Born in Bari, Italy, Madalba’s musical interests spanned a wide range from a young age, from punk and rock, house and techno. She made her club debut at age 22 with numerous performances on Bari’s club circuit. In 2011, she moved to Berlin and began DJing only with vinyl. In September 2011, she spent one month in Detroit where she started collaborating with DJ Seoul, Tom and Angie Linder of Detroit Techno Militia. This travel definitely and radically changed her approach to the techno concept, which she considers more of a social, political, and aesthetic phenomenon than just a musical genre. Back in Berlin, she immediately came into contact with the queer scene, then in full bloom, building a
network based on mutual support and collaboration that only grew stronger over the years.
These experiences, driven by a careful appreciation of the historic lineages of techno earned her a reputation as one of the city's foremost underground techno DJs, leading to her residency at the legendary queer rave, Buttons, and its precursor, Homopatik, as well as regular appearances at RSO, SchwuZ, SO36, Berghain and Tresor, where she now also holds a residency since 2018. At the same time, she cultivated her main profession as a trauma surgeon in a historically male- dominated environment, which strengthened her awareness of her role as a woman in a strongly male-dominated profession.
This growing awareness gradually extended beyond her professional and musical spheres, informing a broader ethical and political consciousness. Over time, this led her to engage with issues such as antispeciesism and active support for the Palestinian cause—positions that emerged organically from the same values of autonomy, justice, and resistance that have always informed both her music and her activism. In 2024, she began a Bachelor's degree in veterinary medicine, a move that reflects the
versatility of her path while remaining firmly anchored in a consistent commitment to care and activism.
Over the years, Madalba became increasingly aware of her communicative power as a DJ, which she does not see as an end in itself but uses to forge relations based on shared values of mutual solidarity, counter-cultural autonomy, and an absolute respect for difference and singularity of expression, whether artistically or socio- politically.
Her first vinyl releases came out in 2014 on DTM-Label (Detroit) and Arkita Records (Berlin), a label she helped spawn together with Synkopheit.In 2017, she launched her own record label, Future Déjà Vu, releasing EPs by Transient X4, Ken Karter, Mannella a.k.a. DHARAXT, Phontonz & Shcuro, Rage Therapy, and Bertrand. .
Known for her propulsive and percussive
sound and almost trance-inducing mixing
style that charts a seamless arc between
the primordial and the futuristic qualities of techno, and beloved for her long sets stretching the perception of time and limits of sensation, Madalba stands out as a no- frills queen of the underground who can deliver a techno experience of timeless quality.
Currently, she continues to orbit Berlin’s queer techno galaxy as a resident of the RIOT collective and with regular appearances at Whole – United Queer Festival, embodying the interplay between sonic experimentation and radical communal spaces.
madalba’s tracks
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