Stella Zekri

Soon after moving to Berlin in 2015, she came upon a passion for collecting records – starting with hip-hop, funk, soul, jazz and boogie. At a certain point, she began to receive some invitations to play her collection out at bars, which was around the same time she began going out to dance in the city’s clubs – her wider investigation of electronic dance music soon followed. So one could say Stella’s DJ practice began with collecting, then gained dimension as a selector and dancer, and this is audible in her sound – she plays sets that stoke a warmth in the body and keep it lit, sequences of deep-dug cuts that are mixed with a tactile intuition and trust in the track that only a vinyl DJ could have.

Over the years, Stella has become a signature member of Berlin’s club community, enacting an old-school ethic of the DJ as a community-driven role. Today she is well-known for her wide knowledge of classic, groove-driven house and disco, as well as deep dubs and acid, but her rise as a DJ came hand-in-hand with booking and curating. After a number of years organising parties at the DIY venue Kake Stella founded Body Language with Camilla Rae and Caitlin Russell in 2021. Gaining a committed crowd over the last years, Body Language has hosted a vibrant array of international and local DJs. Rather than needing to brand the party with markers of identity, Stella emphasises the core ethic of the party being its openness – the function encourages a range of sounds and styles (one can hear everything from clever, groovy house and techno to classic Chicago cuts to RnB-laced high-NRG in recorded sets on SoundCloud)  and so welcomes a heterogenous crowd. In this way, Body Language is part of a shift into a new line of queer parties in Berlin – “queer” precisely because diversity runs through its bookings, its sound systems, its dancefloors, and isn’t just a catchword printed on a statement.

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