Before his appearance at Interval second edition party on 30th of January 2016., we had a chat with Marko Lük and found out how he experiences techno and music scene and much more.

Besides playing as a DJ and being a producer, raw techno representative from Maribor, Marko Lük, is also involved in other forms of art. In an interesting interview we found out his versatility and desire to educate himself and others in music and art.

UES: Introduce yourself and your work.

ML: I would introduce myself as an active and creative individual with deep passion for techno and art. I’m operating in different fields of culture and throughout my career I was working in almost all areas of culture. I’ve colaborated with Feri Lainšček, one of the best writers and poets in Slovenia, and made music for his audio novel and we had a few very well accepted performances in Slovenia.

During my collage years I’ve organised a few educational literature projects and «Literature on the street», as I named the one, where we put literature in city parks and town centres, was even included in the project Maribor, which was the capital of culture then. All those projects were a big success and I’m still following Maribor’s literature scene, just not as active as before.

I’m also editing videos (mostly after movies of our projects, promo movies for various artists and I’ve also created some experimental intermedia projects) as well as releasing my creativity in graphic design sometimes and collaborating with a lot of teams on different levels.

And of course I’m doing everything connected to techno. That includes organisation of bigger and smaller events that are known for its quality, music production workshops, educational interactive projects and of course playing and producing. I’m constantly searching for new music, new artists, new ways to present the music I love and ways to do it in the most creative way. I’m also building a live act and already have some drafts made on hardware only. I was working a lot on my computer, but never got the results I wanted… It’s so much more creative and inspiring turning knobs than clicking a mouse.

UES: Tell us something about the concept of Deconstruct?

ML: The concept of Deconstruct events is to present the best emerging acts in techno scene at the moment. We are known to provide true underground feeling, not just with music, but with proper visuals as well and last year we’ve decided to expand the whole thing and create a project with rich programme throughout the week of happening. Next to the main underground techno event we are organising electronic music workshops and interactive music laboratory.

Visual part usually consists of images of old industry buildings and darker images taken out of old movies or animations being projected/mapped behind a DJ. In the future we will also organize a photograph exhibition as a part of the project. So we are infiltrating into more art forms and with our “movement” also culturaly educating partygoers and other interested in our projects.

UES: What does techno represents for you?

ML: For me techno is an art form that can activate your thinking if you allow it to do so. It can be also a meditation music, party music, working music (I usually turn on techno everytime I have to do a challenging “brainwork”). So techno allows you to take from it whatever you want and make it suit you. But you have to have an open mind and not put yourself into a frame, because the deeper you dig into the art of techno, the more complex rhythmic and melodic elements are becoming… and being in a frame, it doesn’t allow you to be able to experience feelings it can offer and journeys it can take you to. You have to be patient sometimes, but you will be rewarded afterwards for sure.

UES: Do you have any released tracks so far or are you planning to do so?

ML: I don’t have any tracks released yet, I think because I’m too self-critical. I have a lot of projects (finished and unfinished) that could be released, but I respect my audience too much and I want to offer them just the best. But I think – if I look at some of the things I’ve made recently – I will release something very soon. On my hardware setup there is already some well crafted techno stuff and I think this year you will hear a lot more about Marko Lük.

We will also launch Destruktura label in a few months, where we will be releasing rougher and heavier sounds of techno, some broken beats, and also experimental stuff… A music for your body and mind.

UES: How does it feel playing with your “better half” on the party?

ML: We don’t usually perform together, because it’s quite a big difference between our styles and techniques of playing, so we usually just do it on the afterparties. Otherwise I very much enjoy being able to share the love of techno with my “better half” and I feel very blessed that we can out partying (or working) and do those things together.

UES: Are there any plans for common production?

ML: We are playing around in the studio together sometimes and some interesting results are happening, but because of the difference in our styles, I don’t think we will ever release those songs, because (just like in perfoming back2back) you have to compromise and if you are after particular sound that defines you, this is not such a good idea. Personally it’s a lot of fun and we can use our common production to evolve ideas from it, but when it comes to showing your work to your audience – in my opinion – you have to stick to a concept of your sound.

UES: Slovenija is well known for its good parties since the ’90. What changed ’till now?

ML: I think Slovenian party scene is very interesting but I don’t think there is a lot of quality. Maybe because we are small, we can say it’s good, but people are under educated on electronic music scene. There is no real critical thinking, people that have money and are good at promotion and marketing are creating meaningless events and only here and then something really good happens. I’m not sure who to blame: the organisers because they don’t educate people or people that will consume whatever the scene offers.

But let’s not be so pessimistic, there are some crews that are trying to bring good music to Slovenia (and succeeding) and there are people that are exploring music, so things are moving in the right direction. However it’s not OK that organisers are doing «safe» events with DJs that were in Slovenia a lot of times and not putting an effort to carefully select some fine artists that electronic scene has to offer now. I think it’s a circle and we can break it just by educating our audience.

UES: Which DJs, producers have influenced your work?

ML: I’m not really looking up to anyone, I just have respect for some artists that are uncompromising when it comes to music creation. I think Surgeon, Oscar Mulero, Bas Mooy, Regis are some of the names I can point out.

But I think It’s a really great time to be involved in techno music at the moment… So much fresh and quality production, so much great, creative and inovative producers that you can easily separate from the shitty ones and more and more people that follow and respect quality.

UES: Since you’ve already performed in DHC, can you tell us what was your experience there?

ML: I have experienced some of the best moments of my career in DHC. The place feels like it was made for my type of techno and they fit perfectly together. It also feels like people in Croatia are a bit more educated when it comes to underground techno and more open to new experiences. It was also a pleasure to perform next to Oscar Mulero, James Ruskin, Dasha Rush and Octave One, some of the most recognized artists on the scene. So only the best memories from DHC and Zagreb!

UES: What are you preparing this time?

ML: As I said earlier, I’m always looking for fresh music (with that timeless rough and dark feeling) and I’m constantly evolving my techniques of playing. I usually put a lot of tracks in my set, using a lot of self made musical tools, that I find in various media, loops and bits from different musical genres, etc., so I think it will be a nice musical jurney through heavier sounds of underground techno.

UES: Free thoughts for the end…

ML: I wish (party) people would open their minds and constantly educate their selfes by exploring fresh music, art and culture. That way our common critical thinking will improve and the mainstream will not flush us to the dirty river of consumerism.

Thank you Marko for this interview, and for the rest of you – don’t miss an underground treat on 30th of January 2016. in Das Haus!

-MA-