Triple J ‘it’ girl, DJ, host and producer, Nina Las Vegas is in an affable mood ahead of her national ‘House Party Tour’ and release of her freshly mixed double CD, ‘Triple J House Party Volume Two’.
To describe Nina as busy would be an understatement. Though fans needn’t worry about burnout; even with her hectic schedule Nina’s sultry voice will still be heard across the airwaves, with the all-rounder managing to make time to continue bringing the beats as host and producer of Triple J’s Saturday night radio slot, House Party. But it’s the national tour of the same name that’s at the forefront of Nina’s thinking.
“It’s going to be a party on the stage for six hours, with all the favourite Triple J tunes, mixed with new club beats and party jams. It’s really cool ‘coz, like least year, we have heaps of different sounds covered. Cassian and Flight Facilities will do the disco house thing, I bang it out and play club stuff, then you’ve got Waver Racer, who's new on the scene, doing really forward thinking beats type stuff and Tyler Touche, who’s super young; doing a cool new thing live.”
Nina says she selected tracks for the latest ‘House Party’ CD that represented this moment in time.
“It was a stupidly hard selection process. The tracks stay on the CD forever, so I put on songs that I love right now. There will be sounds from Major Lazer, Shocktone, Tame Impala and Haim to name a few. There’ll be some classics, some new ones, remixes people may not have heard, and songs that I want people to hear. I treated it like the show, but then I had to be really formal about it, and ask all the labels for permission, unlike the radio show.”
When it comes to the art of DJing, aside from a little help from a friend, Nina is self-taught.
“My DJ friend Levins taught me, he asked me to play at a party and kind of showed me but I taught myself after that. But I also have a graphic design degree, so If I wasn’t a radio host or DJ, I’d be animating somewhere, or teaching music workshops again.”
It’s not all about the dancefloor, with Nina founding Heaps Decent with DJ friends Diplo and Levins in 2007. Heaps Decent is an initiative dedicated to finding and nurturing the creativity of indigenous and underprivileged young people. Nina is well and truly dominating a traditionally male-dominated industry, but says she can see a shift towards equality within the music scene.
“Sure, there are ups and downs. You’ve just got to handle the dudes. If you can handle them, you’re fine. You don’t see many girls being promoters or tour managers, but the good ones are there and they work hard. We need more girls making music, not just DJing. More girls on the radio, more girls putting on parties and being the promoter.”
Aside from her amazing organisational skills, Nina says to stay on top of her commitments she doesn't get much sleep.
“I am the most dedicated person to their iCalendar. I just write everything down and make time.”
To all aspiring DJs, Nina says work ethic is everything.
“Work your butt off, learn how to put your pride second and just play what people want to hear for a bit, ‘coz the more you do that, the more gigs you’ll get and the more you can push what you want to play.”
‘Triple J House Party Volume Two’ is out August 23. The National ‘House Party’ Tour Stops At The Hi-Fi Saturday August 31.
