Meet 7 Central & Eastern European artists shaping the regional electronic music scene

When it comes to European electronic music, the beginner's mistake is to immediately think of Berlin or London. It's true that these are major electronic centers, but many Central and Eastern European countries boast a particularly active and intense scene. From EDM to deep-house, from the sparkling sound of electro-pop to the heavy bass lines of hard techno, there's something for everyone. And that's not counting the many local sub-genres to discover, such as Romanian “popcorn”, a mix of supercharged dance and europop.

The whole region is teeming with producers, DJs and labels - such as the emblematic Global Records - bringing electronic music to life in all its forms. And even if it's only a small sample of the whole scene, we invite you to discover some of these artists in our selection of the day. 

Irina Rimes was born and raised in Moldova She moved to Romania in 2016, after signing with Quantum Music, with whom she released the single “Visele”, a perfect pop hit that reached number one in the Romanian radio charts and the heart of the Romanian audience.

Since then, she has released five albums - Despre el, Cosmos, Pastila,  Acasă  and Origini - and countless successful singles, wrote for other artists and played sold-out tours all over Europe... While she considers herself primarily a pop singer - listen to “Nu știi tu să fii bărbat” for proof - many of her hits fall into the dance-pop realm, such as “N-avem timp”; “Ba ba ba - Inima mea bate” or “Laisse Tomber les filles”. Because yes, Irina also sings in French now: last April, she released the song “Dis-moi Maman”

In Origini, released last June, Irina Rimes surrounded herself with traditional musicians to blend Romanian folk music with electronic rhythms. The result is simply stunning, and the public loves it: the single “Dudadu” already has reached a million streams on Spotify. First remixed by Goldcher ("Dudalu Flip”, played live at Tomorrowland by KeineMusic), the song is taking the EDM scene by storm with a remix by legendary DJ Tiësto and another by the no less popular Steve Aoki!

Although his first releases as Monoir date back to 2016, Cristian Tarcea has been in the music business for almost 20 years. Born in 1993, he has been making music since age 5. In 2008, he released his first productions, then founded Thrace Music, his own studio and label, in 2012. He has produced for numerous artists including Dharia (Sugar & Brownies), Kate Linn (Your Love) or Brianna (Lost In Istanbul).

Monoir's first major breakthrough came with the track “The Violin Song”, featuring singers Osaka and Brianna (currently 10 million streams on Spotify). Subsequent singles such as “Save The Night” and “Marrakech” honed his musical style, a combination of pop, dance, house and Afro/Latin influences blending with Eastern and Central European folk music. His trademark style can be heard on tracks such as “Lonely” and “Durum”, again with Kate Linn. In 2023, he broke into the Korean market, earning a 2x Gold Record and over 250M streams across platform with his production on KAI’s hit “Rover”

Multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, singer, videographer, Monoir is above all relentless. Since the beginning of 2024, he has released no less than ten singles. Some, like “Taka Taki”, with Iulana Beregoi, or “Summer's Gone”, have already exceeded one million views on YouTube. The recently released single “Love & Harmony”, featuring Turkish producer Serhat Durmuş and singer Féa, is already approaching 500K views on YouTube.

In her ten-year career, Polish producer Zamilska has made her mark through her radical and experimental style, drawing inspiration from industrial techno, contemporary music, metal and traditional music. In 2014, she released Untune, her 1st album which was highly acclaimed for its innovative approach. The track “Duel 35” was even used by Dior for a fashion show in Japan.

After her Undone EP in 2016 (which included the track “FuckFray”, endorsed by Nine Inch Nails), Zamilska had a big year in 2017: her single “Closer” was played by Iggy Pop on the BBC, she  got her own show on Polish radio station Czwórka, and she contributed to the soundtrack of acclaimed action computer game Ruiner. In 2019, her 3rd album, Uncovered, also received rave reviews. During these years, Zamilska remixed numerous artists - including Paula Temple, Gazelle Twin and The Editors - and performed at numerous European festivals. All of her three albums were nominated in the Electronic Album of The Year category of The Fryderyk Awards.

After several singles in 2022, including a cover of “Duel 35” with a chamber orchestra, she created the soundtrack for the 2023 Netflix film Mother's Day, which earned her another Fryderyk nomination. Announced at the beginning of 2024 with the fierce single “No Gods”, followed by the post-punk-sounding “Odyssey”, United Kingdom of Anxiety is Zamilska's explosive 4th album, launched last October 4!

Hailing from Moldova but based in Romania, Vanotek started his career at 17 by producing for local artists such as Dan Balan. Released in 2015, his debut single “My Heart is Gone” was an instant hit and went on to be nominated for “Best Romanian Performer” at the 2016 MTV Europe Music Awards.

In 2018, he released his first - and so far, only - album, in which he detailed the breadth of his talents on 13 tracks with sounds ranging from deep-house to pop, dance and electro. The dance-pop singles “Tell Me Who” and “Back To Me”, featuring Romanian singer Eneli, reached the top of the Romanian, Polish and Ukrainian charts, the latter still being one of his major track with no less than 18 million streams on Spotify. The following years, he released several successful tracks such as "Cherry Lips", "Dirty Diamonds" with Tobi Ibitoye and “Someone”.

Although he is still very active in the dance-pop vein, as evidenced by the single “Better Now” released last June, he has also produced house tracks such as “Shoot your Shot” and afro-pop/afro-house tracks such as “Infinito” or the recently released “Prayer”. His latest project, Top Boy, is fully in line with this genre, as evidenced by the recently released single “Closer” and the subsequent remix by Cricket.

In a career spanning almost ten years, Albanian producer Marin Hoxha has worked with numerous labels (including the renowned UK label NoCopyRight Sound, Frequency Music, Bass Rebels and Jupita) and released countless tracks, both solo and with other producers and singers, spanning many sub-genres of electronic music (from deep-house to EDM and trap) which enabled him to break the 100 million streams mark on Spotify.

Marin Hoxha's discography is so dense that it's best to focus solely on his 2024 releases to better understand his work. After all, Marin has released no less than 29 singles and 1 EP since January! Throughout the year, he has produced house and EDM tracks ("Outta My Head", "LightSpeed", “Not Us”), future bass ("Reboot", "Space Song"), phonk tracks ("Automotivo 2000", "Andale") and of cours dance and dance-pop tracks, like "Tattoo" with US singer Rachel Loring or "Aman" with Albanian pop singer (and Eurovision contestant) Besa. This last track being released on SoundSet Records, Marin's own label, who also happens to have his own studio, SoundSet Studio.

Far from settling down, Marin Hoxha and his fellow producer Vinsmoker have just released their new EP Witch Funk right on time for Halloween. The eponymous track is a baile-funk-inspired future bass banger, spooky and tailored for a highly danceable DJ set! And given the frenetic pace of Marin Hoxha's work, it's a safe bet that new songs are already in the pipeline.

Holy Molly is what you'd call a precocious artist: a choir singer from the age of three, she studied singing from an early age, and began her professional career in Romania 2010 - at just 14 - with the track “You Don't Love Me”. But it was then as Miss Mary that she made a name for herself in her country and internationally, with pop and electro-pop tracks such as “Outlaw” and “Shadow” with producer It's Different.

After a career spanning several years, Miss Mary retired from the scene in 2019... and Holy Molly immediately took over with the singles “Everybody's Scared” and “Ménage à Trois” (with producer duo LIZOT), signalling the continuation of the artist's musical turn - already well underway - towards dance-pop and EDM. This direction was subsequently confirmed with singles such as “Twinkle Twinkle”, “Sunday Night” and “Shot a Friend”. With millions of streams to their credit, these singles are also played by DJs at numerous festivals.

Following a very busy 2023, during which she released 13 singles and the EP Liliac, Holy Molly has kept up her energy in 2024, as she has already released 8 singles, including a cover version “Lacrimi din stilou”… a Miss Mary hit! Designed for clubbers, her latest single “No Plan - Yo” is fresh off the presses and should set dancefloors alight in the coming weeks.

While deep-house is undoubtedly the genre in which Moonsound's music could be classified, the Bucharest-based producer and DJ has demonstrated over the course of his career that he doesn't confine himself to just one style.  Active since 2015, Moonsound has ventured into pop and dance across his solo tracks, his productions for other artists.

As a matter of fact, Moonsound has made a name for itself as an outstanding remixer. His remix of Romanian dance-pop band Morandi's hit “Love Me” remains one of Moonsound's greatest reference tracks, and he has remixed many Romanian artists: Irina Rimes, Andra, Fly Project, Alexandra Stan, just to name a few. He recently remixed the single “Marabou” by Romanian-American singer Antonia. And while he naturally composes for himself, he also produces other artists, such as Ioana Ignat, for whom he signed the track “Pariu cu dragostea”, released in August.

We had to wait until 2023 for Moonsound to release Bipolar Love, a 10-track debut album featuring the artist's trademark blend of electronic pop and deep-house. The album already boasts several million streams on Spotify, with “Believer” alone racking up 3.7 million listens. And far from resting, Moonsound has continued to release singles and remixes with impressive regularity. Released in August, “What Is Love” with Tamaz is his most recent track.