UMEK is one of techno’s old guard who for three decades, has been one of the world’s most exciting producers, and Sam WOLFE is at the forefront of the genre’s next generation. Teaming up for the second time, they have collaborated on a devastatingly powerful techno track: “Aktivate.”
Out on the 15th of September via UMEK’s highly influential record label 1605, the track is colossal sounding with booming percussion and heavy synth stabs fused with gripping vocals.
Based in Slovenia, UMEK needs little introduction to fans of techno and electronic music, as throughout his 30-year career, he has been responsible for genre defining tracks ranging from “Gatex” to “Cryptic Speech.” He often releases via his 1605 imprint, but comes from a recent outing on Adam Beyer’s Drumcode and also boasts classic releases on labels like Carl Cox’s Intec and Chris Liebing’s CLR.
Talking about his collaboration with Sam WOLFE, UMEK said: “I always enjoy working with Sam. He understands the importance and quality of music and proper techno productions. “Aktivate” was an absolute must after the success of our last tune ”Mind of One”!”
Sam WOLFE is an American DJ and producer who has become a mainstay on 1605 these last few years. Prior to collaborating on music with UMEK, Sam WOLFE was already a firm favourite, and whose tracks on 1605 could often be spotted in the sales charts of Beatport. He is a superstar in the making, and has also worked with other influential record labels ranging from Christian Smith’s Tronic and Oliver Huntemann’s Senso Sounds.
Speaking about his experience collaborating with UMEK, Sam WOLFE said: “For my follow up collab with UMEK, I knew we had to do something anthemic and nuclear, so we put together a signature kick/bass you find from 1605, with a big, fat, in-your-face lead that gets me excited. Bring it all together with a clean robot’s catchy vocals and I think we made a bomb!”
This release follows Sam WOLFE and UMEK’s previous collaboration ”Mind of One” that released in May of 2023 was an extremely popular track, and the guys have taken things to a whole new level with the explosive sound of Aktivate.
Aktivate has been a staple in both of the artists’ DJ sets, and over the next few months you can find UMEK playing at INSOMNIA in Helsinki, Finland on September 16th, then 9/11 in Tallinn, Estonia on September 22nd, and at Somnia in Vilajuïga, Spain on the 7th of October. Sam WOLFE has forthcoming gigs at TECHNØ VIBRATIONS in North Carolina, USA on September 30th and at Freaky Deaky Festival in Austin, Texas, USA on the 28th of October.
