Freedom to Create is our six-part talk show broadcasting from Berlin-based radio station Refuge Worldwide.

The bi-monthly episodes explore themes of identity, migration and music creation through hour-long interviews curated and moderated by Chloe Lula.

On the third episode of Freedom to Create, Chloe Lula interviews Ukrainian-American artist Alinka. The producer and DJ—who is currently living in Berlin—immigrated to the US in the late ‘80s with her family, who lived as Jewish refugees in Chicago. Alinka eventually became a resident at Smartbar and began collaborating with Hercules and Love Affair’s Shaun J Wright, with whom she started the Twirl parties and label. Alinka has released on labels like Rekids, Crosstown Rebels, Need Want, Permanent Vacation, Harry Romero’s Bambossa Records and her newly launched second imprint Fantasy Life. She’s a regular DJ at Berghain. She and Chloe discuss the war in Ukraine, her experience growing up far afield from her roots and the healing power of music in times of personal and collective crisis.

Freedom To Create 03 - Alinka

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 Liberate Te Ex Inferis. ₍˄·͈༝·͈˄₎◞ ̑̑ෆ⃛. ? ₍˄ุ.͡˳̫.˄ุ₎ฅ˒˒ 
Snap- saeros0l

“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, Europe’s more robust approaches to bass music and the myriad of genre’s coming from cities like Berlin, London and Paris.

Born in Kyiv, 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 heels 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.

In 2012, an impromptu meeting with former Hercules and Love Affair vocalist, Shaun J. Wright, changed her life forever. Their evolving friendship resulted in what would be the first of many musical collaborations. The pair launched their Twirl parties and label, continually strived to inspire each other both musically and spiritually, the result has been an impressive catalogue of material for both of them collaboratively and individually on the likes of The Classic Music Company, Jackathon Jams, Crosstown Rebels, Leftroom, and of course Twirl, where as well as their own material the duo have welcomed renowned artists like Spencer Parker, Virginia, LA-4A, Kim Ann Foxman, and Jason Kendig onto the label.

Recent years have seen Alinka really hit her stride as a producer with successful releases on world renown labels like Rekids, Crosstown Rebels, Need Want, Permanent Vacation, and Peggy Gou’s Gudu Records. She also turned out a standout collection of remixes for labels Me Me Me, Live At Robert Johnson, Correspondant, and Get Physical.

Now living in Berlin, Alinka has well and truly found her feet and inspiration. Alinka has used this base to throw down at parties across Europe from Berghain/Panorama Bar to Circoloco, with regular visits back to the US to play standout clubs like Smart Bar and Ukraine's famous ∄ club in Kyiv, where she stands as club’s first international resident, playing a minimum of six shows per year including a curated show.

Her evolution continues with the recent re-launch of her Twirl imprint, highlighted by the ‘Day Dreamer’, ‘Sorry For Not Trending’ and ‘Edgewater’ EPs that finely balance Alinka’s future-focused ethos, with a unmistakable, proud passion for her Chicago heritage.

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Freedom To Create 03 - Alinka

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