Lena Willikens earned the enviable sobriquet ‘A DJ’s DJ’ by virtue of her endless versatility and word of mouth adoration. Playing no two sets the same, Lena’s fathomless variation is the tip of an iceberg-like record collection amassed over decades and constantly renewed via daily practice of listening, joining the dots, and nurturing an ever-growing worldview of dancefloor possibility.
The naturally rare conviction in execution of her art is akin to an improvising musician, painter, or skilled raconteur in the most classic DJ sense. Layering extended lines of polyrhythmic thought that can only be properly understood in-the-flow – by bodies in motion – Lena places a lifetime immersed in the club, on all sides of booth, bar and dancefloor, in an effortless form of chronics edging on aerobic mysticism.
A well-storied career arc from ‘90s raver, to rinsing records (and glasses) at Salon Des Amateurs, thru racking up airmiles as global DJ, holding down the Homunkuli radio show for NTS, and concurrently producing, remixing, compiling records, all feed into one another with unparalleled results. Her circles bleed with experience in a holistic grasp of the groove that just keeps on giving more than the sum of its parts.
Lena’s revered ability to switch gears in the blink of an ear toys with muscle memory anticipation in ways that defy codification. Instinctively quantising the meter between upfront UK bass mutations, motorik offbeats, and nEuropean synth curios, her intuitive bias prizes sensuality as much as cohesion between what were once termed mutually exclusive bedfellows.
It’s this type of fabled, discerning nous that continues to endure in the collective imagination of adventurous ravers the world over, both in Lena’s role as consummate collaborator of spiritual brethren Vladimir Ivkovic; in audio-visual project Phantom Kino Ballet, with multi-disciplinary artist Sarah Szczesny; and the orgiastic experiences of dancers she keeps writhing every weekend.
Text: Conor Thomas
Photo: Phil Struck
