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

DJ UMEK
For a long time, Slovenia is known for its great electronic parties, but as the local scene is of boutique dimensions, everyone, who wishes to take the art of mixing and producing to a professional level, has to go out there and enter the worldwide scene. Umek has done this step as early as in the middle of the 90s and so he became one of the most important techno players of the global techno scene, even before the end of the last millennium. Together with people, who shared the same views, he successfully captured the first era of researching and recreating the rules of the dance music in Recycled Loops, Consumer Recreation and Astrodisco platforms, which all put the sound of the Slovenian techno on the world map of electronic music.
In the beginning of the year 2007, Umek started a new 1605 Music Therapy - Sixteenofive, with which he marked the beginning of the second era of his music creation and what an era it is. 5 highly popular releases on the 1605 label with lots more planned in the next few months, a huge success of the »Day Of Electronics 09« - the main 1605 event in Krizanke (Ljubljana, Slovenia) for the third year in a row, a popular summer festival »Disconautica« (Koper, Slovenia) featuring 1605 Main Floor for the second year in a row and with over 50.000 attending people. Furthermore the 15 astonishing releases and remixes already released in 2009 are the best proof, that Umek stays focused on his primary goal – to make high quality productions that stand out from the rest and to bring this music closer to people all around the world.
The year 2009 also brought a fresh breeze in Umek’s booking department and so his new booking agency is Bullitt Bookings from the USA, that also takes care of some of the biggest names, like Dubfire, Nic Fanciulli, Shlomi Aber, Davide Squillace and many others.

Last year's releases like Is it / Longer Trail, Destructible Enviroment, S Cream, Designed Persona, You Might Hear Nothing and the latest club hit Work This Data, have caught the attention of Armada, Hell Yeah, Tronic, Dataworx and other biggest labels of the music industry and judging by Umek's tracks »Hablando« and »Slap«, released on his own label 1605, by the enormous amount of upcoming releases and the second (and first on 1605 label) album with his 10 great tracks “Responding To Dynamic” (coming in spring 2010), Umek surely isn’t going to run out of creative fuel for quite some time.

29.05.2010 Umek @ Orange Club, Augsburg, Germany - 2010 47

artist - track - version - label
1.   David Jones - Dubby - Original Mix - Starlight Unlimited
2.   Julian Collazos - Buu Shir - Original Mix - Clatter Records
3.   John Acquaviva, Olivier Giacomotto - Hoo Cha Cha - Original Mix - Definitive Recordings
4.   Carlo Lio - Musique - SCI+TEC Digital Audio
5.   Mihalis Safras - San TropeLess - Oxia Less Melo Remix - Material
6.   Min & Mal - San Salvo - Mario Miranda Remix - Killing Machine Records
7.   Black Raw - Circo Nero - Original Mix - Test Pressing Records
8.   NDKj - Funkest Star - Marshall Remix - Heatflow
9.   David Amo, Julio Navas - Bama - Original Club Mix - Toolroom Records
10. Ahmet Sendil, Koen Groeneveld, R3hab - Istandam - Ahmet Sendil Kasimpasa Rulez Mix - Bosphorus Underground
11. Mijail, Carlos Agraz - Briseuntokke - Loko Remix - Darkside Digital Records
12. Sean Random - Afrikola - Original Mix - Killing Machine Records
13. Pleasurekraft - Tarantula - Hugo Remix - Eklektisch
14. TDR - Squelch - Olav Basoski Remix - Doorn Records (Spinnin)
15. Uto Karem - Body Move - Original Mix - Plus 8 Records
16. Lutzenkirchen - What's The Matter - Uto Karem Remix - Mistakes Music
17. Lutzenkirchen - Stealth Run - Original Mix - BluFin
18. Secret Cinema, Ramon Tapia - I Want You feat. Secret Cinema - Original Mix - Great Stuff Recordings
19. Glitter - Los Paises Industriales - Original Mix - Bosphorus Underground Recordings
20. Juan Ddd - Macedonio - Manel Diaz Remix - Hamburg Aufnahmen
21. Tom Hades - Mezzanine World (Flavio Diaz's RePitched Techno Mix)

quite some time.

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

Matthew Hoag

Being anonymous music aficionado, music professional or a sexy Pacha girl, there are two things you really should know about Matthew Hoag: meeting him in person is always fun. Joining him for the night clubbing is a life changing experience. This vivid, cheerful, friendly bon vivant isn’t just one of those guys who want to know everything about the music as an art and the whole business behind it. He’s foremost a really nice person and his works are excellent reflections of his embrace-the-life globe trotting attitude.

The earliest seed that indicated Matthew’s future career is hidden somewhere on the dance floor was his passion for light shows. He became light-operator for the matinees in one of the local clubs already as a teenager. Few years latter he took a job at the local radio station. That’s where he learned how the radio station works, how the program is being put together, he became skillful technician, and he also listened to a lot of music: “I guess this is the main reason why I can’t be put in the box as an artist. I was exposed to all range of commercial and non commercial music. And it was that period when I grew taste for good alternative music and explored even genres such as jazz and blues.”

Meanwhile his career took a big leap forward as he became “illegal” light operator at the infamous Ambasada Gavioli club. This wasn’t his job. Put more precisely: he wasn’t even allowed to come near the console by the boss. But the resident deejays liked his touch and invited him into the booth whenever possible. “I was hanging around to listen to the sets of Valentino Kanzyani. Ambasada was the playground for the biggest names in the game. And Sven Väth was the one that really stood out of the flock: it was his human energy, power of his music, his ability to control the dance floor what ultimately convinced me to become a deejay.”

Although it wasn’t Sven’s or Valentino’s sound that he wanted to follow. “I’ve started with house, explored the progressive and I guess I could be considered tech-house artist nowadays,” summarizes Matthew who as a very versatile and eclectic artist doesn’t brand himself. He broke trough as a deejay when spotted by Valentino Kanzyani at the party in Croatia: “Valentino is one of the biggest figures in my life. He’s my brother from another mother,” likes to jest Matthew about their friendship. “He invited me to join his office, where I’ve got introduced to every angle of label management and music promotion business.” 

2009 saw Matthew kicking the dance floors around the globe, from Columbia to Turkey,from  Spain to Greece, from Germany To Brazil.

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