As 2026 approaches, I’ll be celebrating 20 years of U-Recken. But for a while, I stepped back from the traditional “producer grind.” Not because I lost the passion but because I knew I needed time to understand what it means to be a sustainable artist in today’s world. I had to unlearn some industry myths, rebuild from the inside out, and reconnect with the purpose behind the music.
A few days ago, I heard a lector from a Rebbi I follow. I realized it perfectly described the struggles I’ve been navigating for years. It got me thinking about the principles that have quietly carried me through two decades in electronic music: the highs, the devastating lows, and everything in between.
I want to share seven rules that have shaped my approach to creative resilience. Not because I’m some guru but because these principles pulled me through real crises and helped me build something more sustainable and meaningful than I ever imagined possible.
When Everything Falls Apart
Let me paint you a picture. It’s 2017, and I’ve been running Tree of Life, a festival that’s been my baby for five years. We’ve got thousands of people coming, artists booked, and everything locked in. Then, ten days before the event, I get the call every organizer fears: “The venue is shut down. Contaminated water. Health emergency. You can’t use it.”
Ten. Fucking. Days.
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I didn’t give up. With the help of my team of warriors, I found a new location and pulled off the impossible. Ticket cancellations followed our transparent public announcement (with tons of shaming for no reason), while we held the festival in full with zero artist/program cancellations. As a result, I lost €170,000 in the process. And now I have 7 years of debt ahead of me (add Covid and an ongoing war in the country as the cherry on top, and it’s still going). My artist and festival reputation are both ruined. The whole house of cards just collapsed.
What was born out of the vision and desire to do good in the world became some weird walk of shame.
But over time, I discovered that failure isn’t the opposite of success; it’s the raw material for it. Every setback became an insight. Every mistake became a lesson I am now about to share with other producers facing seemingly impossible situations.
While financially devastating, the COVID era and the pandemic lockdowns allowed me to stop and investigate what had gone wrong and what needed to change. I dove deep into NLP training, digital marketing, and personal development studies and work (while also developing another kind of issue called G.A.S., but that’s a story for another time), not because I wanted to become a self-help coach, but because I was tired of repeatedly making the same costly mistakes.
The beginning of the Final Chapter
As I begin work on my sixth album, I see it as more than just another release – it’s the start of a new chapter.
This time, I’m doing what I’ve always resisted: documenting everything: the process, the mindset shifts, the creative blocks, the breakthroughs – all of it, not for attention but to create something deeper and more meaningful.
I envision a community of producers built on shared experience, real education, growth, accountability, and mutual support. And it starts here – with me opening the doors to the behind-the-scenes of this album – not just the highlights but the actual systems, tools, and truths that hold the creative journey together.
As I write these lines, I’m actively building BIGFREQ, a space where music producers can find clarity, avoid common pitfalls, and build lasting careers and, hopefully, something much more.
At this point, it’s no longer just about my music. It’s about helping others turn their passion into something sustainable – without losing their soul.
The 7 Rules That Changed Everything
Rule 1: Create More Than You Consume
So, as I already mentioned, COVID marked my life’s most significant learning period.
I became obsessed with growth, not just in music production but in everything that supports it. I dove deep into mixing and mastering, completed professional training, and became a far more skilled and confident producer. But it didn’t stop there. I was equally drawn to mindset and personal development, marketing, and systems because I realized that talent alone doesn’t build a sustainable career.
And somewhere along the way, I also learned that even learning has limits and a straightforward rule not many discuss.
There’s always time for tutorials and inspiration, but learning can easily become procrastination in disguise. The real transformation began when I stopped waiting to know more and started applying what I already knew. The fundamental flow is simple: Decide, act, and realize.
The decision to create content around my music might be the single best investment of time I will make; I can feel it. It will create a feedback loop that will enable everything to fall into place, including reconnecting with fans, building a fresh community, and generating opportunities I would never discover otherwise.
Rule 2: Discomfort Is The Teacher
Growth lives in the uncomfortable space between where you are and where you want to be.
I’ve learned that firsthand – because failure has been one of my greatest teachers.
Looking back at the tracks that didn’t hit, the gigs that fell flat (or sideways), or the business moves that blew up in my face, I don’t see shame anymore. I see data. Each one held a message I needed to hear. Some taught me where my ego was in the way. Others revealed the blind spots I didn’t want to admit I had. But every single one brought me closer to clarity.
I’ve come to understand that the goal isn’t to avoid failure. It’s to fail better – faster, with less fear and more awareness. That’s where real growth begins.
Rule 3: Be Your Own Witness
Here’s the paradox: we create art to be shared – but the more we obsess over how it will be received, the more we risk destroying the very soul of the work.
This is where the internal critic gets loud. It whispers doubts, fuels hesitation, and slowly drains the joy from the process. I’ve felt it many times – that voice that says you’re not good enough, not ready, not relevant anymore.
But there’s a difference between the critic and the editor, and learning to distinguish them changed everything for me.
- The critic wants to shut you down. The editor wants to help you improve.
- Save the editor. Silence the critic. That’s where real progress begins.
Rule 4: Don’t Wait For Permission
After the major setbacks I’ve faced – as an artist and as an individual – it’s easy to fall into the trap of waiting. Waiting for the right moment, the perfect idea, the cosmic green light. But I’ve learned the hard way: no grand sign from the universe tells you when to move. The time to create is always now.
In the past, I gave the world what I felt needed to be made – music that carried a message that healed me while it moved others. And while audiences often want more of what they’ve already received, I know that staying true to the creative instinct – the one that birthed this project in the first place – is the only real compass.
Looking ahead, I’m not waiting for permission. I’m committed to trusting that inner pulse again and again. Because that’s where the real U-Recken lives, and that’s the version I want to share with the world.
Rule 5: Satisfaction Over Validation
The numbers won’t always go up; chasing them can quietly kill what makes you an artist. I’ve fallen into that trap too, refreshing stats, comparing plays, and measuring progress by metrics instead of meaning.
But here’s something I remind myself often: the track I once hated would’ve blown my mind five years earlier. We forget how far we’ve come because we’re focused on where we should be.
Growth isn’t always visible on a graph. Sometimes, it’s subtle, internal, and deeply personal.
In the end, it’s the process that holds the real magic – not the numbers, not the hype. Just you, the sound, and the act of turning feeling into form. That’s the reward.
Rule 6: Act In Your Nature
A tree doesn’t grow big and beautiful because it wants to be impressive. It just does what trees do.
I found my path by leaning into what felt natural, making psytrance, building community, and sharing knowledge. Sometimes, this means your work will be polarizing, and that’s exactly right. If your art and, inevitably, your personality are designed to please everyone, they will connect with no one.
Rule 7: Share Effortlessly
When you truly internalize that you’re both the best and the worst at what you do – that you hold greatness and imperfection simultaneously – something powerful unlocks. The weight of external judgment begins to fade, and in its place, creative freedom emerges.
This is the space I’m stepping into more and more. A space where I don’t wait for perfection – I show up. Share. Refine. Repeat.
The more we create, the more we grow. The more we release, the better we become. Quantity breeds quality, not through shortcuts but through practice, presence, and momentum.
This is the path I see for myself, and every artist is willing to live it fully.
The Snowball Effect
These rules work like a snowball effect: start small, stay consistent, and let momentum carry you forward.
It might begin with committing to one track weekly instead of getting lost in endless tutorials or sharing a raw work-in-progress instead of waiting for perfection. These tiny shifts create motion, which builds confidence.
Each step compounds. Each action expands your capacity. Before you know it, you’re not just making progress – you’re becoming the kind of artist who moves through resistance instead of waiting for it to disappear.
That’s the vision I hold for myself and every producer who chooses to walk this path alongside me.
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Where This Led Me
Today, I’m about to start working on my sixth album while running FeedFreq Triniq, My Marketing Agency Cyblinks, And now the newborn BigFreq Academy, managing multiple businesses and raising five kids. I’m not superhuman because I learned to build systems that support each other instead of competing for my attention. And it’s something I intend to pass on to others.
My music career feeds into my educational platform, which connects to my business ventures and supports my creative time. It’s an ecosystem where each part strengthens the others. super challenging, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Your Creative Liberation
So here I am – two decades into U-Recken, still evolving, still learning, and more committed than ever -not just to my growth but to building something that lives beyond me – a movement, a space, a frequency that nurtures the artist and the human behind it.
Because I’ve seen what happens when we isolate and try to carry it all alone, I’ve also seen the magic that unfolds when we support each other openly, honestly, and without ego.
This isn’t just about building a music career. It’s about designing a life that feels whole: one small step at a time. If that resonates with you, Join the Free FeedFreq/Bigfreq communities, where electronic artists and music enthusiasts share strategies that work because this journey is too important to navigate alone. Who knows? Maybe we’re meant to walk this next part together.
In any case, I’ll be here – creating, documenting, building, and creating the space.
Thanks for reading through me, and stay tuned – A new storm is coming.
