UMEK Speaks On the Importance of Promoting Local Heroes [Exclusive Interview]

Since 1993, Slovenian-producer UMEK has been a pioneer of electronic dance music. Not only is he the CEO and Founder of record label 1605, but he is also an integral part of deciding which artists and tracks they promote. He personally meets with each artist, decides which songs are going to be released, and stands at the front line for actively supporting the artists under his label.

WhiteRaverRafting had the opportunity to talk with UMEK at Insomniac’s Beyond Wonderland, and it’s clear that he is concerned with not only promoting the dance music scene but also making the world a better place to live in. He wants to be remembered for one simple thing: to achieve a bond of communication and understanding with his fans through his music. Beyond his countless charitable efforts and personal promotion of his label, he has a very clear vision of where he thinks electronic music should be heading. He is a musician that is not only incredibly passionate about his own career, but has made major strides in the promotion of the DJs that he feels should be the main headliners: the local heroes:

You do a lot of charity and you give back quite a bit, what does that mean for you? Why was it something that you wanted to do?

“You know, we do charity events and stuff and we support a cause, which is really important. But I help even in other ways that no one really knows, and things I couldn’t even tell you.

But in other ways, I’m fortunate enough to turn good money. Sometimes I think about the people that are not as fortunate as I am, so if I can I will try to help. I will do this more and more and I’ll try to spread the idea around my friends. Because I think one person can change everything, really the idea starts with one single person and I think it’s really important. But yes, this is my own opinion. Otherwise, in Slovenia I hold this charity event and it’s the best event in the whole country.”

Is that “Party With a Cause?”

“Yes, “Party With A Cause”, it’s the best event in Slovenia and I am not exaggerating, it’s held in a park literally one minute away from the center city.”

Is it a big event?

“Yeah 20-30,000 people come to see me, it’s just me playing 7 hours from 5 til Midnight.”

Do you have any plans to make it bigger, or to bring that to the U.S.?

“We were thinking about it, but the thing is this is a small company in Slovenia. I mean my name is huge in Slovenia, I can pull a crowd of 20,000-30,000 people but here in America I think the idea would be to find the local heroes, and then to work with them on performing at the event and pulling big crowds in their local areas.”

Your sound reminds me of European techno, and early-late nineties warehouse parties. Do you think that’s coming back around and regaining popularity?

“Yeah and I guess something is changing. Something is obviously changing, and I think the crowd is ready. So I hope, because we have a lot of really underrated European DJs that should be big in America. Like if my style is going to get more popular, those artists will have a chance to get big.”

Why do you think that is?

“In America it’s all about the celebrities, and in America the celebrities want to be the DJs and all the celebrities just look at the DJs like David Guetta and Swedish House Mafia and those are their heroes, and want to be like them, because they’re big stars. I would say in Germany the biggest DJ is Sven Väth  and he’s in no way playing commercial tracks. And for those kids, he’s their role model and that’s why his style of music is so popular in Germany. I think that all the good younger DJs here are looking up to these DJs that play a lot of commercial music. In Slovenia I’m the most popular DJ and it doesn’t matter I could play really underground stuff. Or you know back in the day when I was playing these really underground, dark sets, I was still the most popular.”

I think Americans tend to look for the name they recognize rather than see a DJ that might be playing new, and innovative music.

“It’s the same, in Europe, even like Swedish House Mafia, Sven Väth, Carl Cox, everyone listens to their music because they’re good DJs but the music that they play is way different. Like where’s the diversity of the genre? For example, if you go over here you kind of hear everyone playing sort of the same music.  Everyone’s kind of playing the same style and I think it should be a bit more versatile.”

You definitely introduce something different for the crowds. You include the tech-house beat but in-between introduce some very unique elements such as moombahton, hip-hop vocals, etc.

“I know what you mean, when I was flying I heard tracks like “Billy Jean” from Michael Jackson, and I was blown away.  I’ve thought about putting tracks like that into my set. There have been times where I’ve just done it , for example in the middle of house beats I put in some original tracks. Like today I played “Sweet Dreams” from Eurythmics. I was thinking tech house has these really rolling grooves, but if you just break that just for a minute you can usually change it up a bit. I don’t know I just did it, I didn’t think about it I just went for it.”

Where do you see the future of dance music going? Do you think it’s going to become a universal trend with most people playing the same music, or do you think it’s going to continue in the sense that different countries usually represent different styles of electronic music? For example, tech house is mostly represented in Europe, and with Dubstep and Trap making a huge presence in the US?

“This American thing is more hip-hopish. But what I love about small countries in Europe, is that everyone had their local heroes and it was so versatile and everyone had their own style. We were playing way different music, because we were all in different countries and you could hear it in their music. But EDM is becoming a big thing around the world and all these companies are starting to take over. They’re sponsoring these big events and sponsoring big DJs, so if you wanna get your stuff out there you need to bring the #1 DJ in the world. And obviously the big companies will do that, but I think they should be promoting more of the local heroes, because if they don’t then it’s gonna be all the same.”

What do you want to be remembered for?

“I would love to think that people hear my mixes, and hear my transitions and things. I don’t want to be number #1 on iTunes or MTV or anything like that. I put a lot of thought and effort into my mixes. And I wonder if people actually hear that, like I guess subconsciously they do because they’re coming to the parties but I don’t know if they’re actually thinking about it like that.

So it makes me really happy when people say oh it was cool when you played this and this, it makes me really happy when I know that people are actually listening, even though I’m not playing those big tunes like top 40. I wanna see my mix roll through and newcomers don’t know where the song started or ended because it’s just that seamless. And when I achieve that, it makes me really happy like the fans and I are connecting through the music.”

Get to know UMEK through his music that speaks for itself, and be sure to check out the other artists on 1605’s label:

Connect With UMEK: Facebook | Soundcloud | Twitter

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