Miami Underground Movement presents proudly... "Dj Superstar UMEK @ M.U.M" - M.U.M Episode 8 - a podcast by Rod B. & Mareis

Rod B. & Alvaro Garfunk bring you the premiere of "Miami Underground Movement."

UMEK  tracklist

1.    Kiki – Dancing Graffiti (Bpitch Control)
2.    Lars  Sommerfeld – Don't Say Baby (Two Faces Rec.)
3.    Marc O'Tool + Criss Source – Indigo (X.L.R.8.R)
4.    Nicolas Stefan – 080Four (Karatemusik)
5.    Lissan & Stills – Wings (Sic Rec.)
6.    Pawas Gupta – Alicia (Flash)
7.    Jeroen Verheij – Chica-Go (Rejected)
8.    Radio Slave – Bell Clap Dance (Rekids)
9.    Wollion Harada – Metropolitan Fulltime (BluFin)
10.    Soren Matschiste – Last Train (Etui Rec.)
11.    Velkro – BBQ (Lo Kik Rec.)
12.    Davis and May – Take Off And Leave All Behind (Piemont Rec.)
13.    Solaris Heights – No Trace (Popof RMX)
14.    Harvey McKay – Powder From The Gods (Perc Trax)
15.    CrisP – Monohybrid (Circle Digital)

Uros Umek is internationally acclaimed deejay and
music producer from Slovenia, seducing the masses with his own music
blend for more than a decade. Always on the look for new sounds and
determined to challenge every existing cliché in music industry, he
managed to define his own vision of vanguard techno. Sure, this would
not happen without the support of his loyal peers who've joined him on
the production platforms such as Recycled Loops, Consumer Recreation
and Astrodisco, with which they defined "Slovenian techno sound" and
successfully it as an important driving force on the global club scene.




He started his journey to the stardome as an excellent athlete, running
between two baskets, but it was Euterpe the Muse of music and poetry
that paved Umek's life-path. She got him totally unprepared, seduced
him with no further notice, so he had no chance of getting out of her
treads. He devoted his life, his heart, all of his passion and energy,
to the sounds he discovered as a teenager. Pioneering the genre he
became one of its most appreciated ambassadors with faithful worldwide
audience simply known as The Father (of Slovenian techno).



Sleeping on past achievements was never Umek's thing. So it's
nosurprise he decided for complete renovation of his sound and live set
performance though being steady member of Top 100 DJ lists for almost a
decade. The year 2007 marks beginning of a new chapter in his music
career. After spending enormous amount of time and artistic energy
bringing his characteristic sound to the whole new level, he presented
new international music therapy called 1605 – Sixteenofive. No doubt
this was a very risky move. But it was the only way for him to stay on
top of the game. And it seems he made the right decision at the crucial
time: the response to his new vision of electronic dance music from his
peers, critics, media and most importantly his fans is great and his
production is supported by some top names in the industry.





FALLING IN LOVE

"As far as I remember, my first serious contact with music was trough
pop artists such as Michael Jackson, Modern Talking, Falco and
Yugoslavian singer Daniel, who rocked the Eurosong audience in the
early 80's with the infamous hit single Djuli. (Laugh.) My mother is
the one to blame. She bought me my first radio which I've listened to
'till exhaustion," apologizes Uros.



He brought his music passion to the next level few years latter,
discovering the record button on his first double cassette
player/recorder. "That enabled me to start my own music collection.
I've recorded songs from Slovenian disco chart program, which presented
top commercial tunes on weekly basis. I also managed to get my hands on
some rare pirate cassettes with dance and techno tunes, but even few
years after Slovenia became independent I didn't really know where to
look for that modern electronic sounds that I liked so much. I didn't
know anyone who listened to that stuff. Until I discovered Cool Night,
specialized broadcast on Ljubljana's alternative student radio station.
The Monday evening slot was run by original pioneers of electronic
dance culture in Slovenia, Primoz Pecovnik (now boss of indie label
Matrix Music), Brane Zorman aka MC Brane of Beitthron and Aldo Ivancic
of Borghesia.





HE'LL BURN IN HELL

If there's any symbolism in the beginning of his clubbing career, DJ
Umek won't escape burning in Hell for at least few decades: "I've told
my mother I'm going to church to attend festive midnight mass on the
Christmas night, but I was determined to visit MC Brane's party at
Ljubljana's underground club K4 for the first time that night. I was
expected to be home at 1 am, but wasn't 'till 4 am, so the curfew was
imminent," Umek remembers popping his club cherry.



When the martial law eventually lifted and his mum decided to soften
the regime, he found himself dealing with new challenge. He was allowed
to go clubbing at the weekends but was expected to be home at 3 am. The
trick was, as it usually is, that the first morning bus to his home
neighborhood departed from the centre of the city fifteen minutes
later. Solving problem wasn't easy, but being young and determined
there was no problem for him running trough the half of the city twice
a week: "Running few kilometers in the middle of the night after
clubbing really wasn't as hard as it seems. I was training basketball
at that time, so I was really fit." It's more than a decade since he
traded career of basketball superstar for the nightlife debauchery. It
would be interesting to see what he could have achieved as an athlete.
Namely, he was selected for the junior national team just as he parted
from the sports, and some of his former colleagues became key players
in the top USA and European basketball leagues.





HE GOT HOOKED

The industrial designed K4 club in the basement of Student's Union HQ
in the centre of Ljubljana is still considered to be Umek's resident
club, although he's not an official resident deejay anymore. But since
his most loyal fans are still gathering there, K4 remains the
playground for testing new productions, concepts and sounds. "It's
where everything started. This is the place where I've got in touch
with first Slovenian electronic projects such as Anna Lies, Clox or
Random Logic. Some of those guys were and still are important part of
my life. It was Jure Havlicek who ultimately influenced my decision to
get involved in professional music production. Gregor Zemljic is
mastering all of my tracks. And I've founded my first band Mouse Trap
with Uros and Vid, who have opened my eyes and ears to this culture."



It was his friend's Uros home where Umek got in touch with UK based
pirate radio stations such as Green Apple/Dance Nation. "We picked up
this programs via satellite dish. They played hardcore, breakbeat and
techno non stop at the weekend, and even though we were recording it,
we never left the house so we would not miss anything!" His friend was
also the one who introduced him the Screen Tracker. "It was the very
basic 8-bit resolution production tool with four mono channels, but
that's how everything started. After I've finally managed to save
enough money to buy proper sampler, the outside World ceased to exist.
I've became totally obsessed with that box. I've spent up to sixteen
hours a day working on that machine."





AND SO HE BEGAN

Although he's established technician, master of three decks and FX
performances, it wasn't easy for Umek to get acquainted with those
needles and mixers in the first place. You have to bear in mind his
home country was part of former eastern block and most of the small
clubs could only afford cassette and CD players at that time. "I could
only dream of having my own decks in the beginning of 90's. As a single
parent my mother could not afford that kind of expense. But I was lucky
I've met few guys that recognized the talent in me and gave me the
opportunity to start."



Umek was regular at club Palma matinees at that time. He spent most of
the afternoons standing in the corner watching deejay mixing records,
until one day resident DJ Alf offered him to finish his set. He seized
the opportunity, somehow managed to get trough the night and they've
agreed he can practice on that decks and mixer for an hour or so before
the weekly matinee. "After I've conquered the technique and performed
for a few times in Palma, I've got offered opening slot at Aldo's night
in K4. It only paid as much to buy one CD, but it was a steady job and
I really liked it." It was also the time when he decided to sell his
collection of 200 CDs. "It's something I still regret, but it was the
only way to earn money I needed to buy vinyl."



In the early 90s buying techno records seemed almost a mission
impossible for someone living and working in Slovenia. Closest shop
with that kind of music was in Germany, almost 500 kilometers away from
Ljubljana. "We heard there are some records shops in Munich. So we've
booked the weekly shopping bus, drove to Munich, and found that shops
on our own. It wasn't easy but we've successfully finished that
adventure. I've only had enough money to buy eight records, but this is
how my collection started."





BUILDING THE SCENE

Germany was also the place where Umek got in touch with the rave scene.
"It was an amazing experience, when I attended my first Technomania
party with 15.000 revelers on seven floors placed in a hangar on the
outskirts of Munich. And when I've entered twice as bigger Mayday arena
for the first time I knew I want to be in that deejay booth one day.
Few years later I was. Although I've thought to myself what the heck am
I doing at that commercial masquerade in the backstage, I've changed my
mind when I've finally stepped into the deejay booth. I've seen all
those kids waving hands and shouting to me as being their god, and I'm
sure some of them thought just the same as I did years before them. So,
I've just smiled and performed one of the best sets of my career that
can still be found on the internet."



Totally hooked on exploding ravemania, Umek and his peers started
organizing bus transfers to rave parties in Germany. They were enyoing
themselves and they were learning along the way. So it was just a
matter of time when they decided to start putting up their own events.
"The first one was total disaster," remembers Umek. "We've leased the
local fireman's hall for the night but only managed to attract hundred
of revelers. We were so broke, we couldn't even afford cleaning lady
the morning after." But they could not be stopped by that debacle. They
worked their way from event to event, got in charge of small club in
the outskirts of Ljubljana and gradually became one of the leading
promoters in the country.



"I still remember the illegal rave party we've organized in the
countryside outside Ljubljana. It attracted surprisingly big mass of
people and one of the main national newspapers reported of the
incident, since we were dispersed by the police. And there was the
local politician, real smart guy that made us all laugh: he stated that
the cows in the nearby village stopped lactating ( i.e. giving milk)
because of the stress induced by loud techno music. … No, I'm not
kidding. This really was in the papers and can still be found in the
archives."





THE BIG BREAK

DJ Umek made his name in Slovenia by hosting some of the best club
nights in the country. Clubbing scene in Zagreb, Croatia was much
stronger in the beginning of 90s, but it was him and his peers that
changed that in just a few years by turning their home turf into most
prolific party scene in the whole region. It was also the time of
experimenting for Umek. He was mostly known as techno deejay, but loved
to play underground house, too, especially at the after parties. And
since he had the biggest collection of house records in Slovenia, he
quickly became involved in building the house scene as well. At some
point he was so much into house, he played four gigs a week, but only
twice a month techno set. "I felt really suffocated as an artist with
all that house, because I couldn't focus on techno, my main genre. One
night at Ambasada Gavioli I decided I won't play house anymore. I
grabbed some Chicago house records, pitched them, played really banging
set and gave farewell to the club. I've returned to K4 and focus on
techno again."



He returned to Ambasada Gavioli the next year, this time as a techno
specialist. Since he was treated as the second resident, the favorite
of club management always being his good friend Valentino Kanzyani,
Umek had no competitive clause and could take bookings wherever and
whenever he desired. Meeting top techno DJs from all over the world,
establishing new friendships and gathering contacts he started
performing at the best venues all over the World. Quickly he assembled
crowds of faithful fans from Berlin to Tokyo, making impression as a
great technician and programmer, but it was his special blend of music
known as Slovenian Techno which has put him on the map as one of the
tope names in the genre.



RECYCLED LOOPS

As the founding pillar of Slovenian electronic music scene Umek
co-founded his first label in the mid 90s. Absense (and its sub-label
Expire) was the first specialized techno label in the region, home to
artists such as Umek, Anorak, Random Logic, Brother's Yard or Clox,
quickly becoming popular with artists such as Laurent Garnier or Sven
Väth because of its unique sound.



But it were the Recycled Loops in Earresistible Musick labels that
really established Slovenian electronic dance sound as one of the
driving forces on the global scale. The first mentioned joint venture
with Valentino Kanzyani was and still is reserved for underground
techno releases, while the second serves as a platform for hard,
electronic house experiments. "The idea for starting our own label
wasn't originally ours. The plan was to launch Next Wave imprint as
Ambasada Gavioli offspring. Everything was set up, we've recorded our
first record, but then suddenly Valentino terminated his partnership
with the club management, and since I was performing there solely as a
favor to him, I left too. But we were determined to release our
production and decided to start the label on our own. The first release
was distributed by Prime and since it sold good they've supported the
launch of our own label. The name was picked up as a statement and
description for the sound we were promoting at the same time. Namely,
that was the time when we recycled old techno loops."



Umek is currently involved in running another two independent labels.
He is one of four guys behind experimental Astrodisco project, which is
Slovenia's unique answer to "minimal" explosion. The other one is the
extension of his new 1605 – Sixteeenofive concept, which was launched
in the early 2007 as international platform for promotion and
development of new electronic sound structures and approaches to deejay
performances. Guy Gerber, Extrawelt, Gregor Tresher, Billy Nasty,
Mikkel Metal, Mike del Saar, Matthew Hoag, Alex Long and other artists
are already involved.



WANT TO RECREATE?

Although not so known to international crowd Consumer Recreation
project played major role in Umek's career and was really important for
the progression of Slovenian electronic music scene, which is still
developing nicely. The incentive which includes deejays Bizzi, Dojaja,
Psiho & Plotz started as a promotion crew behind some major techno
events in the country. It became even more important as the weekly
radio show and label of the same name were lunched. "The basic idea
behind this project was to promote the freshest stuff on the scene. At
that time I was already household name in the global techno circuit, so
I was sent a lot of promos which we played in our radio show and at the
clubs. For example: our radio policy was to never play any record more
than once, since we didn't even have enough time to play everything we
wanted."



When Consumer Recreation joined forces with Taotech and some other guys
Explicit Music was born. It brought the organization part of Slovenian
party scene on the whole new level. Big open air festival series such
as Meet Me and Sindustry, indoor parties such as EUrora and the string
of smaller club nights marked the beginning of new millennium in the
whole region, not only in Slovenia. In 2005 Explicit Music was
dissolved and Futuristing Music crew stepped into its place continuing
the legacy. The productions of FM crew include major annual events such
as DiscoNautica gathering, Umek's solo action in Ljubljana's central
park Tivoli and The Day of Electronica festival.



The Astrodisco project is original Slovenian answer to "minimal
explosion". It's designed as a test-platform for creative multimedia
boutique club nights wrapped into futuristic electronic sounds. It
builds on the whole club experience, authentic music production, unique
décor, exclusive VJ performances and unusual combinations of arts and
crafts such as building real moving Astrobots.





LOOK AHEAD

The classic ambient of summer theatre designed by eminent architect
Jozef Plecnik hosted Dan elektronike (The Day of Electronica) party,
the launch pad for Umek's new project 1605 – Sixteeenofive in May 2007.
New international sound development platform is designed to promote
live performances of vanguard electronic artists. Gregor Tresher, Guy
Gerber, Mikkel Metal, Extrawelt and leading Slovenian producers were
hand picked to perform at this event.



The launch of 1605 – Sixteenofive platform marks the beginning of a new
chapter in DJ Umek's music career as he spent enormous amount of time
and artistic energy bringing his characteristics sound to the whole new
level. No doubt this was a very risky move. But it was the only way for
him to stay on top of the game. And it seems he made the right decision
at the right time: the response to his new vision of electronic dance
music from his peers, critics, media and most importantly his fans is
great and his production is supported by some top names in the
industry.



The third edition of annual Umek at Park Tivoli open air party which
attracted more than 30.000 souls was also the right time and place to
test the new equipment. On that occasion Umek put in motion his new
digital setup. But this is just the beginning of his live performance
refreshments that will be presented to the public once his long
expected new artists album will finally be released.

Special Thanks To  Umek and Mr Urban Jeram  

www.umek.si

UMEK BOOKING CONTACT:

Tina / Kne'deep Berlin
tina@knedeep.net

Kne'deep Berlin
P.O. Box 41 12 02
12122 Berlin

Phone: +49 30 97 00 23 57
Fax: +49 30 79 78 38 53
www.knedeep.net

My URL: myspace.com/mummiamiundergroundmovement

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