Annika Stein.
Three Decks Deep.
Annika Stein on improvisation, finding space for each track and the moments when she simply listens along.
In conversation with Annika Stein
For Annika Stein, a third deck changes the way music comes together. Individual tracks become layers, and transitions become less predictable. What still matters is whether your feet know where to go. She talks about that instinct, and about a different moment in a set: when one of her own productions is playing and she listens together with the crowd.
Vienna DJ and producer Annika Stein discusses playing with multiple decks ahead of her Three Decks Deep workshop. On 23 October 2026, she will teach this approach for the first time, having previously taught beginners occasionally. Four questions by email, lightly edited and translated from German.
More room to improvise.
Can you remember the first time a third deck opened up a musical possibility that two decks had not given you? What did you try?
The first time I had the chance to play on three decks, I realised how much more improvisation I could bring into a DJ set. When you mix from A to B on two decks, there is a certain predictability for people with a good musical ear. There is nothing wrong with that. Personally, though, I find it more exciting when several layers blend into one another on a good club system.
At least with the tracks I like. It only works if there is not too much happening within each individual track. For me, three or four decks mean even deeper focus while playing, music whose individual parts become inseparable, and pleasantly surprised, enthusiastic faces.
Your feet still need somewhere to go.
When several tracks are playing at once, how do you hear whether they make each other more interesting or simply compete for space? How do you decide what to do?
When too much happens at once, your feet do not know where to dance. So less is more. It is still important not to let the tension drop too suddenly.
With three decks or more, it is very important to know the music I bring to the club well beforehand. Otherwise, things can get chaotic. Chaos happens anyway; the art is in finding your way back into control. That creates a wonderful dramatic arc of its own. This way of playing is exciting for people who enjoy improvising.
When too much happens at once, your feet do not know where to dance.
Sharing the approach for the first time.
At Three Decks Deep on 23 October, you will teach your approach to playing with multiple decks for the first time. What are you looking forward to in the workshop?
On 23 October, I will teach how I play multi-deck sets for the first time. Before that, I had only occasionally taught beginners. I am very curious about the questions that will come up. Perhaps they will be questions I have come across myself.
Three minutes of listening together.
As a producer, you also know the other side of the mixer. What space do you deliberately leave in a track so that other DJs can make something of their own from it?
My own tracks are actually intended more for conventional mixing. When I play one of my own songs, it means spending three minutes hearing the production on a loud system and sharing a moment with the audience on a different level.
I enjoy that moment rather than building complicated blends with three or four controls on the mixer. That happens again straight afterwards anyway.
Annika Stein
Interview by email · Editorial and image art direction: SCENE:ID. Karl Michael · SCENE:ID art direction · Annika Stein (bereitgestellt)