Ellen Allien is just one woman, but in her past two decades on the Berlin techno scene, she’s done enough to merit her own empire. She’s taken on roles from DJ/producer to record label owner (BPitch Control) to fashion designer – on all counts, putting her great taste, sensibilities and confidence to good use. Even amidst a schedule involving her fifth album Dust, her latest fashion collection AND a tour of the world’s clubs, Ellen apparently also manages to find time to make out with her boyfriend… and deliver us the following life tips.

Berlin calling
Berlin has been a big inspiration for me in my mind and heart. When The Wall came down, it was a very huge and critical social movement that really changed my mind. I’m very close to the city because of this and it changed my life in how I see the world, like something could change from one day to another and that you can believe in something. Berlin really taught me a way of life. I could live anywhere else, but Berlin now is the right place to be a DJ and a woman.

A woman in a man’s world
I’ve never had problems as a woman and a DJ in Berlin. Earlier on, I did face some challenges and in other countries as well, but now not so much… because I’m too big! I’ve done too many things!

Planet Dust
On my latest album, I’m singing songs about my life. I wrote the lyrics before I made the music, and the lyrics are about pain, love, meeting my boyfriend in a club… “Sun The Rain” is about falling and getting up, an optimistic feeling. Another track is about an after-hours club in Berlin from where I spun for 38 hours! And another track is about playing in one of my favourite clubs in Barcelona, where I have my residency: how I feel after the party, in a cab going to the airport after sleeping for only a few hours. When you wake up after that, you feel between two worlds, between the sky and the earth… The album’s like a diary of my emotions as a DJ and as a woman, and it’s between daytime and nighttime, I would say.

Between jobs
Of course, I work a lot but everything is about coordination and time management. And any free time I have, I’m kissing my boyfriend!

Read the rest of this interview in the August issue of JUICE, available at these spots (or for $4 at all major bookstores and news stands).

www.ellenallien.de

Text: Min Chen
Image & interview courtesy of: Zouk