Nothing trains a DJ more than a long lasting residency. A truism that the Cologne based musician and DJ Lena Willikens always proves when she spins her vinyl. Since more then five years, she has been in charge of long and sweaty Friday night parties at Düsseldorf’s free-spirited club/bar Salon Des Amateurs.
She is also a dedicated member of the Cómeme records tribe and all its missions: her name is frequently on the label’s party bills and she runs globally famed the monthly radio show “Sentimental Flashback” for Radio Cómeme, that UK-based Juno records elected to the best podcast/mix of 2014. As a DJ, radio broadcaster and producer, Lena is never committed to one style, all is welcome as long as it is twisted the in a one-of-a-kind way. As a producer she arranged a very special ghost wave track “High Holes“, that was released by the Düsseldorf based label Slowboy Records via the vinyl only sampler “Kingii” in 2012. Early 2015 she released her first solo EP “Phantom Delia” on Cómeme. Therefore she produced six mystique tracks between droning EBM, ghost-house and no-wavish outernational grooves.

The same sonic approach to music is significant for Lenas live performances in the name of film, a thing she recently added to her artistic catalogue. As a debut she prepared an impressive soundtrack to the Japanese movie “Japanese Girls from the Harbour” for the LiveSoundtrack Festival in Barcelona. Generated with a set-up of Theremin (trained in her former band Titanoboa) effects, loop pedal and turntables, the result was a partly spooky, partly melancholic atmosphere, fitting the dramatic and depressing aethetic of the movie. Definitly a thing we will see more often from Lena Willikens in the future.

read more athttps://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/lenawillikens/biography

RELATED NEWS

Phantom Kino Ballett
CRACK MAGAZINE

Lena Willikens and Sarah Szczesny announce soundtrack for audiovisual drama Phantom Kino Ballett

Salon des Amateurs’ Lena Willikens and artist Sarah Szczesny have announced the limited edition release of a collaborative soundtrack

trax magazine festival forte
TRAX MAGAZINE

Portugal : Extrawelt, I Hate Models et Lena Willikens au coeur d’une citadelle millenaire

D'Helena Hauff à Extrawelt, la fine fleur de la techno et de l'électro du nord de l'Europe viendra tenir le siège dans la citadelle de Montemor-O-Velho du 30 août au 2 septembre.

Festival Forte 2018 Montemor-o-Velho Castle Portugal
BEATPORT

Festival Forte by Beatport

Beatport has released a compilation featuring artists that will play at Festival Forte 2018. A glimpse of what to expect during four days of sonic acts in the Castle of Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal.

FESTIVAL FORTE MONTEMOR-O-VELHO CASTLE PORTUGAL
RUE X MAGAZINE

Festival Forte | Un vistazo al futuro dentro de las paredes de un castillo medieval

El Festival Forte es una experiencia dedicada a la música electrónica completamente única que nace de la combinación del talento artistas innovadores y nuevas propuestas visuales

DJ MAG

There’s a techno rave in a castle happening this summer

Ever wondered what seeing Helena Hauff is like in a venue that’s 10 centuries old? Festival Forte will see Helena Hauff, Surgeon and Donato Dozzy come to the castle of Montemor-o-Velho, a small town near the west coast of Portugal this August.

loose lips
LOOSE LIPS

Festival Forte, Portugal – Aug 28-Sep 2 2018: Event Preview

Set in a medieval castle in the town of Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal, from August 30 to September 2, Festival Forte 2018 is set to be strong-armed, with a host of heavyweight artists and cutting-edge performers set to patrol the ramparts over the four-day event

THE PARTAE
LIMONADIER

LE GUIDE DES FESTIVALS 2018 | Août – Septembre

Alors c’est parti, pas le temps de se poser ni de se reposer, voici la suite de notre traditionnel guide des festivals qui se tiendront du mois d’août au mois de septembre de l’an de grâce 2018

lena willikens selectors
SOUNDCLOUD

Selectors Podcast 020 – Lena Willikens

Willikens' sets are built around her unceasingly eclectic tastes and ongoing infatuation with unusual sounds, making her primed again to move the Selectors dancefloor with the best bits of audio she's been able to dig up from the more twisted caverns of electronic music.

lena willikens nts live
NTS RADIO

Lightning conductor with Lena Willikens

Following on from her month-long residency in March of 2017, Lena Willikens now brings her esteemed selections to the NTS airwaves for a regular monthly show

LENA WILLIKENS THE VINYL FACTORY
THE VINYL FACTORY

Lena Willikens : “I’m not interested in finding the rarest shit”

From beat matching with Studio 1 12″s to tracking down psychedelic grooves in São Paulo, we talk records with Lena Willikens.

ELECTRO NEWS

Le festival le plus mystique du Portugal annonce un line up techno terrassant

C’est derrière la brume du matin qu’on aperçoit le château de Montemor O Velho, faisant entendre les basses jusqu’à 9 heures du matin dans les alentours. Le festival surpuissant de la fin d’août vient de nous annoncer la deuxième salve du line up, et on salive déjà.

pitchfork
PITCHFORK

Lena Willikens Selectors 005

The German DJ offers a spellbinding summary of her sound with this compilation of slow, ominous machine grooves. It’s a cross-section of her record collection, but also a map of a community.

lena willikens dj mag
DJ MAG

Lena Willikens: Phantom Power

German DJ and musician Lena Willikens is proud to be an outsider, and her leftfield approach to dance music, art and noise resonates with followers the world over. DJ Mag caught up with her to learn more about her cathartic sets, experiments in sound — and her ghostly muse...

LENA WILLIKENS RADIO SHOW
NTS RADIO

Lightning conductor with Lena Willikens

Following on from her month-long residency in March of 2017, Lena Willikens now brings her esteemed selections to the NTS airwaves for a regular monthly show.

LENA WILLIKENS
CRACK

Lena Willikens: The Sentimental Selector

Lena Willikens grew up in a bowl – a grey valley poured full with smog and obscured by tall walls. Stuttgart, home to drivers of Porsches and Mercedes Benz. Down in the valley the people could not see beyond themselves, but she could. She could see much further. She could see through the scumbled sky to cities bristling with lights. She could see the ground was shifting.

LENA WILLIKENS
RANSOM NOTE

Don’t look back: Lena Willikens talks

"It's not just the DJ and their music that's involved in creating something that's special, or something that's not."

TRAX MAGAZINE

Une forteresse majestuese accueille les barons de la techno au Festival Forte

Quelque part entre Lisbonne et Porto, le festival Forte pose chaque année ses kilos de sons dans la cour d’un château, juché sur les hauteurs de Monte-o-Velho, un village médiéval. Le cadre pourrait se suffire à lui-même mais le Forte (30 août - 2 septembre) propose aussi une programmation pointue, ostensiblement techno.

THE CLUB MAP

Festival Forte auf Schloss Montemor-o-Velho in Portugal

Festival Forte feiert dieses Jahr „Fünfjähriges“ und hat gerade die erste Phase des Line-Ups veröffentlicht. Vom 30.08.2018 bis zum 02.09.2018 verwandelt sich das Schloss Montemor-O-Velho in Portugal wieder einmal in eine Festival Location der ganz besonderen Art.

DJ MAG SPAIN

Primeros nombres para Festival Forte 2018

Pantha Du Prince, Helena Hauff, I Hate Models, Lena Willikens, Surgeon, Oscar Mulero entre los confirmados

helena hauff
PULSERADIO.NET

Helena Hauff, Lena Willikens, Oscar Mulero and Surgeon confirmed for Festival Forte 2018

Taking place in one of Europe's most unique locations, Festival Forte returns to the 12th century Castle of Montemor-o-Velho this summer for its fifth edition with a bevy of top techno selectors.

EDM SPAIN

Festival Forte arranca su edición del 2018 con sus primeros 22 artistas

El Festival Forte se ha convertido en una de las propuestas con más atención de la península. En la que será ya su 5ª edición, el festival portugués arranca haciendo gala de la categoría que estos años ha ido asumiendo poco a poco.

STANISLAV TOLKACHEV
RESIDENT ADVISOR

Festival Forte lands Stanislav Tolkachev, Lena Willikens for 2018

Electric Indigo, Pantha Du Prince and Helena Hauff will also play at the Portuguese festival, which kicks off August 30th.

LOCAL SUICIDE

FESTIVAL FORTE 2018

The first wave of acts has been announced today and it is as expected spectacular, from some of our most favorite artists The Hacker, Lena Willekens, Blush Response and Helena Hauff to other highly respected or upandcoming players of the scene:

crowd festival forte
CLUBBING SPAIN

Festival Forte presenta sus primeros artistas

Tras las dudas que surgieron sobre su celebración hace unos meses, cuando la promotora de Forte anunciaba una campaña de captación de fondos para que se pudiera llevar a cabo una nueva edición del festival portugués, ya tenemos con nosotros la primera tanda de artistas confirmados de su edición de 2018.

PULLPROXY

First Wave of Acts Confirmed

Festival Forte just announced the first wave of acts that will be performing at its 5th edition from August 30th to September 2nd, 2018