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Betty Fvck came from a dark place and brought forth light – something she also does this winter, through us. The persona is just the perfect mix of class and kink that inspires Playful, and oh does she inspire us. By: Amanda Sandström Beijer Photos: Lamia Karic Betty Fvck for Playful Magazine Betty Fvck feels like a perfect name to you in so many ways, what’s the story behind it? Betty is very classy, and fuck is very edgy. She’s an intriguing artist that spreads her wings all over the place. I started with drag when I was in a bad shape, I was without a job for many month after the graduation and in a very toxic relationship. While being a foreigner in a country I had a feeling that I didn’t belong, that I was second class. So, in all this mess of struggles, I found drag as a way to channel my energy, feelings, emotions and my art, and put it all into one character, and that’s how Betty Fvck was born. Through this I could see life in a different view, and it changed my life completely. My mindset and view of my work and mority, as well as my relationships with everyone. It all changed a lot. Before Betty I was a person who didn’t like many things, and as I am a religious, Christian, person, I had easy access to criticism. But from this project I met so many people and they all had their experiences, backgrounds and beliefs and I just started to understand them and accept them and learnt not to judge them. This also liberated me greatly. I felt that I didn’t need to put myself in a box, and neither should I put others in a box. I should just get out of that restricted thinking and love everyone and respect everyone. As a drag queen you need to seek out some environments where you see many different people, and you need to meet them without prejudice or second thoughts. You grew up in Vietnam - tell us about your first experience with Berlin. First time I was in Berlin was 2014 as a tourist after traveling around in Germany and before coming here I had never been in the capital. Traveling around and discovering Düsseldorf, Munich and Hamburg among other German cities, I felt that Berlin stood out. The west part is very German and maybe a bit boring, although when I came to a party a whole new horizon opened up. It was something I have never seen before. People stay out so late, and already at 3 in the morning I got tiered, but at that time they started going to the club, and I had to join. Then around 6-7 I had troubles keeping my eyes opened and almost fell asleep, but the energy was so high that I felt I needed to keep it up. Suddenly it was like 9 and it was too heavy for me as a newcomer. But the difference between Berlin and the rest of Germany is also the people. They never take a break; they just have a cigarette break and then they go back. They are so cool and they’re up for anything. But to be honest I am a very boring person. If I’m not performing at a club or venue. I normally take the time to stay at home and rest. Although if I would party, I’d chose to go to queer parties, I don’t like to go to straight parties I wanna go to queer parties where gay men can have sex, she laughs. and queer parties are special for Berlin. But get me right, I am actually a good partier when I do it, even if I might not be as familiar with the club scene as many others, since I need to take care of my looks and my body as a performer, and I can’t have too much of alcohol and stuff. Betty Fvck for Playful Magazine Make up and clothes are a big part of Betty, tell us about it. Make up has evolved so much in the past ten years. If you would go on YouTube 10 years ago, there was only one or two YouTubers that did make up tutorials, and when seeing the looks they created, today… They don’t look very good. But nowadays there are hundred thousands make up YouTubers, influencers and bloggers. Everyone can do make up! You don’t even need to hire a professional makeup artist to do you bridal make up, but just grab an influencer friend and it might look much better than the look a professional would’ve created for you. Betty Fvck for Playful Magazine Make up today is for everyone. Cosmetics today is very affordable. When I was around 18 years old, I wanted to cover up some pimples or scars or whatever, but it was so expensive, and it wasn’t as easy to find what I needed. Nowadays its everywhere and many of my young friends, started doing drag makeup when they were 13 years old and the looks they create are incredible, much better than my face right now to be honest. It’s very holistic I would say, and diverse. You can do a Kim Kardashian look with contouring and sexy face or you can do emo makeup – there are no rules. The same applies to fashion. Even though I don’t like the word fashion, it’s too commercial, or couturefor that matter. I’m much more into costume, because theatre and drag costume is totally different. The thing is that the fashion world, as well as the makeup world learned so much from drag makeup and drag costume, like contouring is from drag and drag took it from theater - we all learn from each other and that’s okay. Fashion is the same, when you look at the Met Gala, they’re all wearing drag. Lady Gagas new album Chromatica is a total drag look. That’s cool and also uncool, because today it’s so mainstream. Drag is for everyone , and I’m not going to complain about it, cause in the end I like it like that. A lot of Berliners may associate your name with the gay bar Betty F***, but there’s so many clues that lead you to Betty, where does it start? Before I started with drag, I loved Violet Chachki, and when my mentor asked me about my drag name I was like, ’I don’t know…’ But I thought about Violet’s first album that’s named Bettie and I liked it. And the last name, Fvck, came later. I didn’t have any drag mom or anything and didn’t want to copy from anyone or belong to any ’family’. I’m a very independent person. It started with a deja vú when I was at the Betty F***-bar and I thought yes, that’s me. Because Fvck is my signature, it’s censored but it’s still Fuck and nowI’m gonna have my own house of Fuck. Because I work with young people, and they love me so much that after hanging out they want to change their drag names into Fvck because they want it ‘to belong’ to my house. But I have to consider that it’s a lot of responsibility to have my own house of Fuck. I heard that Fuck also comes from the fetish scene in some way? Where did you hear that? Well, I love fetish fashion but I’m not a fetish person in sexual life. I’m quite boring. I’m not doing any BDSM or anything like that, I’m too lazy. Let’s just fuck and finish it, not spend time for this and that, but I love latex and these kind of craziness masks and accessories. I’m totally in love with that. And then Betty is very classy, with a lot of jewelry and diamonds and gemstones. I think my mom sometimes had a lesbian vibe. She loved divas from back in the days. She grew up in the 80’s and back then you had to love Madonna and Marilyn Monroe and she really did. She had posters of them all over the house and she was like ’ look at that, wow look at Marilyn Monroe’. Even if I don’t see myself becoming Monroe, I kept the picture in my head and when you keep it so close to you, the picture becomes you unconsciously. My mom inspired me a lot, she’s a fucking strong person. She taught me a lot about always trying my best and to never surrender. Just go for it, without being afraid to fail. Her character really inspires me, she’s much stronger than me. Betty Fvck for Playful Magazine So, no fetish clubs in Berlin then? I love the club scene in Berlin, I hear that they fuck in the bars and I love that. I love the club scene here because it’s nothing like what you experience anywhere else. People can be themselves, and they can do things differently than in other places in the world. That’s why so many tourists come here - it’s just for the party. Because it’s totally unique, and I hope that the party scene won’t disappear and fall during these times, because it’s so unique to Berlin. In what way is the drag scene in Berlin unique? Berlin has a strong history of embracing LGBTQ culture. Here are many gay districts, with the biggest of them, Schöneberg, also being the first in the world. The drag scene in Berlin is really diverse. Really engaging, sometimes it can be quite political. They fight a lot for trans rights, for refugees’ rights and are at the same time very artistic. The drag scene in Berlin is unique because of Berlin’s history. If you look back there was many drag shows, well they didn’t call it drag back then but crossdressing. Something that was a big cabaret and it was just the beginning of the drag scene in the city that grew and grew. But a lot has changed since 100 years ago. Today you don’t need be beautiful to be in drag, because drag is beyond the looks, it is so much about the personality and that’s what I like about it. Berlin is one of the first places where drag started with a beard - a very rough and hairy look, breaking the images of masculine and feminine. They also removed the word queens within drag, today we speak about drag artists. But we also have kings today where a female becomes a drag king. What more does the city offer that you love? One of the producers of Berlin burlesque festival, where I’m going, Else, produces Bohème Sauvage here which is totally beautiful and if you haven’t been, you must go. You have to wear clothes that are inspired by the 20th and there are these cabaret shows with singers. It’s an absolute ’20s experience from inside and out. They have been doing that for over ten years, it’s totally cool. That’s something that can only be done in Berlin, because of the mood, the vibe and the history. If you’d do that in Spain or something it wouldn’t work because of the heritage. It just wouldn’t be the same. The same goes for those kind of kinky parties like Pornceptual for example - they have a concept that they bring to other places around the world as well, where I have worked for them. What I have noticed when being at Pornceptual Helsinki, was that the people at the party weren’t the same. That’s why some things only work in Berlin - it’s the vibe, the atmosphere, the smell. If Berlin would fail the entertainment and club scene, the city will disappear forever in this world, that’s what I think. What’s something you miss when you’ve been away from the city for some time? When I get to Berlin I love going to the saunas, the Pornceptual parties and the dark rooms. They don’t really exist anywhere else. I love them, and the drag shows. There are many good locations here like Zum Starken August or Ichiban Karaoke, although I heard it’s closing down. They’re going to have a crowdfunding hopefully survive - please, save it. Speaking of, why do we need that- and art in general would you say? Art is everywhere. Imagine, only in one song there are more than 10 artists behind it who are creating it together. Everything we do is art, turn on the tv, even advertisement is art and the clothes you’re wearing. Art is everything. We can’t live without it, we have to look beyond the performance art. It’s not only limited to shows and performing. There are so many people around every piece of art that are affected by it. It’s the technicians, it’s the staff who are cleaning the venue, it’s the ones working in the bar, and that is why we need to support it. If we don’t, it’s like the collapses of everything. After corona I recognized that everyone depends on each other. We have to take care of ourselves to be safe, and we need to depend on each other in a way so that we’re recognizing that we’re not a single island. We’re not alone, we relate to each other and need to be there for each other. Are you having a friend who’s out of work for a long time, ask them how they’re feeling and if you have the opportunity, please support them. Maybe they have ’Only fans’ or ’Patreon’ or anything - help each other out, it’s very important. Together we’re making the world go around.

Playful met with the KitKat founder and underground kink legend Simon Thaur in Berlin to get to know how it all started and how he d eveloped an appetite for different fantasies. By: Amanda Sandström Beijer Photos: Gili Shani Simon Thaur – the Founder of KitKat Club Berlin We meet at the club on a Sunday evening. KitKat is about to close but the music is still on and the guests are dancing, talking and enjoying the evening in their fetish costumes and masks. Simon Thaur grew up in a s mall town, which, according to himself, is “the most beautiful little town in Austria”, and came to Berlin in the ’70s. ”As a young guy, I wanted to become a professional drummer, creating a jazz-rock-band. I tried my luck first in Vienna and some other places, but things didn’t work out as they should have, so I felt a bit lost and started to travel around after a while. This resulted in extensive traveling for fourteen years – which is completely different from the life that I’m living now.” Watch Simon Thaur in Playful Podcast Today Simon stays mostly in Berlin, where he has a house with a garden, constantly involved with the club that he started together with Kirsten Krüger. ”Without all I went through in the early years I wouldn’t be here, since all the ideas of creating KitKat and my projects started coming out of my mind during that time. Well, I was always a bit freaky.” Simon Thaur had no interest in creating a club in the beginning, it all happened more by chance and made its way through his sexual fantasies. He attracted people with similar interests from the beginning, no matter if he travelled in India or rented an apartment in Berlin. The first seed to what would later become Kitkat was a community of only ten people. ”In the beginning of the 90’s I wanted to publish my astrology books and told myself that I need to land somewhere in Europe to focus on that project. I first went to Munich but felt that it wasn’t really my kind of city. Actually I was very naive as to how to organise my new reality after 14 years of traveling. That’s where I met Kirsten, my girlfriend. We did a lot of crazy things, conquering the public with naked outfits and having sex in public. I had many different sexual preferences and as you may realize they always trigger you to look for a new kick to fullfill you. After one and a half years in Munich we decided to move to Berlin since Berlin always has been considered the best place to be in Europe. Simon Thaur – the Founder of KitKat Club Berlin ”In the early nineties after opening the borders to the east many things changed: techno appeared as well as the first fetish clubs. I remember very well the first public BDSM-cafe. Nobody did really live out a sexual session. People were just standing around and showing off their fetish clothes with their partner in a dog leash or such.” ”In our naivety we thought we were allowed to do whatever we wanted to and I opened sessions that included fists. We were very authentic in our own way and went there to do our sessions and asserted these ideas. People starred at us and we created rumours. Lots of people also liked it and they congratulated us to our courage.” ”We started to find out how far we could go with our free behaviour and Kirsten never wore anything but pantyhose. I remember that we went to ’Far out, there was this disco where they discussed if they should allow us in or not. Two men were against it because they were afraid that we might provoke trouble, but three women took off their t-shirts in solidarity with us. They were very impressed with how Kirsten handled all the potentially troubling situations with her charisma. Nobody ever dared to touch her, in fact the more she showed the more respect and admiration she got.” Simon started seeing a chance to create these kinds of happenings as parties in one of the first techno places in the city, but only Tuesdays were available. ”We just had to declare Tuesday a cult day.” KitKat – not an instant success With so many ideas Simon wanted to create something bigger and better. He came to a final point when he told himself that by 33 he wanted to have realised something big. ”If you have all these genius ideas and they are stuck in your mind they don’t do anything for anyone. In the beginning, KitKat wasn’t very successful. The seventh party we held had only 25 people and it was one week before my 34th birthday, so it was already one year longer then what I had set my mind to. I thought it wasn’t really what I wanted it to be, but during that last week something changed.” ”There was a lesbian party that wanted to change their Wednesdays to Tuesdays which made us trade days. I invited everybody for free to our party that Wednesday, even people I met on the street. The party got completely full and had a very good quality, People were there for the right reason.” Simon wanted to keep this quality and so forced himself not to think about the shorter perspective, meaning moneymaking, but to keep on focusing on the quality. ”People started talking about this place where you can go and have sex in public and from that moment something changed and it fitted the vision I had from the beginning of what I wanted to create.” A vintage promo poster from KitKat and Innovative ProdActions Developed an appetite for different fantasies It’s hard to think of Simon Thaur as someone who hasn’t always been sexually liberated, at the same time, the wildest fishes swim in the calmest waters and according to Simon himself he used to be pretty shy. ”When I was 18 I was very shy, but I often met woman that said I awakened something within them. I remember by 21 I spent one week together with a woman who was the girlfriend of some kind of mafia boss from Yugoslavia and she wanted me to ejaculate in her face but i was so shy and instead I ejaculated on her throat.” Simon started to develop an appetite for various fantasies and got inspired by different forums. ”Porn always inspired me and even before I created my own porn company, I was always very interested in the technical part of it and how it worked. It’s also this psychological part of it. It needs to be balanced with the right energy and a caring, responsible attitude in order to work out for the satisfaction of all.” Simon emphasizes that the ’70s was marked by a new feministic era where porn was questioned a lot since much of it totally lacked the feminine aspect. ”Later on, the society started to accept these kinds of kinky ideas like KitKat and the experiments in different movies. Suddenly people wanted to be involved in the films that just a couple of years earlier could not recruit any film teams, due to the kinky angle.” ”The problem is that women often get judged when they do this, and if they open up for something even crazier they fear that their family and friends will be judgmental and negative, maybe even the whole society. This is something I can see even today at the club. For example, sometimes when a person is alone they make a session and act all free, and then when the friends arrive they run around a gain with their ’I’m innocent’-protection behaviour.” He means that the judgment creates some kind of prison for people, where they can’t relax and feel empowered by their true self. ”If you have all these biological elements to use, a lot of people who enjoy the kinky way around, still need somebody who they can trust. For example, everybody might have a ’raping fantasy’, men as well as woman, or whatever, but a woman may need someone who holds her a little bit strongly so that she can fall into the fantasy, but if it’s too strong it’s over because then it gets real. There are these psychological elements of the role play, and it needs to be done correctly and responsibly in the right way.” Missed 19 KitKat nights since 1994 Simon has been a perfectionist when it comes to sustaining these elements in his films and music videos, as well as in the club. He can immediately feel when a mood is off and what the reason is. Maybe this is due to him only missing 19 nights at KitKat since the club opened up in 1994. ”I wouldn’t know where else to go, I wouldn’t like to go somewhere else, because it’s only music then and not as multidimensional as what we have in KitKat”. Simon says that even though the club has been around for so many years and some people say that it used to be better before or whatever, that’s not true. The club has always been the same, just in different locations. Although he means that he can have another perspective on it today than he did in the beginning. ”In the 90’s I was always aware of my role in the club as a club owner, and that if I did something I was always being watched. It’s not that I didn’t want to do a show myself, but more that I was aware of it from an outer perspective as well. But I have always been quite funny and open so people haven’t really been afraid of asking me or inviting me into their sessions.” Simon doesn’t drink alcohol or do any drugs, but he drinks some kind of vitamin water that he buys at the petrol station close to his home. ”I’ve never been into drugs really, but after we created KitKat I became more straight edge because I wanted to keep up the super vision since I have a lot of responsibility. But the other part of it is that I don’t need these enhancements - if the party is good it’s already good and if the party is bad I don’t need drugs to believe it’s something that it’s not . ” Simon Thaur – the Founder of KitKat Club Berlin PART 2 In 2000 Simon got bored with the club and even wanted to close it down. He had then started to work with porn and found a new thing that interested him sexually. The alternative porn film label innovative-productions was created together with Kirsten Krüger in 1999. ”I made 28 movies before I made them official and the films I produced were very niched and pretty alternative. Just like KitKat Club is not part of the whole techno scene, my films were not part of the commercial porn scene either . I was definitely an outsider.” In the beginning, Simon only made films together with people he already knew. ”I started out working with very close friends and after the first productions they wanted to do it again, but in the porn business it’s not always the same people but it’s the same action. I turned it around. Just like in a relationship; the first night must not be the best night, it more so develops after a while. So, during the years we filmed, we overcame pretty much every border.” Simon means that there is so much stuff that is quite demanding, and that it takes practice to achieve a good result. ”It’s a mix of psychological and tec hnical knowledge. My porn works from the psychological side, and I was able to convince anybody to do anything – but of course I never came on to them from a bad intention.” Alternative medicine and astrology In 2008 a person from Simon’s production company died of cancer and as a consequence of this tragic experience he started getting a deep interest for alternative medicine. ”I found a complete new world. I also created a new astrology system, well, more kind of astro-medicine” ”Astrology is definitely more than a belief. I found that the planets and the stars influence your endocrine system. I am very interested in explaining how such a planet is able to influence your hormone glands. You can see the horoscope as a hormonal matrix.” ”Today I have already written more than 3000 pages on this, but some parts are still missing before I’m satisfied and will release it. With this system the other astrology systems will be outcompeted.” Being completely involved in these kinds of alternative scientific studies two years ago, he started creating experimental pornographic music videos for his own songs which he created in his studio under the title "Nude Poetry” and won the first prize at the Berlin music video awards, for the "Trashiest Video”. During the pandemic Simon also started doing porn again. ”I want to create a mix with my old style of porn, and my new format for my music videos. I want to play with historical times which can’t be realized within a normal film setting if you don´t have tons of money. I therefor work a lot in my own green room. ”I don’t want to repeat myself, so I got inspired by fantasies and even started creating new worlds. On Wednesday and Thursday next week I will film a mix between Madmax and Medieval times where the actress is a fool with horns and wears a bell hanging from her pussy while walking in the streets trying to convince people to give her money. But these kinds of ideas don’t exist within proper porn movies, so I see a gap in the market where I can make my own imprint on that field again, without it being compared to my old stuff.” Simon Thaur – the Founder of KitKat Club Berlin Fed up with porn Simon Thaur hasn’t actually been interested in porn after his last film in 2007. ”I was completely pissed off with porn. I didn’t find new witty people for the last two years. Well I found women, but I couldn’t find any good men. I always created very funny stories and needed people who could improvise the appropriate dialogues. And at the same time it all must work down there.” ” And at the same time other companies started to blackmail my actresses and told them that if they did a movie with Thaur they couldn’t work with them.” In some of his old films there has been a theme including body fluids. A pretty niched theme when he created it in the 90’s. ”Back then a lot of people in the film stores were afraid of what was seen as ’too much’ in the direction BDSM. In Germany it wasn’t allowed to show a spanking scene when the woman was in bondage because it might have been against her will, and therefore shops and video stores didn’t dare to release movies with such content. That brought me to consider other niches. Simon explains that it’s one of his real psychological skills to make people feel comfortable during sets. This could for example be a scene where some of the actors could feel ashamed. ”It was a lot of dark humor in the films and I took the piss out of every stereotype. You don’t know if you want to wank or laugh watching my movies. It must be crazy otherwise it bores me. And as for the other stuff, it doesn’t need me, because all that already exists.” KitKat Club: A landmark of a liberated Berlin KitKat has been a big landmark for Berlin where famous people like Kate Moss and Robert Pattinson enjoy entering when they’re in the city. For Simon the city is special as well. ”There is no other place in the world that is that tolerant, full of young people and without boundaries. Berlin is this basic freedom town of the world. Already in the ’70s you could find that characteristic. I spent some years in London and Italy, but it was just boring in comparison to Berlin. And KitKat club is part of this whole image of course.” ”It’s the basic place that leaves you free to be able to do all these things. In the past I made 15 porn movies in the streets where people had dildos in their ass while talking to people passing by, e ven policemen. This co uld only be possible in Berlin. This city gives me a lot of possibilities.” Who is Simon Thaur? Simon Thaur is together with Kirsten Kruger one of the Founders of KitKat Club in Berlin, one of the worlds most famous sex clubs. Simon Thaur is also a film producer, focusing on adult movies.

We take a moment to remember and honor the Pride parade in Berlin last year together with Sabrina Jeblaoui from @Nachtclubsberlin, since this years parade will be held online on the 25th of July. A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin Sabrina: ”It was a beautiful sunny day last year. I didn’t stay very long but I was super happy to see all these colors and all this energy ! Uhhhh, I don’t expect anything about the online Pride, sounds a bit sad but anyway it’s like that this year ! I really think people in Berlin will be outside to celebrate it as I know them lol ^^” If you don't already, follow @nachtclubsberlin on Instagram. Travel in time and enjoy her photos here:  A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin  A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin  A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin  A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin  A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin  A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin  A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin  A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin  A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin  A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin  A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin  A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin  A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin  A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin  A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin  A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin  A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin  A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin  A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin  A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin  A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin  A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin  A tribute to Berlin pride – Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin

Illustration by Ewa Zak. Illustration by Ewa Zak Playful Magazine Anonymous story Do you remember when we got to go out clubbing and everything was possible? This anonymous story will take you right back. Before moving to Berlin, I had never been to a club alone before, but it did not take long for this new habit to start. Deep in my—now shameful—deep house phase, I was getting increasingly frustrated by the fact that my flat mates didn’t always agree to come to the parties I was interested in… until I had an epiphany. I could go alone. I don’t need someone to hold my hand while waiting to greet a scary-looking bouncer! And so it began. First, Kater Blau, then Berghain, then Kitkat. I had been once in my early twenties and I recalled the experience as nothing but pure, unaltered fun. I had gone with my high school best friend and we danced the night away, playing around the poles with a mesmerizing ballet dancer and pretending to be a couple to make sure no one would try to flirt with us too hard. I now have a solid group of close friends in Berlin, and I do sometimes regret the fact that my dancing alone days are almost over, though I relish in the occasion every time I do pick a party no one else is interested in. There is one night in particular that I hold fond memories of. Still trying to navigate this whole “dating in Berlin” thing, I had temporarily lost interest in the myriad of dating apps I was using and decided to give real life a go. Plus, I probably had decided I wanted to wear as little clothing as possible that night, so it made all the sense in the world to head to Kitkat by myself. I got ready and poured myself a couple of mate-vodkas while Skyping with a friend from back home, a thing I used to do often before heading out over my first months as a Berliner. By the time it was time to go out—not too early, not too late—I decided wearing a skirt over my bodysuit for the U-Bahn ride to Heinrich-Heine-Straße wasn’t necessary. After all, it was dark, I was feeling myself and most of the people I would stumble upon would be drunk anyways. I stood in line, got into the club and headed to the cloakroom before getting a drink and inspecting the dancefloor. The music was good, as always. I’ve always liked the main floor’s accessible and sometimes nostalgic electronic beats, and the DJ that night was doing a particularly good job at keeping me moving. It was probably 4 or 5AM when everything changed. All of a sudden, a gorgeous man in his early 30s entered the room. His presence was magnetic, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of him, probably because he was exactly who I had been hoping to find that night when I had decided to go to this club alone. I could see him screening the room the way I had a few hours prior, which I found amusing. I decided to take action before someone else did and headed towards the bathroom as an excuse to walk in his direction. I smiled at him, he smiled back. I can’t remember who started talking first, but we rapidly ended up making out. He said he had been searching for someone like me tonight, and I said I had, too. Illustration by Ewa Zak Playful Magazine Anonymous story After what felt like just minutes, he asked if I wanted to go home with him. I agreed, and we hopped on the bus towards his apartment. Once we were seated, he leaned over and asked: “Have you heard of 50 Shades of Grey?” I nodded. He then asked me whether I was interested in the topic it covered, and I answered that I was definitely curious. He seemed pleased with my answer and said he had some things to teach me. At this point, I could hardly contain my excitement about what was about to happen. Berlin had already been mind-opening for me, and I welcomed every new experience that allowed me to get to know myself better, especially pleasure-wise. Once we finally got off the bus—he did live slightly outside the ring in a quiet suburb, gasp—we walked towards his apartment and this is where it all began. He showed me his living room, then pointed towards his bedroom and told me to wait there. After a few, interminable seconds, he entered with a large box in his hands. He then proceeded to tell me this box was full of every accessory I could ever want to try, and told me we would do that to help me figure out what I liked and didn’t like. From gag balls to a Wartenberg wheel (yes, I did just Googled it and just learned what this is called), we went through his entire box for several hours and well into the morning, having sex in the meantime. Some objects just made me giggle endlessly, while others had the effect he was hoping for. I remember this encounter as so fun and lighthearted, far from the typical BDSM cliché I had thought was the norm. Though he was looking puzzled when things made me giggle, he seemed to thoroughly enjoy this session too, which made me like it—and him—even more. We slept for a few hours and when I woke up, the previous events seemed a lifetime away. I don’t think we exchanged phone numbers. We just got up and said goodbye to each other after he let me know he was expecting friends. On my end at least, not asking whether we would see each other again was a way to keep the magic of this night untainted. I started getting dressed, and then it sunk in: I had decided to not wear a skirt for the U-Bahn ride! Here I was, strolling down the streets of this quiet neighborhood, wearing nothing but a bodysuit. The wait for the S-Bahn was the longest ever, as I sat awkwardly among children and their parents getting ready for a wholesome Sunday excursion into town. You have no idea how happy I was when I finally made it home.

Soledad makes badges out of unsolicited dick pics that she receives – to then make them solicited. She sells them in Berlin clubs such as Kater Blau, Wilde Renate, and also outside KitKat, where I met her for the first time. Written by: Amanda Sandström Beijer She sells unsolicited dick pics in Berlin clubs "It pays the rent", says Soledad Har Sheleg and smirks" A couple of weeks ago I was standing in line outside KitKat, when Soledad passed by with a box filled with badges, bottle openers, puzzles – all made from dick pics. ’Dicksaw’ is what she calls the puzzle. My friend bought one of them to support her work and was told it was ´her cousins husband’s penis´. Soledad is mentioned on Reddit, and men are worried. They want to know if it really is legal to sell other people’s body parts without their permission. "Well if they're going to complain, I will ask them for their name, number and address and I will just report them for sexual harassment". She receives most of the dick pics on WhatsApp, but they come from all over her social media channels, as they do for many female-identifying people. "They want you to feel that you owe them something, and I must admit that sometimes I was foolish enough to send something back. Especially if we have chatted for a long time. But as soon as they get what they want, they're satisfied and stop giving me any more attention", she says and continues; "They're diplomatic in a way. They ask you for a picture in return, without telling you what kind of picture. It's like drug dealers; they give you one for free. But when you have already taken it they tell you that you have to pay for it." Men seem to think this is how life works, I give you a nude to make you send me one back A lot of people are questioning unsolicited dick pics and what makes random men send them. Soledad had an ex who told her why he did it. "He said he's doing it because he thinks it's a mutual transaction. Men seem to think this is how life works, I give you a nude to make you send me one back". "I guess it's the same as with tourists and immigrants. When they arrive to a place where no one knows who they're, they will start to escalate a bad behavior. You drop your ethics completely because no one is there to tell you what to do. Stealing something, getting really drunk or whatever." When sending dick pics to strangers one advantage is that they don't know you, so they cannot tell on you. "It's between you and that person, and that person cannot complain about you. He's safe and anonymous. I asked Soledad to bring the dick pics to the interview, and now we're sitting with the whole table in front of us covered with them." The all-time favorite so far for the customers is the one she named “English breakfast "I have received around 350 unsolicited, and they keep coming. The all-time favorite so far for the customers is the one she named “English breakfast”. "He made many good ones, but this one has too many toasts." She points to one of the bigger pins and continues; "This one on the other hand is very good. It's my best seller." The picture has toast, egg, white beans in tomato sauce and the penis lies on the plate as a sausage with ketchup on top. "I got some complaints about some of these English breakfast pins. Customers definitely want beans." So, there are good and bad motives, as well as good and bad lighting and quality. For Soledad, a good dick pic might be what her customers wants, but what determines the dick pic quality for others? "A good dick pic is one that looks terrible, because that conveys the message. The worse it looks, the clearer the message is. But then again, guys don't look at the pictures, they snap and send. They don't even look for quality", says Soledad as she starts putting the photos back in the box.

Playful Magazines Editor-in-chief Amanda spent a day together with Berghain resident DJ Roi Perez at a museum and talks about inspiration, how he ended up in Berlin and why he has no plan of leaving the city. Roi Perez for Playful Magazine We meet outside Gropius-Bau, Roi’s favorite museum in Berlin which is currently showcasing the exhibition Garden of Earthly Delights until December. Being a handsome and talented DJ is in his favor, but in his own words, things ”just happen”. There's nothing pretentious about Roi, he even offers to pay for our entrance fees. Today the Israeli-born DJ has performed in Berghain regularly since 2014. "My first booking was for SNAX party in Lab.Oratory, a men only sex party that happens twice a year. It was for the sport-festish edition, so it was quite a special occasion. This was like half a year after I moved to Berlin and I was not playing much back then, almost not at all. I was nervous as fuck! Later I realized they booked me after listening to my SoundCloud page, which back then, was comprised of a few living room mixes I recorded in my Friedrichshain apartment." A couple of weeks later he was invited to play at a regular Sunday Klubnacht for the closing slot. The Dj who was supposed to play, had to cancel last minute. "That ended up being probably my favourite and most memorable night in Berlin. It felt very pure to me, kind of spiritual. I got a lot of loving energy from the people in the room and I was just channeling all my music. I literally brought all my records and played for ten hours.No wonder his first gig at Panorama Bar raised much attention, with everyone having lost all sense of time." The vibrating energy from the booth and Roi’s way of creating a musical sensation. Dancing is part of how he makes his show something extraordinary. He's not just making the party - but being part of it. The result was that Panorama Bar couldn't let go of Roi. They decided to keep him. Today Berghain is my home Being told "Heute leider nicht” one day, only to refer to the very same place as your home the next day. Roi himself says that a lot has happened by accident, but some might say that it probably happened for a reason. Roi Perez for Playful Magazine "Today Berghain is my home. I play there on a monthly basis and both Berghain and Panorama Bar are inspirational to me. It's probably my favourite place to play in the whole world", he says and continues; "After touring, I sometimes go there just to get the instant connection with the city. Most of my friends are partying there, so it's like a meeting point on a high level of energy. Meanwhile you often hear people complain about touring life. Watching Roi’s busy schedule, I was curious about how he catches his breath when he gets back to the city after being on tour every weekend." "It's actually not like that to me, it's probably the opposite. I like touring because I can be in my own head space. I am preparing mentally for each show and I experience myself while traveling. While on the way, It's just me and my thoughts. At home there are so many distractions and stimulations, which makes it hard to take time for yourself. But of course, it's a lot about balance and it can be mega tiring. Many times I only wanna go home, relax between my four walls and be the happiest girl." Roi Perez for Playful Magazine Rather than from other musicians, Roi prefers to get his inspiration from nature and other art forms. "I never had any big idols. I was always a nerd when it came to music. I would read lots of music magazines, collect CDs and records when I was a teenager, but I did not have this way of idolizing, excluding maybe The Knife. I was listening to all of their records like thousand of times. I would say most of the music I have been exposed to came from conversations with friends", he says and continues; "Then my first DJ experience was at a friends house, I learned to mix there for the first time and there was actually a dance floor. Whether you believe in coincidences or not, Roi did not actually plan his move here either. I guess that the ease of life comes to people who are open for change as well as welcoming what is. "I like surprises. I fell in love with the city when I traveled here alone just by the time I came out as gay and experienced the queer scene. My first rave parties experiences were here." I guess areas in which where people feel oppressed due to political circumstances, often develop great rave cultures. But it's always love and hate since the city vibe can turn dark at times. Just like Berlin, Tel Aviv is a thriving city and a scene for techno and rave. "I guess areas in which where people feel oppressed due to political circumstances, often develop great rave cultures. People in Tel Aviv are partying hard. But I do not know exactly how it's today, I guess a lot has changed, I have not lived there for a while now." Roi Perez for Playful Magazine A couple of years later, Roi needed a change from his life in his hometown and returned to Berlin after traveling around The US and Scandinavia for six months. "You know how you feel after spending time in nature, the urge to go wild! I actually came to Berlin by bus from Denmark, he laughs." I love that the city is so spacious. Not only in the streets, but people respect private space. This was six years ago today, and now, Berlin is his home. "I love that the city is so spacious. Not only in the streets, but people respect private space. There's also a lot of greenery and parks. So you feel as if you're living in a village when in reality, you're living in a big metropolitan city." The old German bars with curtains are a part of this city, even though they don't have a good reputation amongst most club kids in Berlin, Roi enjoys the variety. "I love bars too. There's one not far from where I live called Kumpelnest 3000. It’s a trashy gay bar but the scenarios you see there are always funny." He says and continues; "There's also this one club in Kreuzberg that is a former public toilet called Zur Klappe. Last month, along with three friends from Sound Metaphors records in Kreuzberg, I threw a party there on a Thursday night called ’Come ⌁ Come’. All of our friends were there basically, It's such tiny fun space. We will do this again in December, so let me know if you would like to come." Roi Perez for Playful Magazine

By: Amanda Sandström Beijer Foodie Per Meurling gudes you through Germany's and Berlins best restaurant. His Instagram is the most popular food related account in the city. Per Meurling of Berlin Food Stories for Playful Magazine "There was something that came to me during the lockdown, to put up some recipes with local ingredients. That particular dish comes from a cookbook written by Nadine Redzepi, the wife of René Redzepi who started Noma. It's a damn good recipe indeed.” Maybe Per has plans to create a cookbook himself, but he’s not going to promise too much. ”I’m really restless, which leads to that I’m starting new projects over and over, which I, in turn, may not finish. That's in my nature, says Per humbly. But given that he’s Berlin's most renowned food reviewer, I am not really willing, as an outsider, to agree with him. His Instagram is constantly updated as if it was run by an entire team. But no, Per is alone in the proje ct. ”I have my brother-in-law who is a photographer and helps me with some pictures sometimes, and a freelancer who helps with a some admin stuff, but I mostly do it myself.” There has always been an interest in food. Although he doesn’t come from an especially food loving family. Growing up on the Swedish west coast, he had an interest in fishing and enjoyed reading cookbooks. ”It started to get more serious when I moved to southern Sweden to study. Then I started working in a kitchen at Campus. There I helped with everything from lunches to Sunday dinners and seating in restaurants. I did this for several years and that’s also where I met my wife, who shares the food interest with me.” Per Meurling of Berlin Food Stories for Playful Magazine It wasn't until 2009 that he came to Berlin, a city that has always been something of a focal point. ”I have always been drawn to Berlin and the liberal mindset here. It's like there’s less of the bad things about Germany. Less of the rural and conservative.” Back then Per worked full-time in the tech start-up scene, something that was in line with his studies in finances. At the same time his food interest grew into an obsession and became a major focus. ”I didn't consider working in the food industry back then. Although I was of course hoping that there might someday be an opportunity.” Even though Berlin Food Stories was started in 2012, it wasn't until 2016 he could go all in on the project. ”When the company I worked for lost an investment round and was forced to kick half the company, the timing was good. Things had already started going well for me and Berlin Food Stories then.” What had started as a pure interest project, where he had mostly created lists of different restaurants, had now evolved into a place where people went to get restaurant tips. “I've always had the entrepreneurial spirit, like many of my friends, and this platform became my way to reach an audience. Then the forum grew attracting more followers and a wider audience through Social Media and all that. I got a start-up capital when a company I had been involved with and built up got sold. So I thought, fuck it, I'll take a year and see what could happen if I work wholeheartedly on Berlin Food Stories.” And so, he stayed on. "After starting to work on something that you are completely passionate about, it's hard to let go and do something else." Per launched a website and realized that he must be a good photographer to reach his audience. So he took a photo course together with his brother-in-law. ”He got completely hooked, and still works as a photographer today. Even though I sometimes feel that I may not have sufficient ambitions for professional photography, I enjoy to constantly evolve my photography and my aesthetics.” Per says that he has grown together with Berlin, and that he’s happy to do what he does in this city and not somewhere else. “When I came here in 2006 to live for three months, the food culture was completely different from what it is today. Back then the first tourist boom began to hit Berlin and the restaurant scene was nothing like it is today" “If you wanted to eat something fancy, there were only hotel restaurants to chose from – and that’s not too nice. They are damn traditional, boring and inanimate, like, a lack of soul. And then there were casual eateries. But nothing in between. Like this place for example.” he says, throwing a glance at the restaurant we are sitting at. "There were simple Turkish, Chinese and Thai places and there was a lot to discover there. But Berlin has become a bit like New York or London, in the way that there is such an extreme variety today. You can eat, from low to high, anything, and find at least one good restaurant in any original kitchen. It’s very special." “Something that doesn’t exist in the Nordic countries for example. You won’t find, a North Chinese place or extremely good grilled kebab, but here there’s plenty. They can certainly cook better Michelin food in Copenhagen or Stockholm, but when it comes to the simple and more casual, Berlin is very good nowadays.” Per says that Berlin has been less good at finding its own dishes, and has instead followed trends from other food cultures, but done that very well. “It has happened a lot within the Asian cuisine, restaurants that you see everywhere in Berlin. Just by sitting here we can see maybe ten, or even twenty places.” “There’s Ramen over there, simpler Vietnamese, a more modern Vietnamese there, dumplings there, and a really cool sushi place with dry ice that smokes and all that stuff, over there and so on. It is the Vietnamese who have built them and own them. And they are never bad. Especially if you visit Berlin, you will be very pleasantly surprised." Per Meurling of Berlin Food Stories for Playful Magazine Per is currently updating his pizza list. This makes us change the subject to how the pizzas have evolved here over the past years. “In Berlin the development has been exemplary. Only ten years ago there was only really bad pizza in this city, but today there are maybe ten world-class pizzerias. It has evolved so much.” If you have followed Per for a while then you know that Pizzeria Standard is one of his favourites – just for their toppings. On Danziger strasse there has also opened the Malafemmena that he mentions. “They are even part of the Neapolitan bakers' association, and they also make world-class pizzas. I would like to argue that Berlin is the city in Europe that offers the best pizza. There’s also Estelle, close to here, where they create thinner, sourdough pizzas. Really fun, not at all Italian, but their completely own creations. " “I also have to highlight the Syrian cuisine that has come here in the last five years. It has opened up absolutely incredible restaurants where they have changed the game completely for shawarma. Syrians are like the Middle East’s Frenchman when it comes to cuisine. This is where all the food culture comes from. They have a completely different quality mindset than many others." “A very well-known chef named Malakeh, a woman who owns a restaurant in Schöneberg with the same name, prepares Syrian home cooking which is incredibly tasty. Such restaurants are so easy to find in Berlin compared to other places in Europe, there’s so many that I have not even closely enough time to cover them all. Although it’s not uncommon for me to go out and eat at three or four places in one evening to be effective. " It’s obvious that Per feels grateful for being able to work with what he loves, although the restaurant industry hustle a lot. Per himself works a lot with Patreon but has an ambition to be able to create a safer source of income where he can continue to increase value in the restaurant world. "Yes well, I’m not 25 anymore. But Patreon is a new way of working and it gives a lot to those who are interested in food. They can subscribe for a few euros a month and thereby get access to a more exclusive content. Since I don’t post everything I eat and my thoughts about it on Instagram, but I save a lot for this forum. We have a group, which is like a news feed, where we post all the openings, all the rumors, all the events and such.” ”Maybe the coolest thing that we offer on Patreon is the access to our secret forum. There we gossip a lot and have open discussions. Both positive and negative angles. We are about 60-70 really serious foodies who are active there and nerd out completely about food. It's so fucking fun. Many of them do not even have kitchens at home but are just eating out all the time, so it’s updated on an incredible level. But there we also have food quizzes and other creative stuff.” In the food world, one can imagine that a platform like this makes restaurants hold the door for you wherever you go. At the same time, it needs to be nuanced to be credible, and Per himself has a strong principle about always paying for the food he eats and reserves tables under false names. “The influencer career, is not really something that I have worked hard for, it doesn’t work within food the same way it does with fashion where you work with companies that have a lot of money. Restaurants have no money, not even Michelin restaurants. And it also would become completely contradictory to take money from the restaurants. Then I would be bought, and being bought in the food world is a completely different thing than in the fashion industry. Well, you can, but there will be no project that you can scale in the way I want, to be able to work with food.” Per Meurling of Berlin Food Stories for Playful Magazine In 2015-2016 he barely had his own name on the blog. But the more he became a trademark the more Per realized that he needed to use his name. “Even though my face doesn't have to be there all the time, the brand is built around me. And today, the stuff I write about can have a huge effect on the restaurants.” “People have begun to understand what I’m doing and see the quality of what I create, which can only come from being nuanced and not bought. I can't be invited, that’s the way I work. The principles I work on are based on the 8-9 years that I’ve been working on this. It’s not only to increases credibility, but the reason that I book a table under a different name is also that it changes the whole experience. If they know who I am, the dining experience will tend to be more stiff and boring. The food is almost always worse, and you don't get the same vibe. The worst thing is restaurant openings. The food at restaurant openings is terrible. So I tell people not to invite me to openings. Then I just get a ghastly impression of ​​the place." “A general rule is, take pizzas for example, I wait for three months or so to go there, because they need more time to get set than other restaurants. All good pizzerias I know, were useless the first few months. It's like they need to get to know the oven and the dough and everything, and after three months you can get a more nuanced picture of what they serve. " But what everyone wants to know is what it takes to get mentioned on the blog. “In addition to booking tables in the wrong name and paying myself, I will have to come there on several occasions. My first experience needs to be really good for me to post on Instagram, but to end up on the blog it has to be really fucking good and entice me to come back. It must be pure and eternal love for me to go there. Then I will interview the people behind the kitchen, shoot photos and put it on my blog.” ”And if there's anyone I want to impress with all of this, it’s the chefs.” Don't miss anything from Playful Magazine – get your digital copy here.

She came to Berlin for the music, without any support from home. This is Nur Jaber's journey from being bullied in school, to her worst pot smoking experience in Berklee College of Music and to finally becoming one of the cities most respected techno DJs. Nur Jaber for Playful Magazine Born and raised in Beirut, Nur Jaber was the quiet, withdrawn, and shy child. She didn’t have many friends and was bullied both at school for being chubby. "I was very insecure and always at home with my parents. I was the chubby child, and you know how kids can be. My childhood was more unhappy I would say, but I always had a feeling that there was something better out there, without knowing what it was. So, I started searching for that, already as a child. " Today she has found spirituality and is a completely different person than she was when she was young. When we meet Nur Jaber at a beer garden at Treptower Park, she gives a confident and calm impression. But the journey getting there has been long. "I still consider myself a little bit insecure but I'm very social, I love to meet people, make connections and to have people around me. Today I would say that I have a lot of friends." The journey, and the entrance to the music came through her father who played bass in a rock band. As a child, Nur started playing the piano and since she spent a lot of time by herself, the piano lessons became a much- needed escape from everyday life. Although as a teenager she switched to rock music and even played in a metal band herself. " Music made me more confident, and I realized that this is where I belong. I was bullied from all sides. So, for me, music became the comfort. " She describes herself as a spiritual child, where music became the engine and the guide to the existence of something else, something bigger. "I was very spiritual as a kid. When music came into my life, it started to activate the spiritual world for me. It's a thing I feel in my head, it's hard to explain. " Nur Jaber for Playful Magazine Nur Jaber was 17 years old the first time she left Lebanon herself. She had then been accepted to a music college in Boston, USA, and flew over for three months of college life. "It was amazing, we were having house parties, smoked pot and I had one of my worst trips. I could not even move, and I got this outer body experience. My roommate had to carry me to the car, and I remember thinking "this is the American college life '" she says and laughs. Her first contact with Berlin came after she graduated. Nur and some friends went to the city for travels, and she stayed a whole year, to party and discover everything that Berlin could offer. But the travels got interrupted by her dad. "Then my dad grabbed me and took me back to Lebanon. I worked two years for him, helping with his business, but then I got depressed and decided to go back. My parents said they would not offer me any support, but I didn’t care. I had my savings, and I just left. As a newcomer in Berlin, Nur played house music and got her first gig at Sage where she was a resident DJ in the smoking department. The friends and contacts she made during her earlier travels in the city helped her with finding a place to stay. "I did not really have a job and I focused on learning the language. I wanted to be able to speak to the sound engineers and bouncers, to give them a good impression" As a new DJ in Berlin, Nur Jaber took all the gigs she could get, along with waitressing, she was able to practice her German and started making some money . The family finally chose to give her their support after her mother visited – thanks to Kottbuser Tor. "I was living with a friend in Kotti and you had to go through a passage where there were a lot of heroinists hanging out. That was when my father understood how much I wanted to invest in music and a life in Berlin and she decided to give a little financial help, which helped me so that I could wholeheartedly invest in my dream." "I played at all clubs. Renate, Loftus Hall... That was how I started to make some money. Then I just wanted to quit because I had a nightmare gig. But my friend convinced me to continue and booked me to Watergate, where I had my last house set. At the after party, it all changed after I opened some techno folders, and I decided to go techno. I started to say no to all the house bookings and waited. " Nur Jaber for Playful Magazine The first time she visited Berghain was also an awakening and an introduction to techno. "The moment I went into that club, I was like 'this will be my life for the next years'. It made me feel like home. Many people feel that. It’s a place that makes you forget about everything else." Today, a little more than ten years after Nur Jaber set foot in Berlin, she is one of the city's most respected DJs. She often plays at Berghain and completed her first 11-hour gig in November before the pandemic. Rock music from her childhood and the old favorite bands, Megadeath, Black Sabbath, The Doors, Eagles and Kiss, to name a few, are all influences when she creates music today. Her spiritual awakening, which she was constantly looking for, occurred recently, and has left its mark, also on music. Listen to "Bring Back", which she today considers to be one of her best works. Even her father, who didn’t accept techno music before, had his wake-up call. Today it’s not uncommon for Nur to find him among the comments on YouTube, with positive shouts. "Now he's understanding and he's getting into what I'm doing. Whenever he’s commenting I'm like 'what woke you up now? Good morning dad!' Up until two years ago he was still calling me his business partner since I used to work with him. " Her family and friends are the only contact she has with her home country and due to both the political situation and the pandemic, she hasn’t been able to play there for a long time. "I really hope to play in Beirut one day again. Last time was a year and a half ago." When we look back at how it all started and how Nur Jaber began her career, she has never compromised on what she wants to create. Her advice to young artists who want to succeed today is to be persistent. "Take your time in finding your sound. Because it takes many gigs and a lot of experience to realize the sound you are forming. Release your music at a label you feel comfortable with. But also remember to stick to your own message and don't let anyone tell you what to do. "

By: Filip Sandstrom Beijer Photos: Lukas Viar Dr. Rubinstein for Playful Magazine Playful had some cocktails with the techno doctor of Berlin. Marina Rubinstein , better known as Dr. Rubinstein slides into the bar where we decided to meet, in the middle of Volkpark Friedrichshain on her baby blue bike. “They don't have mate, but they have paper straws ..., she notes a bit ironically and decides instead to let an Aperol Spritz accompany the interview. Having followed her through social media during the spring and summer, it feels like we've already met. Her personality shines through–to say the least–on YouTube, where she and one of her best friends, Lukas, have started streaming live during the Corona quarantine. It is both honest and spontaneous and Marina feels like self-assurance personified. Therefore, it surprises me a little when she produces a printed paper with notes, which she prepared for our meeting. “I always want to prepare as best I can. That's how I am,” she says, laughing. I was born in Russia and I speak Russian. I love it. We’re starting to talk about how everything started, and how Russia-born Marina Rubinstein ended up in Berlin and became a hyped DJ with constant bookings at Berghain. ”I was born in Russia and I speak Russian. I love it. Most people don’t know, so when some fansare talking to me in Russian, I’m getting super happy. I’m like ‘Oh my god, that’s kinda cute’,like, they really know me.” In school she was bullied for not being like everyone else, and also for having a Jewish last name. Yes, her real name is Rubinstein and as a teenager she moved to Israel and Tel Aviv. In previous interviews, she’s been described as a "True Raver" in the Israeli party city, something she wants to take the opportunity to bury. But just because it sounds a bit silly, not that it isn’t true. “That ‘True Raver’ will hunt me forever, I said it years ago and since then it follows me everywhere. It sounds so silly, but yeah, I love to party always." Dr. Rubinstein for Playful Magazine That she liked going out and dance was no exaggeration though. Marina enjoyed partying, especially at one specific club, and people started to think that she got paid to be there. "I always enjoyed partying, and in Tel Aviv I was always this party girl. Coming to the parties early, staying late. I have a friend, Partok, who lives in Berlin right now. He used to throw parties in Tel Aviv and me and my friends came immediately every time. When I met him a few years later he told me that people thought that he was paying us to come and dance at his parties. I’m like, ‘Bitch where is my money’? He’s like, ‘I made you soup, here, eat it’.”, she says and laughs. On one of the last days I met a person who would become my partner for the next seven years. A little more than nine years ago, Marina came to Berlin for the first time. Then as a tourist, eager to explore the nightlife of the German capital. She traveled alone and stayed for a total of twelve days. “I booked a flight and found this room on Craigslist. You remember when we used that, haha? It as next to Hermanstrasse, a very tiny room. Then I rented a bike and bought a bag of weed and went to all the parties by myself. Berghain, Watergate, ://About Blank, Club De Visionaire, open airs in Rummelsburg, Golden Gate. I stayed for twelve days and I was like ‘Oh my God!" Her love for the city was a fact and almost cinematic, she also found love personified at the end of the trip. “On one of the last days I met a person who would become my partner for the next seven years. In Golden Gate actually. I was kicked out of Golden Gate and this person left with me, took me to my bike and started to be in touch. A few months later I moved here”, she says and looks nostalgic. “All of my friends said, ‘don’t do it’, but it was like ‘I have to’. When I think about it it’s crazy. No money, no job. It wasn’t always easy, but it worked out. If someone wants a boyfriend, they should go to Golden Gate and get kicked out. I am probably the only person who got kicked out of there” she says and laughs. Dr. Rubinstein for Playful Magazine I have a very good intuition. I just know it. It’s not in the stomach, it’s in my mind Marina says that she often gets intuitions about what to do. When she gets them, she doesn't hesitate, but just does it. And in a way, it was her intuition that made her a DJ as well. “I have a very good intuition. I just know it. It’s not in the stomach, it’s in my mind. When I told people that I wanted to start DJ:ing, so many of them told me ‘you can’t make it as a DJ”. Everyone told me that. But you know, there are no rules, it’s art. There is no formula." Getting the first gig in Berlin was not that easy. It all started with her recording a mix, which she never dared to send to any booker or agency. But when an acquaintance heard that she was a DJ and asked her to send the mix, she took courage and sent it over. "I couldn’t mix properly. I did it over and over again and then I cried and then I had to redo it.Then when we were partying, a friend heard that I was a DJ. I sent her my mix and she showed it to another person who did parties at About Blank. They liked it and suddenly they offered me 50bucks for a 1,5-hour gig and the party was in three days. I was like ‘oh my God!’ During the gig, one of the visitors, also active in the club scene, caught the eye of Marina and shortly there after she was invited to do a gig on New Year's Eve. "From that evening I continued to play there", she says. I can stand in the record stores for hours Nowadays she is one of Berlin's most well known DJs with gigs at Berghain and the other iconic night clubs when she’s not touring the world. When she's not in the DJ booth, she goes through the city's techno offerings in the record stores, record by record. She is known for finding narrow acts, new to the general public. “I can stand in the record stores for hours. I simply go through each vinyl and listen to everything. Among a hundred discs records, I might find something I can use. Sometimes you find the gold nuggets and then the search is worth it,” she says. Dr. Rubinstein for Playful Magazine Every time we talk about the city of Berlin, Marina lights up. It is clear that she did not lose the love that was born nine years ago when she came here for the first time. She is no longer banned from the club, admittedly, and today she is single, but the relationship with Berlin is as deep as ever. ”I love everything about this city. It gives me life and I love it with all its flaws and hardships.Every time I cross a bridge during sunset, I stop to look at it and I’m getting so emotional” “It’s really intense though, and it can be the most amazing but also a super depressing city. Especially in the winter when it’s not conventionally pretty. When the days are shorter, yes, everyone I know is like crying in the winter, including me. It’s the dark. It’s something about the city. It can be the best on the weekend, then on Tuesday you have this massive down. It’s a very extreme city but it really fits me ‘cause I’m very extreme too”. At first, when corona came, I was like, ‘Okay’, I didn’t think it would be this serious. Then I realized it did and I got those panic attacks, and everything was a mess Like all other artists and DJs, her life has changed during the prevailing corona pandemic. But instead of sitting around waiting for better times and for the clubs to open again, she finds joy in streaming on YouTube and Facebook where she invites guests and friends to every episode of Quarantine FM . ”At first, when corona came, I was like, ‘Okay’, I didn’t think it would be this serious. Then I realized it did and I got those panic attacks, and everything was a mess. Then I started with the streams and it kinda brought me back to life, to just be working on something and sharing it. I realized that all I actually wanted was to talk to people. To get feedback and socialize with a community and invite people to my living room”. After a few drinks in the Biergarten, she tells me that her friend Lukas, with whom she makes the YouTube stream, is on the way and it doesn't take many minutes before Lukas rolls in on a speed bike and joins us. I ask them what the first thing to do is when the clubs open again. They look at each other and I get a mantra-like answer in chorus. ”Berghain, Berghain, Berghain, Berghain”

This is where you can test your drugs for free in Berlin Berlin is now offering free and anonymous testing of party drugs at three different locations. Berlin now offers free drug testing services to consumers, allowing them to have their purchased substances analyzed and checked for impurities. The drug checking project, which has undergone years of discussions and preparations, has finally commenced, as announced by the Senate Department for Health on Tuesday. The analysis of drugs and the detection of impurities are conducted by the State Institute for Forensic and Social Medicine (GerMed). Three locations are available for individuals to submit drugs for testing: Fixpunkt (located at Lahnstraße 84) Vista (located at Muskauer Straße 24) Schwulen Beratung Berlin (Niebuhrstraße 59/60) Alongside drug testing, these facilities also provide counseling sessions and consultation hours for those in need.

Playful Magazine’s Editor in Chief went on a date with Berlin’s queen of techno. By: Amanda Sandström Beijer Photos: Stini Röhrs Ellen Allien for Playful Magazine The first new person I met in a very long time is Ellen. We were supposed to go for a walk, but it’s the one day that is rainy so we decide to meet at the office. She enters with a black rain jacket with yellow neon details and a brightly awake face. Greeting me without showing any concerns for the social distancing that we’ve gotten used to by now. ”Since the clubs are closed my days are completely different now, especially my Sundays” Playful had a chat with her for the web-project we did – ” Corona Diaries ” – where she mentioned that this period has made her see Berlin in a new light. ”Since the clubs are closed my days are completely different now, especially my Sundays”, she laughs and continues; ”I’ve done streaming though, since I love sharing music and it’s a physical need. But normally I come back home completely dead after a gig and lay down on my bed. Now I bike on Sundays. I’ve bought a new bike since my last one wasn’t outside anymore”, she jokes; ”I have this route that I really like in the city, and I always do the same one. I really enjoy Berlin with less cars. I feel it gives more freedom to the city. Even though people are staying meters away from me and that’s a bit weird. But well, I guess it’s normal since the media is handling this situation in their own way, and since it’s a ’rule’. But actually I don’t know if it’s such a good rule. We’ll see when the vaccine comes, I don’t really know what they want us to do, but I’m not the person that would take any vaccine.” GET YOUR PRINTED COPY OF PLAYFUL MAGAZINE HERE Ellen relaxes on her chair with her feet elevated - you can tell she’s used to a hectic lifestyle by now and knows how to be in the moment and in charge of her own time so that it doesn’t consume her. ”I need to be very strict with taking time off for myself sometimes. Because there’s always something to do. But now since we’ve been staying at home I’ve gotten even more connected to my mum, sister and my nephew and I feel very close to them. The same goes with my flatmate who’s working from home, and our relationship has changed. We’ve started cooking together and look at new recipes all the time. We’ve also been doing ’home gym’ nearly every day while listening to streams or podcasts by other DJ’s, and that’s been so much fun and more effective than going to a gym, so that’s on the good side of the situation.” ”But at the same time, I have a lover overseas and not knowing when we’ll be able to see each other again is tough. This person is working for festivals in the USA and all jobs are gone now, so it’s problematic in so many ways.” Ellen Allien for Playful Magazine ”Music is not about money, it gives so much" Many artists and creative people have shown that they’re not going to just sit and wait for it to be over, but have taken time to give of their work and spread positivity to help us feel united and keep a positive mindset. One of them is Ellen. ”Music is not about money, it gives so much. I wanna share something and spread positive vibes. The first streaming I did on Instagram or Facebook I did because I felt very depressed, and since I know I’m a person who’s often very happy I wondered how bad others must have felt then. I was lying in my bed and saw a live stream from Addison Groove and it was incredible, I realized how much music gives. There’s also this old couple playing classic music every weekend on the route where I’m biking, and people are sitting all around them listening to it.” Ellen’s new album that she started recording last year before she went on holidays, (Released on June 12th) is also very accurate for this situation. ”Mixing music and the whole creative process gives me so much. It’s very physical”, she says and continues; ”In one of the tracks, I’m saying ”Covid19 - Bitch”, she laughs. ”So I let my drama’s out in the music.” The track is on on a compilation of ”The Third Room” – a group of promoters from Essen who works with creating a space of cultural exchange by combining musical styles and going beyond limits. ”They organize the best techno events in very industrial locations” Ellen says. Ellen Allien for Playful Magazine Going her own way and never compromising is what brought her to where she is today, and of course, her love for the music. ”It is very important for me to feel free. I need to feel free, no matter what is said by the government and society. I feel manipulated by what we get told to do. Also I feel that we’re ’puppets of the pharmacy’ in the end, it’s pretty much slavery for the pharmacy. But you’ll find me at the next demonstration, they have to understand that we’re not so easy to manipulate. Many of the tracks in the new EP is about this kind of situations, who we can trust and things like that.” GET YOUR DIGITAL VERSION OF THE PLAYFUL MAGAZINE HERE Although this might sound political, Ellen doesn’t want her music to be political, but rather a way to release thoughts. She finds key words and plays around them. But of course there are thoughts behind the keywords. ”Believing in rainbows and music doesn't mean that I trust capitalism. Yesterday I talked with my mom and my nephew about what’s behind all of this, like who’s going to profit from it. It feels like some people want to push the paranoia.” Ellen highlights that our lives are right now, and if we are digging ourselves into the scarcity mindset we might as well not live at all. "We have to try and get out of this and enjoy. Be playful” ”Everything changes so quickly and nothing is constant. We have to enjoy our lives and understand that nothing will remain the same forever. Appreciate what we have. Be careful and stay awake, but don’t forget to enjoy your life every day. I understand that it’s not easy. Many people are depressed, but we’ll come out of this much stronger. We have to try and get out of this and enjoy. Be playful”, she laughs. It seems that this time has unified Berlin even more, and even though this summer isn’t going to be the same we know that things are changing quickly. Some of Ellen’s best memories are from this season in previous years, when Berlin takes on the aspect of summer town. Ellen goes back to when Griesemule opened up its garden where she played on May 1st. ”t’s a very important day for me and it’s such a unique day here in Berlin. It’s funny that it never rains, it’s like the first days of summer. Last year I just got back to Berlin and I was so thankful to be back - everyone was so happy and I played for the perfect crowd with people from all over the world”, she says and continues; ”There’s this community of people who run stuff, and who are enjoying running it. You feel it in their energy, and this is also what makes Berlin and many clubs here so unique. It’s not like a heavy burden on your shoulders to do stuff, but it’s an uplifting energy in creating it, and that’s beautiful. We as artists, as well as the guests, can really feel this. We’re people from all over the world coming here and meeting on the dance floor.” "For me it starts with the music connecting me into itself" Meeting on the dance floor is something Ellen has an extraordinary ability to create an atmosphere for. The ability to connect with the audience creates a totally unique energy and I’m curious to hear how she sees it. Ellen Allien for Playful Magazine ”For me it starts with the music connecting me into itself”, she says and continues; ”But of course there are some preparations beforehand, where I see what songs can be played in that specific room, since it’s different depending on the acoustics of the room and how the sound is floating. On certain dance floors there’s some stuff that I can’t play because the sound doesn't work with that kind of acoustics. So, it’s a combination between that and watching, connecting and understanding the audience. If the people know me as a DJ, then they’re just waiting for the point when I come in to overtake them - to let them inside the music.” Ellen Allien for Playful Magazine Knowing what track to put after the others is a certain way of reading the audience, connecting with them and know how to bring them from point A to point B in such a smooth way that they just start going crazy. "When they meet my energy they start going crazy, and in this moment, when we meet, it’s a huge energy flow and it gets insane.” ”The tracklist I choose to play, is something I base upon the current energy in the room, reading the audience and building the energy to win them over. When they meet my energy they start going crazy, and in this moment, when we meet, it’s a huge energy flow and it gets insane.” ”The people that know me and how I perform and know my energy are just waiting for this. Sometimes if I’m not there, they push me like ’Ellen, come on’, it’s pretty interesting how this works, what makes me put one track after the other and the whole creative process during gigs. But it for sure also depends on the audience, If there are people that don’t know the music for example when I play specific tunes or a track of mine or an edit that I did. It’s a very physical thing - it’s a tribe experience I would say.” When Ellen talks about her gigs and connecting with the audience you can feel the way she loves it. Her voice changes and her face is smiling. Yes, she will do this until she dies. ”People are waiting to have this uplifting moment together to celebrate the music. It’s the celebration of the music, and how it has the ability to push your body and brain in a specific direction with the combination of tones and notes of the record. It creates a lifestyle - it’s the energy that we need to be able to get into a specific spirit on the dance floor. And this kind of mood that surrounds us, is made up of feelings we don’t normally have in our ’every-day-life’, with all the adrenaline. The more we dance and sweat the more hormones our bodies are producing and that brings us up to a certain level. Doing this together, it’s beautiful”. If you haven’t yet put on music while reading this I guess you’re just dreaming away of the times we share together. Remembering how life is supposed to be and longing for the moments. We will be back and when we are, oh my, we will enjoy it! ”The need to lose ourselves together in a room filled with people we don’t know, and to share the moment in the present is what brings us together. Sometimes when my friends tell me about someone they met in a club, I ask them why they didn’t exchange numbers, you know, make some friends. But it’s not always about that, it’s also an experience you create in the moment. It's a different world outside the normal world.” Ellen Allien for Playful Magazine ”This is also thanks to the bouncers. They are doing a great job, thank you for that" ”This is also thanks to the bouncers. They are doing a great job, thank you for that . Depending on who they let in and who they don’t - that creates a club – otherwise it wouldn’t be a club. The Berlin club owners really know what they’re doing. I’m really proud of them and thanks to the government that allows us to create the scene in this specific way. It’s not like in other cities where the clubs close at 6 and you as a DJ don’t get the chance to build up the vibe. We’re much freer in Berlin to create the club scene and make it special. Without the club owners we wouldn’t be able to celebrate the underground scene in this way.” Together with Freddy K, they both represent the first generation of DJ’s, and besides that they also share the conviction to go their own way and never compromise. ”I feel very connected to Alessio. When we started to DJ it wasn’t about being cool. When we started it wasn’t cool, we did it because we’re music lovers. There’s so much passion behind it. We’re not people trying to be liked. We do what we want to do and no one can tell us what to do, no club, no manager, no one. Some DJ’s today question themselves what they would need to play to be famous or to earn money. And I just wonder, does the importance lie in becoming famous or to DJ? It shouldn’t matter, I really respect the DJ’s who are playing alone on their Instagram accounts with no-one listening but your parents and two of your friends. Many DJ’s are just playing at home alone, and they’re happy, it shouldn’t be about fame or money but being a real DJ instead of a big DJ.” Some of Ellen’s favourite clubs: Griessmuehle Berghain Wilden Renate KitKat ://about blank Tresor Ohm

Berlin is a city of transformation—where creativity and commerce collide in the most unexpected ways. While Berlin has long been known for its vibrant underground art scene and unorthodox subcultures, the side hustle culture in the city has blossomed into something uniquely its own. From artists selling handmade crafts at flea markets to underground tour guides leading you through Berlin’s forgotten history, there’s something inherently magical about the way Berliners build their lives around passion projects. But why is this the case? And how did Berlin become the haven for quirky jobs? Why Does Everyone in Berlin Have a Weird Side Hustle? – A Deep Dive into the Quirky Jobs of Berliners The Roots of Berlin’s Hustle Culture: A History of Reinvention To understand Berlin's love affair with weird side hustles, we need to take a look at the city’s history of reinvention. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the city’s landscape was transformed in ways that are still felt today. As East and West Berlin merged, an influx of young creatives, artists, and entrepreneurs found themselves drawn to the city’s cheap rent, gritty charm, and spirit of rebellion. It was a place where you could literally create your own world—and where old systems of tradition and hierarchy seemed to be redefined. In the 90s and early 2000s, the city attracted a wave of DIY culture—people were making art, hosting parties, and finding ways to make a living outside traditional corporate structures. With spaces like Kunsthaus Tacheles and the squatter movement, Berlin became a symbol of freedom for those who wanted to live and work on their own terms. This was the foundation of what we now recognize as Berlin’s entrepreneurial spirit, where quirky side hustles flourished without the burden of societal expectations. The Shifting Landscape: From Affordable to Rising Rents Fast forward to the present, and the situation is more complicated. As Berlin’s popularity has grown, so have its prices. The once-cheap rents that allowed for spontaneous artistic experimentation have been steadily rising, with real estate developers flocking to the city. This shift is partly due to the influx of major corporations such as Tesla, Amazon, and other tech giants establishing themselves in Berlin. Tesla’s Berlin Gigafactory, for instance, promises to bring thousands of jobs to the region, but it also plays a role in pushing up property prices and altering the character of neighborhoods. While this may be seen as a sign of Berlin’s economic success, it also means that many Berliners are being priced out of the very creative spaces that once made the city so unique. This economic shift has only further fueled Berlin’s side hustle culture. As housing prices rise and traditional job markets become more competitive, more Berliners are relying on entrepreneurial side gigs to make ends meet or follow their passions. A quirky side hustle might be a way of life for some, but for others, it’s a means of survival in a rapidly gentrifying city. Why Does Everyone in Berlin Have a Weird Side Hustle? – A Deep Dive into the Quirky Jobs of Berliners Why the Berlin Hustle Doesn’t Look Down on Anyone Despite these economic pressures, Berlin is a place where people find a supportive community. This city has a unique attitude toward success. Rather than looking down on people who don’t have traditional, stable jobs, Berlin embraces a philosophy of self-expression, experimentation, and collaboration. This non-judgmental attitude can be traced back to Berlin’s rebellious roots. Post-Wall Berlin was built on ideals of freedom, equality, and alternative lifestyles. The creative class that flocked to the city brought with them a mindset of acceptance and collaboration. Whether you’re doing Karaoke in Mauerpark every Sunday, creating a niche in Berlin’s vibrant street fashion scene, or hosting secret art gallery events in an abandoned warehouse, the ethos here is to support each other’s passions. One of the best examples of this inclusive spirit is Mauerpark’s famous Sunday Karaoke sessions. Every weekend, locals and tourists alike gather in the park to belt out their favorite songs in front of an accepting crowd. It’s a space where there’s no judgment—just people having fun, supporting each other, and expressing themselves. It’s an embodiment of Berlin’s open-minded, anything-goes mentality. Side Hustles Born from the City’s Energy Berlin’s weird side hustles are a direct product of this energy. The city’s quirky jobs aren’t just about making money—they’re about building a community around shared passions and talents. Here are just a few examples of the most unique jobs in Berlin: Underground Tour Guides:  Think beyond your usual walking tours. In Berlin, you can find tours focused on everything from the city's hidden LGBTQ+ history to its abandoned sites. These guides often don’t just share facts—they weave stories, engage visitors, and offer personal connections to the city’s untold histories. Handmade Artisans and Craft Sellers:  With Berlin’s maker culture thriving, many people in the city turn their passions for design, fashion, and craft into thriving businesses. Flea markets are filled with unique handmade goods, from one-of-a-kind jewelry to custom-made clothing that reflects the eclectic street style of Berlin. Karaoke Performers:  Not just for fun, but as an actual side hustle. Some people take their weekly Mauerpark performance to the next level, building followings and even monetizing their gigs through online platforms. Street Performers and Immersive Artists:  Berlin is also home to immersive art events that often double as performance art. Whether it’s an impromptu theater performance or an interactive art installation on the streets, people use these platforms to engage with the public in ways that are experimental and boundary-pushing. Why Does Everyone in Berlin Have a Weird Side Hustle? – A Deep Dive into the Quirky Jobs of Berliners Berlin's Future: How Side Hustles Might Survive Gentrification As more people from around the world flock to Berlin, there’s a growing concern about how the city will maintain its identity. The influx of large corporations and higher rents threaten to disrupt the creative ecosystems that have thrived in Berlin for decades. Still, the resilience of the people here suggests that side hustles will remain a vital part of Berlin’s cultural fabric. From digital nomads to local artisans, Berliners are likely to continue evolving their side hustles, finding ways to blend traditional crafts with digital innovation. Whether it’s hosting online creative workshops, selling custom Berlin souvenirs, or offering specialized tours of the city’s lesser-known spots, the spirit of Berlin will continue to thrive—even in a changing economic landscape. Conclusion: The Berlin Hustle is More Than Just Jobs – It's a Way of Life The culture of weird side hustles in Berlin is more than just a trend. It’s an extension of the city’s history of rebellion, creativity, and openness. Despite rising rents and the increasing influence of big corporations, Berliners continue to carve out niches for themselves—whether it’s through underground tours, quirky performances, or handmade crafts. Berlin's supportive and inclusive community has become a sanctuary for those willing to follow their passions, no matter how unusual they may seem. And as the city evolves, the hustle will continue. After all, when the world is telling you to conform, Berlin will always be the place where you can say, “No thanks. I’m doing my own thing.”