Sound as research, selection and a living archive.
01 / PortraitIceland, 2017
OriginPanevėžys, Lithuania
PracticeSound / Curation / Visual art
ArchiveSecret Thirteen / Since 2010
Publications252
01 / Biography
Sound as archive, matter and memory.
DJ S13 is the artistic identity of Justinas Mikulskis (b. 1986), founder and editor of Secret Thirteen, an independent music journal established in 2010. His work as a DJ, sound artist and curator operates between audio archaeology, journalism and visual art.
01
Origins & atmosphere
The sonic identity of S13 was formed in the post-industrial landscape of Panevėžys. Brutalist factories, material decay and the quiet pressure of a post-Soviet city sharpened an early sensitivity to texture and darker sound. At ten, with help from his engineer grandfather, he constructed his first DJ mixer. An uncle’s record collection — black metal, punk and 1970s rock — opened a route toward anarchism, philosophy, science fiction and a life built outside conventional cultural structures.
02
The evolution of sound
Early roots in jungle and drum’n’bass, including productions for Liquid V and Vampire, quickly expanded into a more abstract language. S13 sets move between industrial rhythm, ethnographic field recordings, new wave, drone and academic composition. Each performance is treated as research: material is not repeated, but reorganised into a new narrative of pressure, space and time.
03
Performance & curation
S13 has appeared at Berlin Atonal, Arma17, Norbergfestival and Unsound events, sharing programmes with Mika Vainio, Esplendor Geométrico, Demdike Stare, The Soft Moon and Fennesz. Mix commissions include Electronic Explorations, Headphone Commute, Seek Sick Sound, Cashmere Radio and other independent platforms.
04
Across disciplines
Mikulskis approaches sound as both a physical and visual entity. His wider practice includes abstract industrial assemblages made from metal waste, lectures on musical narrative and industry context, and sonic installations such as The Energy System of the Užutrakis Manor Orangery as a Sonic Negative. He continues to build Secret Thirteen as a durable resource for future listeners.
02 / On stage
In the room.
Performance footage and selected posters from the archive.
Audra Festival / Kaunas, 2022Photo by Vytenis Sidabras
Digital Tsunami / rotating frameSūpynės Festival / filmed performance, 2019
Berlin Atonal / 2014Holotone Showcase / Berlin, 2016Space Love / Arma17, 2014Polar Inertia / KablysUMBRA / Kablys, 2014Undogmatisch / Berlin, 2015Audra Festival / 2022Sūpynės Festival / 2019Digital Tsunami Camp / 2022
03 / Personal archive
External transmissions
Documented mixes and radio shows, 2008—2024. Recent recordings open a listening page; earlier recordings remain in the original download archive.
Justinas Mikulskis as a guest: conversations about making music, listening and building Secret Thirteen. DJ sets and his own editorial work are archived separately.
An exclusive stream of Luminance LP on Suru Records by the upcoming Lithuanian artist Fume who makes in-depth murky beats and dark organic soundstreams.
Anthony Di Franco of Ramleh, aka JFK, presents Divine Invasion: a journey made entirely from his own records, drifting between noise, techno, jazz and spoken word with unexpected warmth.
Zhark founder Kareem unfolds almost two hours of patient, deeply personal listening, moving from classical melodies and ambient solitude through industrial rhythms before returning to wintry, contemplative electronics.
Saphy Vong / Lafidki on Asian musical narratives, DIY community and the visual language of Chinabot. The original 2018 interview is accompanied by a seventeen-track label mix.
Huren opens his emotional, cosmic and occult world through dirty punk, industrial experiments and unlikely juxtapositions, including an unreleased Detroit performance from the mid-1990s and a taste for unpolished gems.
LEV Festival gave some food for thought with vivid audiovisual performances ranging from the poetic rumination of Loscil to the meaty concept techno of Atom™.
ANFS connects industrial music’s past, present and future in We Shall Go Out As We Came In: a slow-burning collage of 42 selections, personal influences, edits and then-forthcoming material.
Avant! founder Andrea Napoli connects darkwave, minimal synth, EBM and abrasive punk, moving between the label’s own artists and kindred underground voices with a restless, deeply personal energy.
Rita Mikhael, aka E-Saggila of Summer Isle, delivers a deep and heavy mix of techno, hardcore and shadowy electronic gems, moving from abrasive rhythmic pressure towards slower, bass-heavy depths.
Jay Glass Dubs reimagines dub through ambient space, trip-hop and futuristic electronics, connecting obscure contemporary discoveries with older, ritualistic echoes in a crystalline, slow-moving journey.
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