self-titled - no. 1 - (Page 22)

IN THE CITY Berlin by Ellen Allien II grew up feeling surrounded by the Wall that separated East and West Berlin. I lived on the small island of West Berlin, which meant border controls on Sunday excursions, rummaging through bags, the military. It was scary for me as a child. Nevertheless, West Berlin was a destination for creative minds in search of alternatives. Among all [the strife], music was and still is my outlet. Alongside tinkling on the electric organ—teaching myself how to read notes—and the jukebox of singles in my room, my ears were first intrigued by the revolution of Neue Deutsche Welle [New German Wave]. It was fantastic! For the first time, people were singing in the language you hear out on the streets of Berlin. Ideal, Grauzone, Nina Hagen pop meets punk—things happened so fast. My side of Berlin provided a home for the curious, for anyone going against the flow. However, it was only when the Wall came down that Berlin became Berlin again. After spending a whole year in London, I realized that despite the acid-jazz/house euphoria there, only one place felt like home: Berlin, the city of possibilities—being able to breathe, drive and walk wherever and with whomever I wanted. And no more borders. I was immediately fascinated by East Berlin, by this atmosphere of curiosity and get-up-and-go. There was room for experiments. Electronic music united East and West. At this time I started to focus on music and art. At first that meant playing the saxophone, learning about fashion, hanging out in rehearsal rooms and training as an acrobat. To finance it all, I worked behind the bar in the Fischlabor, which happened to be the meeting point of the up-and-coming music network. I mixed my first tapes and suddenly became part of the emerging Berlin techno scene, which started out in empty industrial buildings, houses and cellars. Ellen became Ellen Allien. I had my own radio show on Kiss-FM, worked at the Delirium record store and finally founded my first label, Braincandy. It felt as if music had swallowed me whole. With Braincandy, I made a serious attempt at releasing the kind of abstract techno I liked best. I’d had enough of compromising. Some of it was just the courage to pave my own way. The closing down of the first big Berlin techno clubs was a setback for the scene, though I interpreted it as a sign to get something new going in the midst of disorientation. The party series BPitch Control was a good start. I wanted to hang on to the music, to materialize it, so I founded BPitch Control Records. The parties were no longer just memories. Now people could take them home, too. The label was mainly an organ for me and other people who I found talented and worth supporting. And everything is connected to Berlin, as you can see http://www.ellenallien.de

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of self-titled - no. 1

self-titled - no. 1 Contents Spiritualized No Age Les Savy Fav The Teenagers Booka Shade Michael Gira Ellen Allien Magik Markers Jens Lekman Yeasayer Daptone Records Tipping Point Boris Fiery Furnaces Black Dice Black Mountain The Black Lips

self-titled - no. 1

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