Artist profile
About
KiNK is the Bulgarian DJ, producer and live performer Strahil Velchev, known for improvising house, techno and acid with hardware in full view of the audience. Insomniac’s biography places his early international breakthrough in collaborations with Neville Watson for Rush Hour and records such as Inside Out and Full Flight. A home video of Velchev manipulating a drum machine helped lead to a Panorama Bar booking, and the direct relationship between gesture and sound became the defining feature of his live shows. Rather than hiding performance behind a laptop, he uses compact groups of machines and controllers so that every change can be heard immediately; he has even passed equipment into the crowd and incorporated the results. Apple Music describes a catalogue that moves between playful house, experimental techno, acid and the improvisatory energy of jazz, including Cloud Generator, the album Playground and releases through his Sofia Records label. His studio work also includes remixes for Nina Kraviz, Trentemøller and Matthew Dear, while Spotify and SoundCloud match the Strahil Velchev identity and recording history. KiNK performs both DJ and live sets, but both formats share an emphasis on spontaneous arrangement, physical rhythm and the expressive possibilities of electronic instruments.