Bside Incoming: Alinka
For our 186th show we take a trip over the Atlantic ocean to Chicago and warmly invite Alinka to showcase some of her favoruite club equipt house and tech records.
"There are at least a few people in this thing determined to keep House Music weird. Chicago’s Alinka is one of them." – Terry Matthew, 5 Magazine.
Alinka is the kind of DJ other DJs will tell you about. She has a unique power on the decks that comes from lifelong passion and time served, with a focused devotion to her first love – house music. Raised on Chicago’s vibrant house sound with toes dipped into Detroit techno, Europe’s more robust approaches to bass music and the myriad of genres coming from cities like Berlin, London, and Paris.
Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Moving to Chicago in the late 80's, she fell head over heels for the chart sounds of Madonna and Janet Jackson. Then came house music from local radio shows where you could frequently hear tracks by Chicago legends like Cajmere and DJ Funk, and shows like Sonic Boom helped expose underground music to the masses. By the late ‘90s, music had taken over her life. Teenage Alinka immersed herself in the dance music scene, spending her summers pulling double shifts at a local pool and moonlighting for rave promoters to build up enough cash to buy decks. After a year of skipping class to relentlessly practice her mixing skills, she began her full-time musical pursuit. Working for various club promoters, doing odd jobs passing out flyers and helping with party logistics - anything just to get into clubs underage to see her favorite DJs - all while spending hours digging for tracks at Chicago’s legendary record shop Gramaphone. In 2001, Justin Long recruited her to be the opening resident for his Dotbleep party at Smartbar where she honed her skills for the best part of a decade.
In 2012, an impromptu meeting with former Hercules and Love Affair vocalist, Shaun J. Wright, changed her life forever. Their evolving friendship resulted in what would be the first of many musical collaborations. The pair launched their Twirl parties and label, continually striving to inspire each other both musically and spiritually; the result has been an impressive catalog of material for both of them collaboratively and individually on the likes of The Classic Music Company, Jackathon Jams, Crosstown Rebels, Leftroom, and of course Twirl, where as well as their own material the duo have welcomed renowned artists like Spencer Parker, Virginia, LA-4A, Kim Ann Foxman, and Jason Kendig onto the label.
Recent years have seen Alinka really hit her stride as a producer with successful releases on world-renowned labels like Rekids, Crosstown Rebels, Need Want, Permanent Vacation, Harry Romero’s Bambossa Records, He.She.They, and Peggy Gou’s Gudu Records, which is forthcoming in 2024. She also turned out a standout collection of remixes for labels Me Me Me, Live At Robert Johnson, Lone Romantic, Keinemusik, Get Physical, and Pets Recordings.
Now living in Berlin, Alinka has well and truly found her feet and inspiration. Alinka has used this base to throw down at parties across Europe from Berghain/Panorama Bar to Circoloco, with regular visits back to the US and Kyiv to play at stand out bars. Her evolution continues with the recent relaunch of her Twirl imprint, highlighted by the ‘Day Dreamer’, ‘Sorry For Not Trending’ and ‘Edgewater’ EPs that finely balance Alinka’s future-focused ethos, with an unmistakable, proud passion for her Chicago heritage.
Check out just released Edgewater EP here! - https://alinka.lnk.to/TWIRL032
Enjoy the ride.
Alinka's instagram-https://www.instagram.com/alinkatwirl/
Her soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/aalinkaa
Linktree - https://linktr.ee/alinkatwirl
Thanks to Molly Hickey for the beautiful artwork as always. www.instagram.com/mollyth.art/
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