DJ & Producer · France
I Hate Models
I Hate Models is a masked French techno artist, founder of the Disco Inferno label and creator of the 2024 release Forever Melancholia.
quick facts
- Nationality
- French
- Active since
- 2015
- Labels
- Disco Inferno, Perc Trax, ARTS
- Genres
- Techno, Industrial Techno, Hard Techno
Sources: en.wikipedia.org, exitfest.org, amsterdam-dance-event.nl, beatportal.com
I Hate Models is one of the clearest examples of a techno artist whose persona carries as much weight as his records. The French producer and DJ plays masked, gives almost no interviews and has still gone from a 2015 debut single to stadium-sized rooms, a label of his own and a global party series called Disco Inferno. What follows sticks to what is publicly documented, and deliberately does not go beyond it on his private identity.
An Anonymous Artist
The project began in 2015 with the single "Persephone", according to Wikipedia. The artist wears a mask in public and, per Wikipedia, keeps contact with the press to a minimum. EXIT Festival's profile says the mask, adopted before the pandemic, adds mystique to his persona. He is French, and Wikipedia says he grew up in the south of France.
Some reference sites list personal details, but the artist himself has not published a birth date or a personal biography, and this page does not repeat details he has not chosen to share. The stage name is explained in festival bios as a rejection of rigid patterns and genre "models" in electronic music, not a reference to the fashion world.
From ARTS to Perc Trax
He broke out in late 2016 with the EP Warehouse Memories on ARTS, according to the Amsterdam Dance Event artist profile. Over the next two years he was prolific, releasing EPs including 500 Lesbians in Irak, The Black Dissident EP, The Lost Tapes, Absolution XXL, Totsuka No Tsurugi and State of Control, spread across labels such as Voitax and T/W/B. ADE also lists Khemia and Pls.uk among his labels.
The step up came with Perc Trax in London. He released the Spreading Plague EP there in late 2018, followed in June 2019 by his debut album, L'Âge des métamorphoses. The same year Mixmag named him a breakthrough DJ, as Wikipedia records. In 2020 the Possession collective invited him to perform for France Télévisions' Culturebox.
Sound
His music sits at the hard, melodic end of techno. ADE's profile describes a blend of rave, industrial, electro, post-punk, wave and EBM influences, with emotional synths set against colder sounds and a thematic focus on melancholia, summed up as a showdown between love and hate, darkness and light. RTS.FM's report on the American hard techno boom names him as one of the defining names of the 2020s raw techno wave, known for tracks that lean into distortion and speed without abandoning techno structure. The same report credits Amelie Lens and Charlotte de Witte with pulling techno toward faster, harder territory from Belgium.
Disco Inferno: Label and Party Series
In February 2021 he launched Disco Inferno, a label and platform for his industrial techno sound, debuting with the three-track EP Disco Inferno 01, Beatportal reported at the time. The imprint became the home for later releases, including Forever Melancholia, whose first single came out on 14 November 2024. Electronic Groove describes it as five tracks released as three singles, and says the project debuted with a billboard in Times Square. Wikipedia lists it as his second album, while some press calls it an EP.
Disco Inferno also became an event brand. A press announcement on 16 March 2026 revealed three new cities for the party series, according to EDM Maniac: Mexico City on 5 June at the Pepsi Center, Bogotá on 6 June, and Istanbul on 4 July at LifePark. It follows a Miami debut at Factory Town on 16 May 2026, in partnership with Insomniac's Factory 93. The artist describes the series as being about melancholy, passion and losing yourself with others on the dance floor.
Live Career and Key Moments
In March 2023 he headlined the opening night of the Phantom club in Paris, per Wikipedia. In early 2024 he played a full night at the Halle Tony Garnier in Lyon, reportedly the first event of its kind there in more than two decades. A Shotgun study from that period ranked him the most-listened-to live artist among Gen Z audiences ahead of Fred again.., according to Wikipedia's account.
EXIT Festival's profile says he has played GelreDome in the Netherlands to an audience of around 30,000 and joined Nico Moreno for a back-to-back at EDC Las Vegas for roughly 50,000 people, and says his track "Intergalactic Emotional Breakdown" was used for a Prada Men's runway show in Milan. These are the festival's claims and we have not seen independent counts. EXIT also billed him for its 25th edition on Friday 11 July 2025, after The Prodigy.
2026: Junction 2, ADE and the Road
Junction 2 billed him for its tenth-anniversary edition on Sunday 2 August 2026, on the day built around harder techno with Charlie Sparks and Funk Tribu. At Amsterdam Dance Event, ADE's artist page listed a Gashouder night, "Gashouder Presents: I Hate Models & Nico Moreno Invite", on Thursday 22 October. Our ADE 2026 wrap-up flags that it only had Mixmag NL's programme preview, not a report of how the night went.
What to Expect Next
No new release date has been announced in the sources we checked. The Disco Inferno series and the label remain the main moving parts, and aggregator listings show further 2026 dates, which should be confirmed with the promoter before travelling.
FAQ
How old is I Hate Models?
His birth date is not officially published. I Hate Models is a masked artist who does not give interviews, and this profile does not state an age.
Where is I Hate Models from?
He is French. Wikipedia says he grew up in the south of France.
What nationality is I Hate Models?
French.
Who is I Hate Models?
I Hate Models is a French techno producer and DJ who has released music since 2015. He performs masked, runs the Disco Inferno label and is known for hard, melancholic techno.
What does the name I Hate Models mean?
Festival bios explain it as a rejection of rigid patterns and genre "models" within electronic music, not a reference to fashion models.
What is I Hate Models' best-known album?
His debut album is L'Âge des métamorphoses (Perc Trax, June 2019). His second release, Forever Melancholia (Disco Inferno), arrived in late 2024 as a five-track project issued in three singles.
What is Disco Inferno?
Disco Inferno is his label, launched in February 2021 with the Disco Inferno 01 EP, and also the name of his party series, with 2026 editions announced for Miami, Mexico City, Bogotá and Istanbul.
Which labels has I Hate Models released on?
ARTS, Perc Trax, Voitax, T/W/B, Khemia, Pls.uk and his own Disco Inferno, according to Wikipedia and the ADE profile.
What does I Hate Models sound like?
Hard, industrial-leaning techno with emotional synth lines and a melancholic edge, drawing on rave, EBM and post-punk influences, according to the ADE profile.
Why does I Hate Models wear a mask?
Wikipedia says he wears it to maintain his anonymity, and EXIT notes it has become part of his signature.