Paula Koski, who was born in Finland but now lives in Berlin, specializes in fast-paced, groovy techno—and you can hear her play out at Tresor, where she DJs regularly as a resident, or at Berghain. Her first production, true to her chosen style, recently saw the light on Soma Records. Her journey towards music began as a child in Helsinki, when she began recording radio mixtapes. “I would sit next to the radio all day long, waiting to record the tracks I wanted to have on the cassette,” she tells XLR8R.

Around 2010, she started clubbing, found a love for electronic music, mostly techno, and developed “a strong feeling I need to be on the DJ’s side of the dancefloor.” Some years later, while living in Sweden, she joined a women-only DJ studio and started working towards that goal, before moving to Berlin in 2018 to pursue it as a full-time career. Six years later, she’s DJing across Europe and curating INTERLINK, a club night at Helsinki’s Post Bar where she delivers hypnotic techno and trance from her favorite DJs. (Most recently, MARRØN, Rene Wise, and Philippa Pacho).

For this week’s XLR8R podcast, she has delivered a mix of these same sounds, pulling from some of her favorite fresh, recent, and upcoming tracks. (Beginning, of course, with Cio D’Or, her favorite.) Press play for one hour of mind-bending, groovy techno.

01. What have you been up to recently?
I just arrived back in Berlin from Helsinki, where I curate my club night, INTERLINK, with my event partner CEB. Last Friday, we had our fourth event at Post Bar, where we invited MARRØN to play with us. The night had such an amazing energy from start to finish.

I really love working with INTERLINK. It’s great to have the promoter aspect connected to my career, especially to build a community in Helsinki around hypnotic and cutting-edge techno.

Besides INTERLINK, I have been playing fun gigs and I also just sent a new track for mastering. It will be released on a very special compilation later this year.

02. What have you been listening to?
Besides my usual techno digging, I have been enjoying live jazz shows at home in Berlin and while visiting New York this past winter. I am also into contemporary and trippy drum & bass. I often listen to mixes by Agonis from Amenthia Recordings.

03. What is it that draws you to electronic music?
I love the communities that it creates and unites around the world. The feeling of freedom, connecting with like-minded people and losing the sense of place and time when dancing at some excellent party will always keep me hooked. And, of course, it offers endless and unique creative possibilities for artists!

04. Where and when did you record this mix?
I recorded this mix in my home studio in Berlin last week. After the session, my next door neighbor messaged me and thanked me for the set. It was really funny!

05. What setup did you use?
I used three Pioneer XDJ-700’s, an Allen & Heath Xone:92 mixer, and a pair of Adam Audio T7V studio monitors.

06. How did you go about choosing the tracks you’ve included?
I crafted the mix mostly around pretty fresh, recent and upcoming sounds, but I couldn’t resist making a dramatic start with my favorite artist, Cio D’Or. I wanted the mix to have some extremely trippy moments, peak with some super groovers, and have rich, glitchy, and textured layers and vibes that I love so much. I played many tracks for the first time while recording, so the session was specially exciting for me.

07. How does it compare to what we might hear you play out live?
This mix represents well what I want to play right now, yet it’s maybe a bit more dramatic than usual.

08. What’s next on your horizon?
This spring, my plan is to focus on improving my production skills and finish some tracks I have been working on. When it comes to gigs, I am especially looking forward to playing at Berghain on May 4, as well as at my booking agency On Board Music’s 10th-anniversary event at Else on June 1st.

XLR8R Subscribers can download the podcast below. If you’re not an XLR8R subscriber, you can read more about it and subscribe here.

Tracklisting

01. Cio D’Or “Amplitude” (Kynant Records)
02. AgainstMe “Deep Reel” (Unreleased)
03. Rkeat “5th Junction” (Rkeat)
04. Flits “Gorilla Glue” (Flits)
05. LKY “Code PR1” (LKY)
06. Cassulle “Forceful Method” (ALT Records)
07. Håwk “Nordic Walker” (Forum Remix) (Backhaus Records)
08. Khas “Tallinn” (Antidote)
09. Rene Wise “Escaping Siro” (Moving Pressure)
10. No.Name “Doors” (Rhythm Werk)
11. Ruman “Bad Review” (Unreleased)
12. A.Morgan “Be Mine” (Newrhythmic Records)
13. Nobel Cortex “Virtual Synthetic” (Synergie)
14. Juri Heidemann “Kesema” (Frenzy)
15. Bailey Ibbs “Manic Room” (Frenzy)
16. Mark Broom “Listen” (Beard Man)
17. Kashpitzky “Lost” (Be As One)
18. D.Dan “Freak” (Summerpup)
19. Michael Ius “Ethereal” (Ius)
20. No.Name “Uncertainty Of Times” (Rhythm Werk)
21. AgainstMe “Demo Closing” (Unreleased)
22. Vardae “Loose It” (Qeone)