She’s released six albums, she regularly DJs around the world, she runs a record label, management and touring agency AND a fashion label, and she still has time to do yoga and chill out with her boyfriend. If that doesn’t spell efficiency we don’t know what does. We caught up with Ellen Allien as she gets ready to release her sixth album ‘Dust’ before making her way to Australia for Winter Sound System and We Love Sounds in June!

Hi Ellen where are you at the moment?
I’m in Berlin and it’s just me and it’s very cold here. All the Berliners are waiting for the summer!

What have you been up to lately?
I’ve been sleeping all day. I’m just back from playing in Italy, France – it was the bomb – lots of girls dancing behind me, it was really funny, crazy people! – and I played in London, I played in Bloc Weekend- it was an amazing festival – lots of rock and independent music, a lot of electronica, and then I played an after-hour party in London in a tunnel, really dirty, like wet, and first I thought ‘oh my god no, everything is wet here, oh my god it’s a really shitty party’ – and it was sooo good! It was so funny; girls were dancing at the back of me on tables, flipping out and screaming. Then I came back home and had a French night with a lot of red wine and cheese and after the cheese and red wine I had to sleep today!

So you do all these gigs, get time in the studio, run the record label and everything else… and how have you managed to release a new album?
I don’t DJ while I make my albums. I stop DJing and I make my music. I had two months, nearly three months off and I started playing again in March. When I play I play two to five nights a week and then I come home and sleep and then I’m going to the office to do what I have to do – meetings and planning solutions for things. Everything is about time management. It’s about time management and having a good team around you.