Berlin, Germany · techno · electro

Boys Noize

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Alex Ridha's brand of electro is abrasive by design — hardware-driven, distorted, and consistently ahead of whatever is fashionable, two decades running.

Boys Noize is Alex Ridha, born Alexander Ridha on 22 August 1982, of German and Iraqi background. He started producing and DJing early, working under the alias Kid Alex when he supported Felix Da Housecat and DJ Hell, before settling on the name he has used since.

His work sits between electro, techno and house, built largely on hardware and marked by heavy distortion and blunt, physical rhythms, with hip-hop and disco turning up alongside the noise. He emerged alongside the mid-2000s wave of European electro producers, among them Erol Alkan and Mr. Oizo.

He founded Boysnoize Records in 2005, after early releases on International Deejay Gigolos, Kitsuné Musique and Turbo Recordings, and launched a second label, Ones and Zeros, in 2025. He has remixed Daft Punk, Depeche Mode, Snoop Dogg, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Chemical Brothers, and produced for A$AP Rocky, Tommy Cash, Frank Ocean and Nine Inch Nails.

With Skrillex he formed Dog Blood; their track "Midnight Hour," featuring Ty Dolla Sign, brought a Grammy nomination in 2019. He co-wrote Lady Gaga's Grammy-winning "Rain on Me," and records separately as Octave Minds with Chilly Gonzales and on a series of collaborative singles with Erol Alkan.

Rolling Stone named him one of its Top 10 DJs in 2012, and he has won an Independent Music Award and been voted Beatport's Best Electronic Act three years running. He is based in Berlin and continues to release and tour as a DJ and live act.

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