NERVO Interview

Having written hits for a whole host of stars including Kylie Minogue, Ke$ha and Kelly Rowland, NERVO are also credited with being amongst the best female DJ’s in the world. They’re even set to release their latest track with R3HAB featuring UK songstress Ayah Marar ‘Ready For The Weekend’ on 3rd November. Spending the majority of their time either spinning tracks in the clubs, hopping on and off planes, writing new music and performing at festivals the world over we catch up with sisters Mim and Liv Nervo, A.K.A NERVO to find out a little bit more about the sibling duo ahead of their performance at Stereosonic 2014.

Hi Mim, Liv, How are you today?
We’re doing great. it’s great to be in our hometown Melbourne!

What have you been up to this week?
Mainly chilling with our family and friends but also a bit of studio work.

So you’re playing at this year’s Stereosonic, are you looking forward to it? Are there any acts playing that you girls are hoping to catch yourselves?
It’s our first ever Stereosonic so we’re super psyched! We haven’t seen the line up yet, so not sure who is playing, but we do know a few of our friends (Showtek and W&W) are playing so it will be nice to hang with them on our days off and also to show them where we’re from.

So for anyone who isn’t familiar with your music, how would you describe it in three words?
Bold, fresh, and (hopefully) moving.

There’s quite an emotional content to some of your music, where do you gather your inspiration from?
Our lyrics are all inspired by real life, heart break, struggle, celebration etc. The melody comes from somewhere within and is more of a ‘in the moment” type writing process.

You’ve written hits for everyone from Kylie to Ke$ha, and even Kelly Rowland, how and when did you two start penning songs?
We’ve been writing songs since we were 15-years-old but our first major cut was when we were 19 or 20-years-old and was for a UK artist called Rachel Stevens. Before we were artists, we used to work with a lot record labels and music management companies and that was how we got to work with so many pop stars. We started working with DJs because we were becoming more and more inspired by tougher beats and found the sounds more inspiring and the release process quicker.

What was it that made you want to make music under your own name after creating so many hits for other people?
It felt like a natural progression. We started making music that didn’t fit with any of the pop stars or DJs that we were working with so, we decided to put our name behind it instead.

You’ve conquered the female DJ arena, what comes first for you, DJing, Song Writing, or Performing?
We love it all! Maybe the answer is in balancing writing / touring so you keep fresh and motivated. For example, just when we’re tired of touring for a few weeks we’re very happy to sit still and make some new music. Similarly, once we’ve been staring at a computer screen for two weeks, it’s nice to jump on that plane and play our tunes to a live crowd.

So ladies, tell us, what’s it like working with your sister? Do you fight? Squabble?
We’re like all normal sisters and we do squabble. Luckily it’s not too often and it’s often over before it has even begun. All in all we feel super lucky to have each other and couldn’t do this without each other.

When you’re not making and performing music, what do you like to do to unwind?
Quite simply – chilling with friends and family, eating food, watching movies, talking crap over cocktails. If we’re on the road then we love site seeing, trying new foods, getting to know new cultures…

Working together, are you able to have normal family time outside of work, or is it one continuous cycle and extension of both?
We’re very close with our family and friends so keep in touch all the time via Skype and on the phone. We also fly home as much as possible. Our life is crazy busy but we’re good at making time to just be still with our loved ones.

Your careers have taken you around the world, where is the most epic place you’ve played?
Oohhh that’s a tough one. There have been so many cool places. One that springs to mind is a party in the Amazon in Brazil. That was wild! Our set started at 6am, the people had been raving all night long. There were about 3000 people plonked in the middle of the rainforest. It was quite surreal.

And where would you say is your favourite holiday destination?
Well, after home, we would have to say Ibiza.

By Hannah Shakir
@hanshak

Check out NERVO at this year’s Tomorrowland festival to give you an idea of what you can expect at Stereosonic 2014.

Image by Chloe Paul.