Schak
Mixmag Lab London
Schak’s Mixmag Lab London appearance is a clinic in modern, peak-time tech house that doesn't rely on the same five loop tools. This is for the after-hours crew who still want melody with their muscle, a set that balances big-room energy with underground credibility. The Lab is transformed into a sweatbox, all strobe flashes and collective release. Technically, Schak drives the energy hard, with a BPM average of 142 that sits at the faster end of tech house, bordering on hard techno.
The harmonic progression is clever, starting in the anthemic 12A and dipping into the darker, more driving 3B for the heaviest sections. The energy profile is perfectly balanced for a club: a solid, punchy low-end, a clear and present mid-range for those catchy vocal hooks and synth riffs, and just enough high-end sizzle to keep everything crisp. His mixing is dynamic, using tracks like his own 'Inferno' as explosive reset buttons, but also showing finesse with longer, tension-building blends on classics. The tracklist is a mix of new weapons and reworked monsters.
Opening with Patrick Topping's 'Make Me Happy' is a confident, joy-inducing move. The Victor Calderone remix of 808 State's 'Cübik' is a timeless rave weapon given a modern sheen. Ben Hemsley's 'Every Little Thing' provides a peak-time sing-along moment, while Ul2raViolet's 'Macabre' offers a darker, percussive detour. The journey is expertly paced: it starts with euphoric house, builds to a frenetic peak with the relentless drive of 'Inferno', and delivers a final, emotional payoff with the trance-tinged vocals of Flynn & Denton & Audrey Gallagher's 'Say My Name' in the Sied Van Riel Remix.