Each month we choose on our Future Disco Artist in Focus, an artist that we feel you should check out. This time we have chosen Chicago born Alinka. Alinka not only headlines our Halloween Party at Number 90 on October 28th, but also has a release and Future Disco Radio guest mix forthcoming with us this Friday.
“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, 5Magazine
Alinka is the kind of DJ other DJ’s 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 and 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, her early childhood included reluctantly learning the piano, her mother is a pianist, while trying to convince her parents to let her play guitar. Her exposure to Western music was limited, living in a communist country where censorship was common practice. Her family eventually immigrated to Chicago as Jewish refugees in the late 80s as the USSR crumbled. This was her first experience of pop music and she fell head over heals 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 summer 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 favourite 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.
You can see Alinka alongside Michelle Manetti at our Halloween party in Hackney Wick on the 28th of October. Buy tickets here.
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