Magda
Born in Poland, raised in Detroit, based in Berlin: Magda went from opening for Richie Hawtin on Minus to running Items & Things with Marc Houle and Troy Pierce.
- Born Magdalena Chojnacka in Żywiec, Poland; raised in Detroit.
- Came up through Richie Hawtin’s Minus label, touring as his opening DJ from 1998.
- Co-founder of Items & Things with Marc Houle and Troy Pierce.
Magda learned techno in Detroit and spent the 2000s on the road with Richie Hawtin’s Minus label. In 2011 she and two Minus colleagues struck out on their own with Items & Things.
From Żywiec to Hamtramck
Magdalena Chojnacka was born in Żywiec, in southern Poland, and moved to the United States with her family at the age of nine. After a spell in Texas they settled in Hamtramck, Detroit’s Polish enclave. Her interest in DJing was sparked in 1994 at one of Richie Hawtin’s “Spastik” parties. In 1996 she started playing out, notably as part of Detroit’s Women on Wax collective.
Minus, New York and Berlin
She met Hawtin in Detroit and across the river in Windsor, Canada, and he brought her into the Minus camp; by 1998 she was touring the world as his opening DJ. Her own taste, she has said, was shaped by Detroit, Chicago and old-school electro and disco. After about a year in New York, she moved to Berlin in 2003; Hawtin soon followed.
Mixes marked that period. She’s a Dancing Machine, released on Minus in 2006, was widely praised. She also mixed fabric 49 for the London club’s CD series, a dark, minimal set built around unusual samples. Her debut production on Minus, From the Fallen Page, came out in autumn 2010.
Items & Things
Items & Things began inside the Minus family, run by Magda, Marc Houle and Troy Pierce. In August 2011 the three announced they were leaving Minus to put their time into it as an independent label, without cutting ties completely. The goal, as reported by Resident Advisor, was to “release what we want, and decide the direction of the label”. Magda summed up the label’s line in one sentence: “We look for music that tries to push boundaries.” The three partners take decisions together, and only in full agreement.
The first releases of the new era included music from the three founders and newcomers such as Madato, Danny Benedettini and Tomas More & Andy Martin. Their Down & Out events, started at a secret location in Berlin, put all three founders on the same line-up and aimed to recreate the feel of the city’s early-2000s underground. By 2017 she had been running the label for almost a decade.
In the mix
Magda’s sets sit between Detroit techno and Berlin minimalism. For both sides of that line, dig into “For You” by Kenny Larkin from Detroit and the Berlin techno of Marcel Dettmann.
FAQ
Who is Magda?
Magda is Magdalena Chojnacka, a minimal techno DJ and producer born in Żywiec, Poland, raised in Detroit and later based in Berlin.
What is Magda’s label?
Items & Things, which she runs with Marc Houle and Troy Pierce. In 2011 the three left Minus to focus on it as an independent label.
How did Magda start DJing?
A Richie Hawtin party in 1994 sparked her interest. She began DJing in 1996, notably with Detroit’s Women on Wax collective, then joined Minus as Hawtin’s opening DJ.
