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 at: https://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/lenawillikens/biography
residentadvisor | twitter | facebook | instagram | bandcamp
RELATED NEWS
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
August 10, 2018
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.
July 26, 2018
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.
July 20, 2018
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
July 19, 2018
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.
July 16, 2018
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
July 8, 2018
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
July 6, 2018
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.
June 18, 2018
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
June 8, 2018
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.
May 15, 2018
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.
April 26, 2018
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.
April 25, 2018
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...
April 19, 2018
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.
April 9, 2018
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.
April 3, 2018
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."
March 27, 2018
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.
March 13, 2018
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.
March 14, 2018
Primeros nombres para Festival Forte 2018
Pantha Du Prince, Helena Hauff, I Hate Models, Lena Willikens, Surgeon, Oscar Mulero entre los confirmados
March 13, 2018
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.
March 12, 2018
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.
March 13, 2018
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.
March 14, 2018
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:
March 12, 2018
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.
March 14, 2018
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
March 14, 2018