I Hate Models is the project of French DJ and electronic producer Guillaume Labadie, one of the most prominent figures on the contemporary harder techno scene. His music combines techno, industrial, acid, EBM, trance, hardcore, rave and atmospheric electronics, while the project’s defining characteristic remains the contrast between heavy rhythmic structures and a pronounced melodic component.
I Hate Models gained widespread attention after the Warehouse Memories EP and the track Daydream in 2016. Over the following years, Labadie released a series of records on ARTS, Khemia, Monnom Black and Perc Trax, and in 2019 presented his debut full-length album L’Âge Des Métamorphoses. In 2021, he launched his own label, Disco Inferno, which became the main platform for his subsequent original releases.
Beginning of the project
The first years of I Hate Models immediately revealed the direction that would later become one of the project’s defining features. Instead of minimalist functional techno, Labadie created long compositions with several emotional and rhythmic phases, combining heavy percussion with arpeggios, pads, acid lines and melodies influenced by trance and 1990s rave music.
The decisive release was Warehouse Memories, issued by ARTS on 29 July 2016. The EP included the original version of Warehouse Memories, an Emmanuel remix, as well as Daydream and Shades Of Night.
Daydream became particularly significant. It already contained the characteristic formula of early I Hate Models: hard techno rhythms contrasted with emotional synthesizer parts and an almost trance-like melodic structure. Perc Trax would later directly describe Daydream as the track that marked the beginning of the project’s rapid rise.
Cyanure Dance and Totsuka No Tsurugi
In 2017, Labadie rapidly expanded his discography with several fundamentally different releases.
On 7 April, Khemia Records released Cyanure Dance. The nine-minute track was built around an acid bassline, arpeggios, distorted wave textures and I Hate Models’ own vocals. Khemia itself described the track through a combination of acid, psychedelic punk-wave and atmospheric elements.
On 17 July, ARTS released the four-track project Totsuka No Tsurugi:
- Eternal Loneliness
- Totsuka No Tsurugi
- Heartbreaker
- Demons From the Past.
The material significantly strengthened the melodic and trance side of I Hate Models. The ten-minute Eternal Loneliness was especially representative, with the long development of the composition proving just as important as the club rhythm itself.
By 2017, it had therefore already become clear that I Hate Models could not accurately be defined solely as an industrial techno project.
State Of Control
In September 2017, I Hate Models made his debut on Monnom Black, the label founded by Dax J, with the EP State Of Control.
It included:
- State Of Control
- She Said Fuck People I Have Drugs
- Emerald
- Last Kiss Before Death
On this release, the industrial side of his sound moved to the forefront: harder rhythms were combined with EBM, acid and dark synthesizer parts.
Depeche Mode remix
That same year, I Hate Models received the opportunity to work officially with material by Depeche Mode.
On 6 October 2017, Cover Me (I Hate Models Cold Lights Remix) was released. The nearly ten-minute version appeared through Columbia/Sony.
For an artist who only a year earlier had released his debut EP on ARTS, an official remix of one of the world’s most famous electronic groups represented a significant expansion of his professional range.
Midnight Cults
In August 2018, I Hate Models returned to Khemia Records with Midnight Cults.
The central tracks were It Will Last Forever and Walpurgis Night. The latter featured vocals by Zanias, known for her work with Linea Aspera and Keluar. The release also included a remix by DJ Varsovie.
Midnight Cults continued the direction introduced by Cyanure Dance: industrial and techno coexist here with wave, atmospheric synthesizers and vocal elements.
Perc Trax and Spreading Plague
At the end of 2018, an important collaboration with the British label Perc Trax began.
On 23 November, the EP Spreading Plague was released. The title track ran for around ten minutes, while the reverse side of the record featured a remix by label founder Perc.
At the time, DJ Mag described I Hate Models’ sets through a combination of fast techno, classic rave and pronounced trance melodies. This fairly accurately describes the transitional phase before his first album.
L’Âge Des Métamorphoses
The major studio work of his early period was the debut album L’Âge Des Métamorphoses, released by Perc Trax in June 2019. The physical edition appeared on 21 June, while digital catalogues list 28 June.
It is a large-scale work consisting of 12 tracks with a total running time of around 93 minutes:
- The Beginning Of The End
- Crossing The Mirror
- Impossible Love
- You Are Not Alone
- The Night Is Our Kingdom
- Those Shiny Razor Blades
- Partner In Crime
- Romantic Psycho
- Sexual Tension
- Forgiveness
- Fade Away
- Eternity Is Burning
All tracks were written and produced by I Hate Models himself. Several tracks feature his own vocals as well as the voice of M. Luna. Mastering was handled by Matt Colton, known for his work across a broad range of experimental and electronic music.
The album is fundamentally not structured as a collection of uniform club instrumentals. Within individual tracks, melodic and atmospheric sections give way to industrial rhythms, acid and more direct techno. Perc Trax itself emphasised that the tracks constantly evolve and rarely settle into traditional extended techno loops.
L’Âge Des Métamorphoses ultimately established I Hate Models as an artist for whom heaviness and melody are not opposing phases of his work, but elements of a single musical system.
Intergalactic Emotional Breakdown
Just a few months after the album, Labadie returned to ARTS with Intergalactic Emotional Breakdown.
The release appeared on 1 November 2019 and included:
- Intergalactic Emotional Breakdown
- Death Engine
- Velvet
- Virtual Punishment — on the digital edition
ARTS directly linked the material to the principle of emotional contrast that had already been present on Warehouse Memories.
Therefore, the occasionally encountered dating of Intergalactic Emotional Breakdown to 2020 is also inaccurate: the original release dates to 2019.
Disco Inferno
In 2021, I Hate Models launched his own label, Disco Inferno.
The first release was Disco Inferno 01, issued on 12 February 2021. The EP contained three tracks:
- Two Steps From Heaven
- Sad Groove
- Lazy In Hell
The label name closely matches the broader aesthetics of I Hate Models. Within its concept, club music is viewed primarily through individual emotional perception: the same melody or rhythm can evoke completely different memories and reactions in different listeners.
Disco Inferno gave Labadie the freedom to release music outside the calendars and stylistic frameworks of external labels and gradually became the central platform for his original material.
Werewolf Disco Club
The second Disco Inferno release was Werewolf Disco Club, issued on 24 September 2021.
It is a standalone nine-minute composition in which a heavy rhythmic foundation is combined with hypnotic development and pronounced club dramaturgy.
Over time, Werewolf Disco Club became one of I Hate Models’ most recognisable recordings and continues to rank among his popular tracks in digital catalogues.
Sexy Beast and expansion beyond techno
In 2023, I Hate Models released a collaborative track with French electronic musician Vitalic — Sexy Beast.
The single was released on 28 July through RAW. and differed noticeably from Labadie’s hardest material: the original version runs at a significantly lower tempo and demonstrates his interest in electro and other forms of European electronic music beyond hard techno.
Projects like this are important for understanding I Hate Models: even after the rise in popularity of harder techno, he did not turn the stage name into a project with a single fixed sound.
Forever Melancholia
At the end of 2024, Disco Inferno released one of the most significant projects since his debut album — Forever Melancholia.
The project contains five tracks:
- For My People
- Forever Melancholia
- Twin Souls
- Forgotten Future
- Nostalgica
The material was written and produced by I Hate Models, while mixing and additional production were handled by Aasthma.
On Forever Melancholia, the sound became noticeably faster: Beatport classifies several tracks as Hard Dance / Hardcore / Neo Rave, with tempos in the approximate range of 152–156 BPM. At the same time, the rapid rhythms are again paired with large melodic themes and the same melancholic element already present in Daydream and Eternal Loneliness.
Remixes and work with other artists
In addition to his own releases, I Hate Models regularly works as a remixer.
His catalogue includes the official version of Cover Me by Depeche Mode, a reinterpretation of producer Perc’s Look What Your Love Has Done To Me, remixes for Remco Beekwilder and other artists from the electronic scene.
In 2026, he also created the Never Alone Remix of ILLENIUM feat. Bring Me The Horizon — Slave to the Rhythm. Released on 29 May, it became another example of I Hate Models moving far beyond the boundaries of a traditional techno catalogue.
DJ sets
I Hate Models’ DJ sets are an equally important part of the project.
His performances are rarely confined to a single subgenre. A single set may move through industrial techno, hard techno, acid, EBM, trance, rave, hardcore and more melodic records. Resident Advisor describes this approach as a deliberate rejection of genre restrictions: the energy can shift sharply from a heavy rhythmic section to an atmospheric or melodic passage and back again.
I Hate Models is also known for his physically intense presence behind the decks. The mask, energetic movement and emotional reaction to his own set gradually became part of his recognisable stage image. In 2025, DJ Mag specifically highlighted his stage energy and ability to bring different styles together.
At the same time, it is more accurate to refer specifically to DJ sets rather than automatically calling every performance a live set: DJing remains the foundation of Labadie’s international touring career.
From the club underground to major festivals
I Hate Models began his career within the European underground techno scene, but the scale of the venues gradually increased significantly.
He has performed at numerous major club and festival events, and by the mid-2020s his touring geography included Ultra Miami and EDC Las Vegas. DJ Mag viewed these appearances as an indication of how far hard and industrial-oriented techno had moved from specialised underground scenes onto major international stages.
At the same time, Labadie continues to play extended special-format performances. One example was Refract: I Hate Models All Night Long at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles — a large standalone production with a 360-degree stage and a specially developed visual concept.
DJ Mag Top 100 DJs
In 2025, I Hate Models entered the main DJ Mag Top 100 DJs ranking for the first time, reaching No. 79.
DJ Mag’s editorial profile described him as a French techno DJ known for combining raw, heavy rhythms, euphoric elements and melancholic production.
This result should not be confused with the vague «Alternative Top 100» references often found in automatically generated biographies of the artist: the confirmed notable result is specifically his debut at No. 79 in the main Top 100 DJs 2025.
Musical style
I Hate Models is usually associated with techno and hard techno, although his music is difficult to describe accurately through a single genre.
In the early discography, industrial, EBM, acid and rave are especially important. Totsuka No Tsurugi and Daydream show clear trance influence; Midnight Cults touches on wave and more atmospheric electronics; later material increasingly incorporates hard dance and neo-rave.
The main unifying element is not genre, but construction through contrast.
Heavy distorted kicks can coexist with soft pads and expansive melodies; industrial noise with trance arpeggios; high speed with extended atmospheric introductions. In some tracks, the musical direction changes several times within a single composition. Resident Advisor highlights precisely this ability to switch between «bruising rhythm» and atmospheric episodes in the artist’s official biography.
Melancholy as part of the music of I Hate Models
One of the most persistent concepts in Labadie’s catalogue is melancholia.
It is present not only in the title Forever Melancholia. Earlier works such as Daydream, Eternal Loneliness, Intergalactic Emotional Breakdown and others were already built around the contrast between the physical energy of club music and emotionally charged harmonies.
The project’s own description also connects its music with nostalgia, passion, loneliness, melancholy and brutality, with opposing emotional states capable of coexisting within a single track or DJ set.
For this reason, the phrase «emotional techno», often applied to I Hate Models, describes the underlying principle of his music more accurately than it identifies any official standalone genre.
Visual identity
The mask became one of the most recognisable elements of the I Hate Models image even before the COVID-19 pandemic. It emphasises the distance between Guillaume Labadie’s private life and his stage persona, although describing the artist as completely anonymous would be inaccurate.
As the scale of his shows increased, the visual side of his performances became more complex. Large solo productions use industrial and brutalist stage design, lighting structures and spatial staging, although the visual component remains subordinate to the musical dramaturgy rather than existing as a separate branding element.
Selected discography
- Warehouse Memories — EP, 2016
- Daydream — 2016
- Cyanure Dance — 2017
- Totsuka No Tsurugi — 2017
- State Of Control — EP, 2017
- Depeche Mode — Cover Me (I Hate Models Cold Lights Remix) — 2017
- Midnight Cults — 2018
- Spreading Plague — 2018
- L’Âge Des Métamorphoses — album, 2019
- Intergalactic Emotional Breakdown — 2019
- Disco Inferno 01 — 2021
- Werewolf Disco Club — 2021
- Vitalic & I Hate Models — Sexy Beast — 2023
- Forever Melancholia — 2024
- Twin Souls — 2024
The significance of I Hate Models for the contemporary techno scene
I Hate Models emerged in the mid-2010s at a time when the European techno scene was once again showing growing interest in higher tempos, industrial textures, rave aesthetics and trance melodies. His early releases became part of that transformation, but Labadie stood out because he never abandoned openly emotional harmonies even in his hardest material.
Daydream, Cyanure Dance, Totsuka No Tsurugi, State Of Control and later L’Âge Des Métamorphoses established a recognisable approach long before hard techno and neo-rave reached a much broader festival audience.
Later releases on Disco Inferno demonstrate that this approach did not simply turn into repetition of the early industrial techno formula. The music became faster and moved closer to hard dance and neo-rave, but the contrast between heavy club energy, trance-influenced melody and melancholic atmosphere remained central to I Hate Models. It is precisely this ability to change form while preserving a recognisable emotional logic that defines his place on the contemporary electronic music scene.
