DJ Yoka

Biography of DJ Yoka

Yoka was born in Hamburg in 1975, where he gained his first DJ

experiences in the rap and Britcore scenes in the early 90s. Cuts and

backspins with two Technics MK2 turntables were on the agenda, along

with his initial stage experiences with the school band. In the summer

of 1995, a transformative experience occurred when, as often happens

in the Goa scene, he found himself on his first Goa party by chance

and through detours. Instead of attending a Drum & Bass festival, he

ended up at Voov. and it became a “point of no return” for him. From

then on, Psytrance captivated him entirely. He had finally found

something that he couldn’t find in various other scenes, something

that resonated with his own personality the most.

This led to influential event visits, such as the first Shiva Moon,

Pooja , opening party @ Gaswerk, or Antaro’s birthday at Delirium

right next door. However, as a bass fetishist that he had always been,

Goa music quickly took a back seat.

On a sunday in 1995 in Elmshorn near Hamburg @ Traumraum Yoka first

heard the album “Wellenbad” by 3.Raum—a revelation, a great album

heard on the best soundsystem till today. and the next point of no

return. ! Finally, an alternative to Astral Projection and others.

In 2002, he moved to the Cologne area to organize his own parties. In

2003, he founded his own label, Synphonie Records, and organized the

first “FrühlingsSynphonie Festival” in Kierspe that same year, later

moving it to Wasserburg Geretzhoven. In 2006, the debut album

“Butterfly Effect” was released under Synphonetic with DJ Quantec. In

2011, the temporarily final album by Native Radio, “Macula,” was

released, along with several releases on Plusquam Rec., Prog-On

Syndicate, and Planet Ben Rec.

Over the past decades, Yoka has been active for labels such as Savva

Rec., Mental-Arts Rec., and Tesseract Studio Serbia. Additionally, he

was involved with Café3Klang in Essen during its last three years,

responsible for the lineup, flyer design, and bookings, while also

serving as a resident DJ. It was during this time that Yoka developed

a love for the Ruhr area.

Afterward, a creative break was necessary, which lasted for five

years, allowing him to rediscover his musical orientation. And now we

finally come to the crucial topics related to music. In progressive

Psytrance, there is hardly anything truly progressive in the

conventional sense. There are few elements that build upon each other,

and the artists in this scene seemingly have a different purpose in

mind than what I fell in love with almost 30 years ago. For me, one of

the main purposes of psychedelic music back then was to achieve a

trance-like state of mind through the music and dance, comparable to

African drum groups or the Sufi dervishes. All of this should be done

in synchronization with everyone else in the room, creating a

synchronized mass on the dancefloor, with the kick drum filling the

space, almost tangible, and a shift in the perception of time. The DJ

should not distract participants from their concentration with

conspicuous, highly noticeable sounds or sudden music changes.

Ideally, the listener should be unaware of how the elements of a track

evolve and dissolve over the course of hours.

I don’t want to be the type who claims that “everything was better in

the past,” but it was different, and the purpose has indeed changed

today. And the musical content reflects these changes, that’s why it

was time to leave the Psytrance scene, we simply grew apart,

darling… However, some of the necessary elements can still be found

in Ethno, Techno and the countless genres, even though a touch of

Psychedelic will always remain. The sound generally ranges between 125

and 135 BPM and should ideally have playtimes of 3 to 5 hours, as

stories need to be told in peace. Not too fast, not too slow…

Since early 2023, Yoka and Kachina have formed the DJ team “YoKachina”

– stay tuned for upcoming dates…