At the root of Nick Lapien and Robin Koek’s Artefakt project is a shared love for melancholic, hypnotic voodoo music. Their sound is pensive with deep, rich textures; long track lengths—often six-minutes-plus—give the duo an expansive framework in which to make small changes of texture and tone, creating cerebral, balanced atmospheres that absorb and engage. “Sometimes we just take a short element, like the sound of a falling drop of water, and from this recording we extract the rhythm and use it as a starting point,” they say. “It’s a very organic way of creating new material.” 

As a live act, Lapien and Koek have performed all across Europe, North America, and Asia, their analog-heavy set a must-see for fans of melodic and deeply emotive techno. Drawing on their shared love for collecting records, they also perform as DJs, crafting long, hypnotic narratives laced with exclusive material and records from their expansive collections, old and new. 

Pioneering their meticulous and layered sound through renowned Dutch imprints Field and Delsin Records, an expansive catalog emerged, placing Artefakt at the center of soundscape-informed techno. After a decade of producing signature sound records, the duo explores collaborative creation with artists close to them, such as Claudio PRC, KMRU, and Maayan Nidam, crafting records based on studio improvisation, featured through their imprint De Stijl. In the world of Artefakt, music is not just heard; it is felt, it is lived.