Battle Hymn vs. No Frills: New Year's Eve 2023
Artsdistrict Brooklyn25 Franklin St, Brooklyn, NY 11222 · Map
This night happened — Sun 31 Dec 2023
Press play
Who was billed10 artists
In the order the promoter listed them.
- next: BASEMENT, Sat 31 OctDee Diggs
- Kevin Aviance
- next: Paragon, Fri 23 OctKilopatrah Jones
- Smokin Jo
- next: Berghain in Berlin, Sat 14 NovAlinka
- Fatherhood
- next: BASEMENT, Fri 30 OctSKIN
- Mykki Blanco
- BATTLE HYMN
- NO FRILLS
Set times were not published.
Most of these pairings were meeting for the first time that night.
the pairs that have met
39 of the 45 pairings on this bill were first meetings.
- Dee Diggs and Kilopatrah Jones — 8 shared bills before that night, first on Fri 29 Sep 2023.
- Kevin Aviance and Kilopatrah Jones — 3 shared bills before that night, first on Sun 31 Dec 2023.
- Kilopatrah Jones and Alinka — 1 shared bill before that night, first on Sun 31 Dec 2023.
- Dee Diggs and Kevin Aviance — 2 shared bills before that night, first on Fri 3 Nov 2023.
- Kevin Aviance and Fatherhood — 1 shared bill before that night, first on Sun 31 Dec 2023.
- Kevin Aviance and Mykki Blanco — 1 shared bill before that night, first on Tue 19 Dec 2023.
Who they are
“Dee Diggs is a DJ, music producer, and creative multi-hyphenate based in Brooklyn, NY.”
their own biography
the whole biography
Dee Diggs is a DJ, music producer, and creative multi-hyphenate based in Brooklyn, NY. She is unapologetically black, queer, and a lifelong student of the tenets of House Music. Every single set by this connoisseur feels like a celebration – a celebration of club culture, of queerness, of community, of house and techno, and of house and techno's Black and Queer American innovators. Her energetic, yet deep approach to DJing has seen this Boston to Brooklyn transplant first garnering attention in the queer party scene of NYC and now lighting up dancefloors all over the world with regular European and international tours. Her aim has always been to contribute & sustain more spaces where marginalized groups are valued and thanked by name for their contributions to humanity. Thank the ORIGINAL Black innovators of House & Techno! Thank you, Disco and Ballroom Queens & Queers and Club Kids alike for the theatrics & fanfare of nightlife as we know it! There are homages to these origins alluded to in all things 'Dee Diggs', from the aesthetics to the sharing of the referential and varied tracks that fill her most noteworthy mixes, to her own original music! She’s known for releasing standout mixes for the likes of Daisychain, Honcho, and Dekmantel over the past couple of years. Her musical adventures spanning all possible genres, the common denominator here is Dee Diggs’ unrivaled taste. Her sound cuts an arch through dance music’s past and present to convey an interesting melding of Dee’s signature sounds: lyrical storied tracks, sensual club edits, soulful realness, sneaky grooves, passionate thumpers, and nostalgic endings. Her eponymous party, House of Diggs debuted in February 2020 to stir and settle the hearts of all the lovers of house, funk, soul, disco, and R&B in Brooklyn, before the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent club closings curtailed that momentum for 1.5 years. However, 2021, found her making strides again when she resumed curating House of Diggs as a semi-regular event series at Jupiter Disco, a rotary-focused intimate dance floor in Bushwick before her touring DJ schedule ramped up intensely. She currently holds and curates a seasonal DJ residency at a hi-fi nightclub in Gowanus, BK named Public Records. House of Diggs makes an appearance yearly around PRIDE to take over all 3 rooms of Public Records with Queer Imagination and Sonic Pleasure! Diggs' steady rise continues as she steps in to headline many club and festival lineups in 2023 and beyond. The east coast darling bares her soul on these decks — when you hear her, you feel her, and there is no mistaking the beauty and grit of this sound and this feeling!House on 6, Deep House on 4, Techno on 1 and Broken Beat on 1. styles on their catalogued releasesReleased on toucan sounds (2), Dekmantel (1) and Find Your Own (1). labels on their catalogued releasesRecently at Gabriela, public records, Jupiter Disco · often with Nita Aviance, Ron Like Hell, Michael Cignarale, none of them here that night
- Their RA profile lists Defected Records, Wave Music and Nervous Records.
Recently at Performance Space New York, BASEMENT · often with Dennis Free, Sterling Juan Diaz, DJ Bone, none of them here that night
“Born and raised in Queens, a city dweller and a club kid, Kilopatrah has an innate and superlative gift for transferring energy from the booth to the dance floor—through exciting house, techno, and jungle, and moments that both harken to Sound Factory–era glory days and bring you to sweaty BPMs of the future.”
their own biography
the whole biography
Born and raised in Queens, a city dweller and a club kid, Kilopatrah has an innate and superlative gift for transferring energy from the booth to the dance floor—through exciting house, techno, and jungle, and moments that both harken to Sound Factory–era glory days and bring you to sweaty BPMs of the future. Their sets are palpably personal: The dance floor has always been a powerful platform for expression for Kilo, once as a freeing and connecting space for a quiet house dancer and now as one for moving others like them. When Kilo gets going, you’ll lose sense of the kick drum versus the beat of your own body against the floor. That’s a gift from them to you, and your percussion is a gift back to them. Kilo brings their energetic sass to a monthly Lot Radio residency and to parties with impressive lineups, playing alongside Todd Terry home in New York, at the legendary Movement weekend Club Toilet in Detroit, and for Boiler Room. Their mixes, for series such as Coloring Lessons, Honcho, and Juanita’s, and for spots on Rinse and Refuge, also capture the club at its most euphoric. You’ll step a little harder with Kilopatrah Jones. Words by Sacha MadadianRecently at H0L0, Le Bain, Avant Gardner · often with Mike Servito, Annie Lew, Makadsi, none of them here that night
“Alinka is the kind of DJ other DJ’s will tell you about.”
their own biography
the whole biography
Alinka is the kind of DJ other DJ’s will tell you about. She has a unique power on the decks that comes from lifelong passion and time served, with a focused devotion to her first love – house music. Raised on Chicago’s vibrant house sound with toes dipped into Detroit techno, Europe’s more robust approaches to bass music and the myriad of genre’s coming from cities like Berlin, London and Paris. Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, her early childhood included reluctantly learning the piano, her mother is a pianist, while trying to convince her parents to let her play guitar. Her exposure to Western music was limited, living in a communist country where censorship was common practice. Her family eventually immigrated to Chicago as Jewish refugees in the late ‘80s as the USSR crumbled. This was her first experience of pop music and she fell head over heels for the chart sounds of Madonna and Janet Jackson. Then came house music from local radio shows where you could frequently hear tracks by Chicago legends like Cajmere and DJ Funk, and shows like Sonic Boom helped expose underground music to the masses. By the late ‘90s, music had taken over her life. Teenage Alinka immersed herself in the dance music scene spending her summer pulling double shifts at a local pool and moonlighting for rave promoters to build up enough cash to buy decks. After a year of skipping class to relentlessly practice her mixing skills, she began her full-time musical pursuit. Working for various club promoters, doing odd jobs passing out flyers and helping with party logistics - anything just to get into clubs underage to see her favourite DJs - all while spending hours digging for tracks at Chicago’s legendary record shop Gramaphone. In 2001 Justin Long recruited her to be the opening resident for his .Dotbleep party at Smartbar where she honed her skills for the best part of a decade. In 2012, an impromptu meeting with former Hercules and Love Affair vocalist, Shaun J. Wright, changed her life forever. Their evolving friendship resulted in what would be the first of many musical collaborations. The pair launched their Twirl parties and label, continually strived to inspire each other both musically and spiritually, the result has been an impressive catalogue of material for both of them collaboratively and individually on the likes of The Classic Music Company, Jackathon Jams, Crosstown Rebels, Leftroom, and of course Twirl, where as well as their own material the duo have welcomed renowned artists like Spencer Parker, Virginia, LA-4A, Kim Ann Foxman, and Jason Kendig onto the label. Recent years have seen Alinka really hit her stride as a producer with successful releases on world renown labels like !K7, Rekids, Correspondant, DGTL Records, Permanent Vacation, and Peggy Gou’s Gudu Records. She also turned out a standout collection of remixes for labels Me Me Me, Live At Robert Johnson, Get Physical, and Massimiliano Pagliara’s Funnuvojere Records. Now living in Berlin, Alinka has well and truly found her feet and inspiration. Alinka has used this base to throw down at parties across Europe from Berghain/Panorama Bar to Robert Johnson, with regular visits back to the US to play standout clubs like Smart Bar and Basement, and Ukraine's famous ∄ club in Kyiv, where she stands as club’s first international resident. Her evolution continues with the recent re-launch of her Twirl imprint, highlighted by the ‘Day Dreamer’, ‘Sorry For Not Trending’ and ‘Edgewater’ EP’s, and her latest single ‘Touch The Flame’ that finely balance Alinka’s future-focused ethos, with a unmistakable, proud passion for her Chicago heritage.Their RA profile lists Classic, Crosstown Rebels, Get Physical Music, !K7 and 6 more.Recently at House of Yes, SILO, 99 Scott Ave · often with Berghain, Cinthie, Efdemin, none of them here that night
“Fatherhood is the perfect union of Michael Magnan and Physical Therapy.”
their own biography
Their RA profile lists Origami Sound, Get Up Recordings and Allergy Season.Recently at Mansions, Black Flamingo, MoMA PS1 · often with Michael Magnan, Physical Therapy, Sobolik, none of them here that night
“Best known as the lead singer of Skunk Anansie, Skin is one of Britain’s leading and acclaimed rock singers & songwriters.”
their own biography
the whole biography
Best known as the lead singer of Skunk Anansie, Skin is one of Britain’s leading and acclaimed rock singers & songwriters. Born and brought up in Brixton, South London, she rejected the safe haven of soul/R&B session singing by literally diving headlong into hardcore rock. Since she emerged in the mid ‘90s with Skunk Anansie, Skin has been a groundbreaking presence. Seeing a lot of similarities between dance music & rock music , she convinced the band to do remixes with DJs at a time when this wasn’t commonplace. This led to their hit song ‘Weep’ being remixed by the legendary Junior Vasquez with heavy rotation on the infamous Twilo dancefloor. Her love of the dancefloor began at early acid raves in the countryside to weekends taking in the London underground at TRADE, Heaven & DTPM. After spending years spinning at house parties from her massive collection of vinyl, in 2007 she was sold an old Pioneer Mixer by her friend and Legendary Dj Damien Lazarus and her jump to digital and her new obsession took hold. Flash forward years later & Skin has found her passion with sexy techno grooves that ooze warmth and fat bottom bass. “There is no fast road to being a good Dj, it literally takes years of non-stop work, it takes years of failure to understand how to get it right, it’s the same with production, luckily I already had a few skills in that area, mainly good ears but still you never really know until you test them on the dancefloor...when you feel that room shake THAT’S when you know you got it right!” She has also released Techno music under the pseudonym ‘ Juvenal’ on Nicole Moudaber’s Mood Records (2016) along with a 5 track collaboration with Nicole called #Breed that included a collab with Zebra Katz, original Techno Tracks with Nicole, and a Remix album #BREEDRMXS with remixes by Jamie Jones, Carl Craig, Pan Pot, Paco Osuna, Scuba & more. She has played at iconic clubs all over the world from Fabric Nightclub in London, Sound in LA, Space in Ibiza, Plastic & Magazzini Generalli in Milan, Output & Avant Gardner in NY, along with sets at festivals from Coachella to Kappa Future Festival in Torino, LadyLand Festival in Brooklyn, & Love Festival in London. After taking some time off to tour with Skunk Anansie & to write her chart topping memoir “It Takes Blood & Guts” she’s been working on a new solo electronic album & continuing with her seasonal weekly radio show on Abolut Radio. Skin has recently relocated to Brooklyn & is looking forward to bringing her upbeat yet dark techno vibes to sweaty dancefloors on this side of the pond!Their RA profile lists Mood Records.Last at Artsdistrict Brooklyn in Nov · often with Michael Magnan, Josh Steers, Kim Anh, none of them here that night
Last at Performance Space New York in Dec · often with Amorphous, Skype Williams, planetperris, none of them here that night
names these artists often play with — not that night
- Michael Magnan9 with Fatherhood and 5 with SKIN
- Mike Servito8 with Kilopatrah Jones and 4 with Dee Diggs
- Ron Like Hell8 with Kilopatrah Jones and 4 with Dee Diggs
- Concrete Husband5 with Kilopatrah Jones and 3 with Dee Diggs
- Sterling Juan Diaz6 with Kilopatrah Jones and 2 with Kevin Aviance
- Nita Aviance5 with Dee Diggs and 2 with SKIN
- The Carry Nation3 with Dee Diggs and 2 with SKIN
- Leonce8 with Kilopatrah Jones
1,833 said they were going.
The room
Artsdistrict Brooklyn — 12 events and 42 distinct artists since Aug 2023.
Who put it on
Ladyfag — 71 events and 193 artists since Aug 2023.