Alinka

The house that refuses to behave

There are DJs who polish a single genre until it stands still, and there are those who, like Alinka, treat house as a living organism. Her sound drags in Chicago house, italo disco, electro, and a techno that only enters when the dancefloor demands it: disco basslines, unexpected cuts, and a sense of humor that doesn't ask for permission. Born in Kiev, she arrived in the United States in the late eighties with her family, Jewish refugees from the Soviet Union, and grew up in the house capital listening to local radio. Cajmere, DJ Funk, and programs like Sonic Boom turned the underground into a habit long before she even owned turntables.

Smartbar, Gramaphone and the cut that changed everything

Around the year 2000, she bought vinyl and locked herself away to mix. In 2001, Justin Long signed her as a warm-up resident for .Dotbleep at Smartbar, a spot she held for nearly a decade. Before that, she had done everything—flyers, door, coat check, even driving DJs—to sneak into clubs while underage and to dig for hours at Gramaphone. Around 2009, she stepped away: the precariousness of living from art in the United States and a shift in the scene toward minimal and tech-house left her without fuel. She returned with the electronic duo Shuteye, alongside Elysia Hang-Fu, and in 2012 her manager introduced her to Shaun J. Wright, the voice of Hercules & Love Affair. Together they launched the Twirl parties at Berlin Nightclub in Chicago and, in 2014, the label Twirl Recordings.

Fantasy Life, Rekids and house music to close your eyes to

At the end of 2015, she moved to Berlin. Her leap as a producer accelerated on Crosstown Rebels, Classic Music Company, Rekids, Gudu, Permanent Vacation, DGTL, Need Want, Bambossa, and !K7. In 2020, she opened the label Fantasy Life with Do What U Want, her first solo EP. The relaunch of Twirl brought Day Dreamer, Sorry For Not Trending, and Edgewater; on Rekids, I'm Your Ghost. With Robert Owens, she signed Midnight Ride; with Honey Dijon, 808 State of Mind. The manifesto is constant: music for the dancefloor to dance without looking at the booth, far from the cult of the click and the trend.

From Panorama Bar to the first international residency at ∄

From Berlin, she has become a regular at Panorama Bar, Circoloco, Robert Johnson, fabric, or Printworks. In 2019, she returned to Kiev for the first time since she was eight years old to play at ∄, the club the scene also knows as K41. In 2025, that same space named her its first international resident, with a minimum of six dates per year, including a night curated by her. Booking is handled by Futura Artists. A quarter of a century after her first gig, Alinka continues to defend a rare, emotional, and Chicago-style house, now with Kiev and Berlin as home and with Twirl up and running again.