We caught up with Australian, sister DJs NERVO to talk about their new label, music, career highlights and Christmas plans.
When did you first realise you could make a career in music?
We have been writing songs since we were 15 years old. At first we were writing more pop music as we thought that would be a fun career but then we discovered Ibiza and our whole lives changed – we were super inspired by the dirtier, crunchier beats and the longer grooves. From there we started working more with DJ’s, firstly writing their toplines and bit by bit we started to do more. We made a lot of really bad songs and some good ones. We’re still learning. Always trying new stuff. These days we’re making dance and pop music again. We are super lucky to do what we love for a job!
Who is the serious one in NERVO and who is always joking around?
We take it in turns. We guess we are both serious because we have to run a business but we both like to have a lot of fun at the same time.
Name three artists you had on your playlist growing up?
We remember being very influenced by The Prodigy. We saw them perform at The Big Day Out in our home town Melbourne, Australia and they really blew our minds. It was our first festival, first concert actually. The whole vibe of the music and the people that went to see them really inspired us.
Where and when was your first ever live performance?
Pacha Ibiza was our first major gig. David Guetta put us on as his opener after we wrote – “When Love Takes Over” and he really supported us for years. We were so nervous we could barely touch the CDJs!
What’s the best part of being sister DJs?
We are sisters, we are best friends, we are business partners, we are each other’s sounding board, we are each other’s biggest supporters and also harshest critic but one thing is for sure and that is that we wouldn’t do this without each other. We squabble at times but there is an underlining honesty that we have for each other which ultimately builds into a respect and the best teamwork we have ever experienced. We both love what we do – we live for the music and we have the same work ethic. Creatively, we are more than often on a similar wave length than not. Even if we have different ideas we always come together and find a middle ground. We are better together. The universe was very kind to give us each other!
If you could collaborate with one other artist, past or present, who would it be?
Lil Peep, Rhianna, Jimmy Hendrix, Skrillex, Imogen Heap, London Grammar, Aretha Franklin, Eminem, Jack Johnson, Nat King Cole… just too many to name!
You’ve just launched your own label and released Like Air with Wolfpack, how excited are you guys to have launched your own label?
Yes, we to have launched our very own label ‘Got Me Baby Records‘, in collaboration with Armada Music! We have been working with a lot of people at Armada as we started working with Armin about 9 years ago on his records. When Maykel (owner of Armada) approached us to start our own label we jumped at the opportunity as it’s not only an avenue for us to release NERVO records but also to work with other artists that we admire. We can’t wait to start signing records that aren’t our own, it’s such a creative and new experience for us and we’re super excited for the opportunity to even explore other genres of music. You can expect the unexpected. We will be releasing some NERVO records but also other artist’s records from all types of sub genres within dance/electronic and pop music. We are keeping open ears and an open mind.
Have you got any new tracks coming out soon?
We are taking some time off over the next few months to write loads of music, finish some projects we have already started, and bring you guys some fresh new music from NERVO. Expect a lot in early 2018!!
What song have you got on repeat at the moment?
Post Malone – Rockstar ft 21 Savage. Just puts me in a zone!
What has been your 2017 highlight?
Tomorrowland is a super special festival for us – we were so excited to play main stage for both weekends this year! We also love going back to Ushuaia in Ibiza for our NERVONation shows. There are so many great festivals – Lollapalooza, Parookaville, Balaton Sound Festival, Ziget… Too many to name !
What has been your career highlight?
Right now we are celebrating a record we made with Sofi Tukker being on top 40 radio across the USA and a major Apple sync that came with it. The second half of 2017 was kind to us! Career highlights in the past include when a song we wrote for David Guetta – When Love Takes Over – won a grammy… It felt like that was the turning point in our careers when people actually started listening to our songs. Another highlight was when our debut album Collateral reach #1 on iTunes. That was awesome!
Where and when was your most memorable performance and why?
Tomorrowland Brazil. It was the first Tomorrowland in Brazil and the people went crazy! There must have been about 100,000 people there! We had a great set time on main stage. It was just a magical night.
How do you spend your down time? We love to try and see family and friends whenever possible, but we are also workaholics so most of our down time is spent in the studio as we love to make music.
Where can we see you playing next?
We are constantly touring and headed to Asia next then off to Australia, India, Mexico, and back to the USA for NYE in Miami !! All dates are on our facebook page.
If I wasn’t a DJ I’d be… Songwriter… Or a farmer. We would love to have some pet pigs!
Favourite film & TV series?
Big little Lies was really great. We’ve watched one episode of Sinner. Need to get into that one for the next long haul flight!
Drink of choice on a night out?
Tequila
Describe your style/fashion?
Although we are quite similar, we also have our differences in style. Mim is probably a little more bold with her fashion choices and Liv can be a littler more boho, at least at weddings she is. We love finding cool pieces from around the world to wear and we find we find a lot of these pieces in Asia.
At shows we love leggings with platform tennis shoes or creepers (shoes must be comfortable!) and a body suit or a crop top. We jump around a lot so our clothes need to be something that do not restrict our movement. In everyday life we also really like to be comfortable so we love comfy tees with a cool jacket of some kind and definitely no make up. We like to let our skin breathe whenever possible.
We have also done some amazing collabs with brands so we often rep those pieces. We love to work with brands as it pushes us to be more creative. We have a sunglasses range which we will be launching in the summer. We have been developing the glasses for the past year so we can’t wait to start wearing them – as soon as we receive the prototypes.
Getting ready for red carpet events is also a lot of fun – every girl likes to be a fairy princess for a night!
Who’s your biggest style inspiration?
Yikes that’s a tough one. Grace Jones.
How do you spend Christmas day?
Every year with family! Super chilled. Lots of food.
Are you an organised or last minute present buyer?
Last minute amazon vouchers for all ! ha
What’s your New Year’s resolution?
Eat healthier
Thanks for chatting to us girls. You can listen to the duos latest release; ‘Like Air’ here.
