The Berlin DJ, producer and ONES and ZEROS founder Boys Noize offers a window into his eclectic club sets with an exclusive mix spanning electro clash, disco and breakcore
“This BPM will save your life.” “Beatport scam site selling stolen credit cards disguised as MP3s.” “IKEA announces techno couch.” These are the kinds of conspiracy-bait images that you see on the IG page for ONES and ZEROS, the newest label brought to you by Berlin DJ and producer Alex Ridha, better known as Boys Noize.
Having worked with everyone from Frank Ocean to Lady Gaga to David Lynch, Ridha has a proven track record for making bangers, mostly for the club, but also for film, such as his techno soundtrack for Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers. His eclectic attitude to music-making can be felt most playfully in his latest venture, which launches with a star-studded mixtape, and a limited run jewellery designed in collaboration with celebrity grill maker ALLIGATOR JESUS and artist Eric Timothy Carlson.
Featuring the likes of Safety Trance, Slim Soledad and MarcelDune, the mixtape imagines a new future for techno, platforming a new generation of dance music artists along the way. “I wanted to explore a different and new angle of the classic record label, because no one really needs a label these days,” he elaborates.
To celebrate the launch, Boys Noize has made an exclusive Dazed mix, featuring all the club genres you need to hear for a long and sweaty night on the dancefloor.
How’s your winter going?
Boys Noize: I usually take January and February off from touring. I was expecting a chill winter, but all these crazy (good) production and session nights were flying in one after the other, and I’ve been going hardcore non stop turning up the volume.
Congrats on the launch of your label, ONES and ZEROS (OAZ). Can you tell us a little of what we can expect?
Boys Noize: Making cool shit. What is missing most, in my opinion, is good curation. OAZ will reflect new modes of artistic output, beyond the traditional mediums. We are building community, we make bangers and art. Up next is music from Safety Trance, myself, as well as more physical objects, among others collaborations with my dude Alligator Jesus and Eric T. Carlson.
What are your ambitions for the project?
Boys Noize: OAZ has been on my mind for more than 10 years. Back then I wanted to create a pluralistic network for a community to share taste and to find out about cool shit. Today, the main questions on my mind are: How can we unite and not divide? How can we define punk today? Can techno be saved?
I love the label’s social media presence. Can you tell us about some of the thinking behind the posts?
Boys Noize: The idea was to explore an adverse concept of promoting. I really don’t like the word hate but I hate promoting. I want the music and art to speak for itself, and together with my brother Lil Internet, we came up with the idea of spreading lies. I got to give up to Lil Internet, he’s a genius.
How does the album tie into all of this? How did you choose the artists involved?
Boys Noize: I went through my record bag and just looked at the records from the artists I’ve played the most in the past year. I contacted everyone at the time and every single one liked the idea immediately. That was one of the most beautiful things. No one really knew what I was about to do. The support of the scene I’ve experienced is just incredible, and I want to say thank you and love you to everyone I know. There is so much love out there and this really gives me a lot of energy.
Where do you see club music going? Any trends you’ve observed lately?
Boys Noize: I think the trend is to be out of trend.
You’ve worked with everyone from Lady Gaga to David Lynch. What’s been your favourite collaboration to date?
Boys Noize: It’s tough to pick one. Lady Gaga was cool. I really loved making music with Kelsey Lu, our two songs are still one of my favourite records – hopefully we’ll make music soon again. Sometimes I really can’t believe who I’m with and in what studio situation I end up in. Seriously crazy stuff from the perspective of a German Iraqi kid who just wanted to DJ to finance all the vinyl he was buying.
Any memorable stories you can share?
Boys Noize: Last week, I was back working with Ty Dolla Sign in Miami. When I thought the night was over – at around five or six am, after 14 hours of sessions – we went to the next studio where Young Thug, his dog and crew were at. Young Thug paid 250k for his French dog. I told him mine was free from the campo and just ate two of our chickens. I left the studio at 12pm.
What are you listening to at the moment?
Boys Noize: Mostly the things I work on. Other than that, I look for new records to DJ almost every day, and check a lot of demos for OAZ. I just listened to the new Playboi Carti record, it’s cool. If it’s just me time, I listen to everything from the 70s, 80s and 90s mostly. I think my favourite music is from those three decades.
Tell us about your Dazed mix.
Boys Noize: It’s a snapshot of a fun club set of mine. Lots of new music from ONES and ZEROS but also just fresh Acid eLectro cLash psY teknO fUnk tribaL discO bReak corE.
2. Ilya Gadaev “Pleasuredom”
4. Alex Dunchyk “An Impatient Patient”
5. DJ Hell vs. Richard Bartz “Take A Shot”
6. L.F.T. “Piss”
7. LSDXOXO “Red” ft. Boys Noize & VTSS
8. Swayzack “I Dance Alone” (Conneticut Ron_s Return To Saigon Mix)
9. ADAME DJ “Beat Maquinario”
10. Pilo “A Slow Thinning Halo”
11. WTCΩCRFT “ONEandTWO” (Demo)
12. Dj G2G “*ussy” ft. Jahanam
13. Addison Groove “Do It Now”
14. Dj Babatr “Kick The Floor”
15. TAPIIA & COYOTE “Trigger”
16. Some Guest “Pink Nose”
17. CHK CHK CHK “Dancin”(LFO Remix)
18. Isaiah “Stop The Tape And Hit Rewind” (Demo)
19. Peterblue “BENDECIO”
20. Aaadja “Psyhop”
21. Schacke “Control Freak”
22. David Löhlein “El Baile”
23. Slim Soledad “Vai Toma Na Rave”
24. Adame DJ “Pokpok” (Demo)
25. Valerie Ace “Anxious Not Afraid”
26. Boys Noize “Sireneh”
27. Depeche Mode “People Are People” (Boys Noize’s unreleased Loopfix)
Listen to Boys Noize’s exclusive mix above.