Ben Klock

Ben Klock, who grew up in Berlin, earns widespread respect for commanding and meticulously timed DJ performances alongside his lean, suspense-laden productions in techno. Serving as a central resident at Berghain from the start of 2005 onward, he has placed the bulk of his output on the club’s Ostgut Ton label, among them the underground favorites “Dawning,” recorded with Marcel Dettmann, and “Subzero,” together with the landmark 2009 album One. Renowned for marathon sessions on elite sound systems worldwide, his ceaseless schedule takes him from compact clubs to festival main stages. He has also supplied mixes for numerous CD compilations and podcasts, most notably delivering BBC Radio 1’s Essential Mix of the Year in 2015. Beyond these activities, he directs the austere minimal-techno imprint Klockworks, whose thirty-fourth release, a collaboration with Fadi Mohem, appeared in 2022.

Klock launched his DJ career in mid-’90s Berlin venues such as Cookies and Tresor, where house dominated his sets. His debut EP, Clockworks, came out under the name Ben E. Clock in 1998. An electro-tinged follow-up, I ♥ You, surfaced in 2000, yet mounting fatigue with the prevailing electroclash and minimal-house sounds nearly prompted him to abandon the decks. Two singles on Ellen Allien’s BPitch Control in 2003 marked his return; shortly afterward he joined Berghain as one of its earliest residents following the club’s 2004 opening, restoring his enthusiasm for club culture. Further BPitch Control and Memo releases preceded his role as an inaugural artist on Ostgut Ton, beginning with the 2006 single “Dawning”/“Dead Man Watches the Clock,” again paired with Marcel Dettmann. He established Klockworks the same year, initially showcasing his own material before adding tracks by DVS1 and Trevino.

Klock’s profile rose sharply in 2009 with the Before One EP—above all its track “Subzero”—and the album One. While expanding his international dates he maintained a steady release pace, issuing the 2010 EP Compression Session and remixing material for Depeche Mode, Martyn, Emptyset, and many others. Berghain 04, his first commercially issued mix, arrived in 2010, followed by Fabric 66 in 2012. A 2013 reissue paired the original “Dawning” with “Dawning (Revisited).” In 2015 he teamed with Lucy for the ambient-techno EP War Lullaby on Stroboscopic Artefacts, and his Essential Mix was voted the year’s finest. Phantom Studies, a double EP created with Dettmann, emerged in 2017. “Subzero” returned as a standalone single in 2019, now backed by “Coney Island,” previously exclusive to the CD edition of One. Klockworks 34, another joint effort with Fadi Mohem, closed the sequence in 2022.