Check out an advance of HI-LO's garage and techno influenced single ‘Waking Life (A New Dawn) (feat. Michael Ekow)’

In less than one year, HILOMATIK has developed a reputation for being one of the most exciting labels in dance music. Launched in January 2023 by label founder and producer/DJ/tastemaker extraordinaire HI-LO, the label's output has included high-powered releases such as ‘RIDE OR DIE’ (w/ Eli Brown), ‘Bonzai,’ ‘Brazil,’ ‘Arpeggio’ (w/ Space 92), ‘Pura Vida EP’ (the debut release on HILOMATIK which also received a standout remix from Wehbba). HILOMATIK releases consistently reach the top of the Beatport Techno Charts and find their way into the sets of the world's finest DJs, including Adam Beyer, Solomun, Carl Cox, Tiësto, John Summit, Joris Voorn, David Guetta, Eli Brown, and Patrick Topping to name a few.

HI-LO’s latest release, ‘Waking Life (A New Dawn) (feat. Michael Ekow)’ bridges the gap between UK garage and techno. UK rapper Michael Ekow cements the release, spitting lyrics around an intense instrumental. It’s a track with its heart in the darkest of clubs but with broad appeal.

HI-LO describes the track's origin: ‘A good friend, who also happens to be an experienced raver, had convinced me to join him at a festival at a lake in Portugal in early June this year called ‘Waking Life.’ It was a festival like he never had experienced before, something truly special. I had a fantastic time there, and I got exposed to some exciting music from artists whom I had primarily not heard of yet. Something that caught my attention at the festival was that some DJs played very eclectic sets with elements of UK bass/garage, Breakbeat, Jungle, Electro, Techno, and more, and coming out of that, I got the idea to do a track with a distinctive UK garage bassline, but mix it with raw Hardgroove Techno elements. At the camping site of the festival, I started working on this already on my laptop. This resulted in the instrumental track I named ‘Waking Life UK FM Bass Raw Techno Vibe.’ When I returned home again, I developed the track a bit more, and I sent it to my publisher in the Netherlands and told her I could see a British rapper on this track. She then ran into the singer/rapper Michael Ekow at a bar in Amsterdam through a mutual friend, and when she heard his voice/accent, she immediately thought of my track, so she sent it to him. Then Michael wrote some lyrics around that ‘waking life’ working title and recorded some really dope vocals that worked very well over the track, and the rest is history :)’

‘Waking Life (A New Dawn) (feat. Michael Ekow)’ is available November 17 on HILOMATIK - stream here.

About HI-LO

In just a few short years, Oliver Heldens has successfully parlayed his career in the dance music mainstream into a much-lauded alter-ego in the techno world as HI-LO— gaining widespread acceptance from the underground scene in the process. Making the most of an era when genre boundaries are less essential or distinct than ever and younger generations cast aside the snobbery of old, the name HI-LO is now synonymous with cutting-edge, quality, hard-hitting, innovative techno. By 2020, his tracks ‘Zeus’ and ‘Kronos’ landed in the Top 10 most-played techno tracks of the year on 1001tracklists.com, making him the #1 most-supported producer platform-wide that year across all genres. His DJ sets as HI-LO has serenaded audiences at huge events like Ultra’s revered Resistance, Manchester’s Warehouse Project, Austin’s Seismic Dance Event, San Diego’s Proper NYE, and the Dutch editions of Verknipt plus prominent clubs in the techno scene like De Marktkantine in Amsterdam, Watergate in Berlin, E1 in London, Mondo in Madrid and Nitsa in Barcelona, plus numerous stand out performances on Drumcode and Filth on Acid label showcases across the globe. Combining a big room sensibility with a dark, underground, raw edge, HI-LO has become a trusted tastemaker, with his tracks receiving massive support from luminaries of the scene, including Adam Beyer (who signed his ‘Hypnos’ and ‘Wanna Go Bang’ EPs to his Drumcode label and invited him to remix his DJ Rush collab ‘Restore My Soul’), Carl Cox, Solomun, Tale of Us, Anyma, Charlotte de Witte, Enrico Sangiuliano, Pan-Pot, Dubfire, Joseph Capriati, ANNA, Joris Voorn, Robert Hood, Richie Hawtin, and countless other a-list acts. HI-LO was crowned the #1 best-selling and best-streaming techno artist over the last year, according to Beatport. The next chapter in the HI-LO story was the January 2023 launch of HILOMATIK, a new label showcasing his productions alongside music from hot new talents and techno heroes alike that will further expand his musical manifesto. The imprint kicked off with the mighty ‘PURA VIDA’ from the man himself and has many exciting releases in this initial year, including ‘RIDE OR DIE’ (w/ Eli Brown), ‘Bonzai,’ ‘Brazil,’ ‘Arpeggio’ (w/ Space 92) and the two-track ‘Nirvana EP’ with Reinier Zonneveld.

HI-LO FALL TOUR SCHEDULE

Nov 19: Dreamfields x Drumcode - Guadalajara, Mexico

Nov 25: Cirque Mystique - Amsterdam, Netherlands