Ellen Allien
Dj, producer, record label owner (BPitch Control), fashion designer (with the label Ellen Allien Fashion), Ellen Allien is an eloquent example of how different artistic inclinations can come together in a single person who manages to execute each one brilliantly.
EXCLUSIVELY FOR YOOX.COM
1. With what mood did you approach the creation of your collection?
The Ellen Allien collection was created with a hint of edginess using spiritual prints or homogeneous cuts and materials. The prints and designs are especially important to my collections. They create the finish of my designs as a whole.
2. One of the T-shirts from your new collection reads, “I’M TECHNO AND YOU ARE NOT”. Why did you use a statement that excludes instead of includes?
Actually it was meant to be funny because the word TECHNO has been a bit overused and become kind of ubiquitous – but in the end TECHNO has always stood for itself. Even if overused, techno musicians and clubs keep its spirit alive. The phrase “I’M TECHNO AND YOU ARE NOT” expresses not only a lifestyle, but a way of working, living, having fun, expressing ourselves and… It is a decision for something positive. With techno we free ourselves from the constricting and dominant laws of society – because we make our own.
3. Aside from techno, what type of music do you like, not necessarily for the sound but rather for the style it expresses?
Rock, jazz, blues, indie music. I like it if the sound is a bit weird. Weirdness in sounds challenges me as a listener. I get so many ideas while my brain is busy at the same time with perceiving and processing sounds. And I LOVE vocals! Especially in that mixture between weird and ambiance sounds. I also tried to use my own voice in abstract electronic music, like weaving it into the tracks. To use the voice like a synth creates the musical language of Ellen Allien. I use voices as a link between different elements only, not as a clear statement.
ELLEN ALLIEN’S DREAM BOX
4. Were you always interested in fashion or is it a recent passion?
Yes! Since I was able to think I have liked fashion. When I was a little girl I loved to watch my mother dressing up and I was trying to find a scheme behind that. Later I visited a school for design, because it was a wish of mine for a long time to study fashion design. But, I quit this school because it was too technical at this time for me and I also discovered my passion for music. Years ago my interest and passion for fashion came back, and I started with Ellen Three Allien Fashion.
5. The connection between “look” and music has always been a strong one: take “rockabilly” or “goth”, for example. Is there a period when these two elements were particularly harmonious?
I think the connection between look and music is not (and never has been) to distinguish. Both provide codes and meanings, and especially the combination of both creates a very strong message. For me as a musician and fashion designer this is perceivable at first hand, because I “provide” meanings in both areas. With this structural perspective I am able to watch behind the stage in both areas – and the more I know about it, the more I am fascinated by it. For example doing music is sometimes like a physical need for me, and maybe due to this doing prints or cuts for my fashion line allows me to have a good balance. My own approach can be described with the phrase: edgy-spiritual-harmonious.
6. You live in Berlin: I’d like to know what you think about the city, which I consider the most varied and creative city in Europe—even though some say that’s changing.
Berlin is just such a wonderful platform for all the creative! It has a special history, and somehow we connect to the Berlin we had before World War Two. It is such a vivid mixture of people from all over Europe. The disruption of the city in between resulted in a very strong urge of the people who live here to connect and to come together, especially to develop something together. Our generation was searching hard for another style and way of living. And we found it! Also the government enables us to live the way we want, because they consider the cultural activities in Berlin as a plus. We can live here the way we want. And I guess that kind of freedom is like a signal.
7. Does Berlin influence your music?
For sure it influences my music. My first album deals mainly with Berlin. Stadtkind (BPC021) was a declaration of love to Berlin and the freedom we experienced here after the fall of the wall in 1989. We became free, and that’s what I really love about Berlin. I felt encaged before, restricted by the wall. And of course Berlin changed a lot over the last years. Right now it is quite international, which makes me happy. Because I changed too, and somehow my way of living is still very tightly connected to Berlin and I am so happy to share that.
8. In the realm of techno music, Germany has a long tradition–Neu, Can, Kraftwerk, Popol Vuh, Tangerine Dream. Has their work influenced you?
Mainly Kraftwerk influenced me. THE MODEL has been THE track of my life. It was so cold and so minimal, but nevertheless beautiful. It changed the way I was listening to music. With Kraftwerk that kind of pop music started where I could identify and feel with.
