still! And he asked me if I’m playing at Tomorrowland!
TBB: Wow! And you said yes?
Umek: And he really likes what’s going on. How we met is, he was running elections and I was having my annual gig in Slovenia and he came to me and said, if I win the elections, ill support this and I was like, yeah, for sure! You know, when I played tonight, there were 30 thousand people and Slovenia has 2 million people and Ljubljana has 400,000 people. So, it’s 10 percent of population of the biggest town.
TBB: That’s almost as many people who come to Tomorrowland. 400,000!
Umek: Yeah, but it’s still less, you know. So there’s a lot of crowd and everybody wants to get votes or something and he kept his word! And we actually congratulated him for the election and he said he was going to keep his word and we just kind of just arranged a meeting in my office and I showed him how I played and how my office works. While he was there, he scheduled a half an hour meeting but he was there for one hour, he didn’t want to go! It was really cool! He was eating apple pie from my friends mom.
It’s not like how it is in America, the President can eat anything you know!
TBB: So now, getting back into music, we know that you own 2 record labels right?
Umek: I have one.
TBB: So you had 2 or something?
Umek: I had many.
TBB: So, there you go! So, how does it feel to be a record label owner and how do you make sure that you have young and upcoming producers? Also, what music do you like being released on your label?
Umek: Being a label owner is big fun ‘cause all the dirty work my office does! So for me all the dirty work goes through them. So there are so many tracks that are not worth listening to, but I still have to listen to them.
TBB: But with your radio show you really do support a lot of producers and everyone knows that all of your support really matters, because not every DJ supports another young producer. Kudos for that!
Umek: And I see a lot of Djs only want to release producers that are hyped and cool. 1605 didn’t start this way. We were always trying to promote unknown artists and I mean I would love to bring artists from our own area from Eastern Europe because, believe me, I know how hard it is to make it from this area. So I’m going to continue signing unknown guys. For example, a track we’re just going to release now, is a single actually from this guy called Frank Wee. It’s his first single, and he’s from Mexico, I think. It’s his first single ever and I love the tune! I just love it! And I’m going to continue like that and I’m going to release tracks not only from known artists but from unknown artists as well.
TBB: What about your own music, what can we expect? what’s in the future?
Umek: My own music? Well, right now I’m planning to release an album on Spinnin and releasing a remix of Mason, his biggest tune and it’s going to be released on Armada. I’m always in the studio making some music.
TBB: So your birthday event, the Electronics Day, has been very memorable for you. Why exactly is it not happening anymore?
Umek: We started it as an idea of starting an official Electronics Day in Slovenia. We wanted to have it on 17th of May and not 16th of May, because my birthday and it would be like….
TBB: Promoting yourself in a way?
Umek: Yeah, exactly, and we didn’t want that. So we were going to keep it on the 17th and we had to collect 50,000 signings to go into parliament and get this day. Actually, we didn’t succeed. We got like 20,000 or a little more, but it was not enough. Whats important is the idea! People were there and supporting it and we were bringing all the new artists in our area. Problem is we were doing it with a marketing company when the economy was still strong, so we could get sponsors for this event because it’s impossible to fund with just ticket sales. The crisis came and with the sponsors we barely covered any expenses. With the crisis and sponsors, it couldn’t work out. We lost a lot of money, and you know to give every year out of your pocket, It just doesn’t work.
TBB: So, this is a fan question that came in, what does 1605 symbolize? Because you use it a lot, they wanted to know what it symbolizes.
Umek: 1605 is my birthdate. So I don’t know if it can get more personal than that.
TBB: You played in India at EVC last year and you’re now playing in Tomorrowland. You’ve played at some of the biggest festivals in the world! How do you think India is as a country, and how do you think it has emerged in the electronic music space?
Umek: You know, I’ve been in India only twice. You know first time, I’m sorry, I have to say I didn’t like it at all. There was one good gig and the others were so so. I know it was only the beginning, but you need to know that we’ve played at Tomorrowland and all these festivals and I mean I really don’t expect miracles but I just expect crowd to be wild. Give the support to the DJ, you know, give him the energy and respect, and you’re going to get all of it back. EVC was last year, and it was way better, but i still think it needs a year or two of developing.
TBB: You need to come to New Delhi, it’s the capital and it’s really beautiful! So next time you’re coming in, we’ll get you down and we really hope that the next time you come down, we can change the ideology behind India for you.
Umek: Don’t get me wrong, I’m not criticizing. You’ll get better DJs, all you need to do is support the DJ who’s playing for you. Start cheering and dancing and shouting, don’t just stand and watch him play.
TBB: We used to have only one music festival. Now we have 5, and in the next years we expect at least 15 to happen. The generation is now getting more educated about electronic music so that’s what is going to help the entire movement.
Umek: Absolutely
TBB: As for techno, all around Europe it’s always been big and now it’s getting into the main stream in North America. What’s your take on this? Do you think it’s going to make a big space for techno?
Umek: You know, I don’t know if my sound is pure techno, it’s more like tech house. For the sound that I have and with the support of American promoters and the American crowd, we’re getting really great feedback. I play at all these cool clubs all over North America and South America as well but yeah, North America is as important to me as is Europe. I play all these amazing mega events, so I’m happy. And you know it doesn’t matter if it’s commercial, people will get sick of certain sounds. Some of them will get sick of techno. That’s just the way it is. But the EDM and commercial crowd is so big that if just one portion of it goes to techno, you know, it’ll be amazing!
TBB: Your favourite venue that you’ve played at ever?
Umek: It’s impossible to say.
TBB: How about if you name 3?
Umek: It’s still impossible to say, you know, I can’t even name 3. I do 100 gigs per year and all of them are fantastic, so it’s not right that i just mention 3.
TBB: So because we’re from Bangin’ Beats, we need to know your 3 Bangin’ tracks.
Umek: Oh my god! This is the worst question you could ask me.
Anna by Funk V
Dissolute? by Paride Saraceni
and my new track with Hartik called Rhythmia
TBB: Can you give us a final word for your fans all over the world?
Umek: Have Fun, Love Each Other
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