Rare Wiri has been described by the label's architect Rayko as his 'Ugly Baby' - which at the time I took to mean a labour of love, a duty and perhaps something that wasn't appreciated, cherished nor celebrated by anyone outside of the immediate family. This was some years ago and a whole lot has changed since then.

I caught up with Rayko recently to discuss life in 2020/21, his situation in Madrid and how he has coped with the restrictions and differences brought about by Covid-19.

Initially there was a sense of shock with the infection rates, the fear and high death rates which led to the unprecedented restrictions in Spain, complete with militia style policing, on the spot fines and street arrests for those flouting the rules.

Madrid was shutdown. People were barely allowed to leave their homes and apart from a short trip to the local shops for supplies only dog walkers and police were on the streets.

It wasn't long before Rayko spotted a craze emerging on the streets of Madrid, which he called me about. People has started to walk fake dogs on home crafted leads in order to take more time outdoors. This hilarious and creative response to the restrictions imposed, appealed to his sense of fun and humour.

Next came the first heavy snowfall in living memory, the city was covered in deep white drifts for well over a week. Weird times indeed.

Rayko reacted well to the new normal and has spent this past year in his own deeply creative period working on new tracks including a series of originals featuring Elena Hikari on vocals.

His label Rare Wiri is now a centurion with just over 100 releases and a cast of artists including Danielle Baldelli, Eric Duncan, Psychemagik, Ilya Santana, In Flagranti, Sauco and of course Rayko.

The past year has given us a chance to reflect on many things and identify what is important to us all. Rayko and I have enjoyed a close relationship for many years and refer to one another as disco brothers. He was the very first artist I signed at Unity after tracking him down to meet in a seedy nightclub in Paris. We have endured some tricky times over the years and celebrated many, many more together on dance floors and DJ booths around Europe.

The core of our relationship has always been about music, Rayko's commitment and obsessive focus on what he believes to be great music has never wavered. He generates more content than any other artist I represent or have ever worked with. He produces a constant stream of originals, reworks, remixes, re-edits and artwork. recently he has started to make videos for many Rare Wiri releases too.

Rayko has a spirit of kindness and generosity that has seen him put out more mixtapes for blogs, labels and fans than most of us have hot dinners. Rayko (meaning Rock)is a man of stamina and will continue long after many will have called it a day. Just ask anyone that's partied with him, he still looks fresh at 7am ...on day 2!!

Naturally, he was more than willing to put a mix together for the Unity agency recently, however we decided to explore some of the different ideas and music he is into for this one. Rayko sports a large Vangelis tattoo on his forearm and has long lauded the brilliance of Tangerine Dream from an array of afterparty sofas, so I suggested we dig deeper into this arena of talent for the mix.

I am absolutely delighted with what he sent across and have been hoarding it for way too long. Thank you Rayko - See you on a dancefloor soon, my disco brother.

Words by Paul Budd (aka Pablo Contraband)