Serious business on the dance floor: This is Nikki Nair

Incredibly serious business on the dancefloor when Nikki Nair is on the decks; whether the underlying sentiment is the absence of cows from nightlife, disdain for your corporate boss, or the pleasure of doing your taxes with your partner – Nair blends these fragmented stories into a love letter for music production itself. With some of the best breaks within the zeitgeist of contemporary electronic music, the sound waves that accompany Nair seem to be laced with laughing gas – the contradictory joy of life distilled into 140+ BPMs. Even the starting bar of a Nikki Nair track will lock you into the grooves of the dancefloor, to the rhythm of the bodies around you. We got to talk to Nikki Nair, anticipating his new EP, about his production process, upcoming projects, and his newest release “IRS Love”. Dive into the psyche of a DJ and producer who constantly reinvents what electronic music sounds like. They break previously thought to be broken norms with tracks that give you whiplash and make you question your politics. 

Hi! How are you doing? It’s a pleasure to talk!
Hi! I’m doing well; busy with a bunch of projects, and gigs etc. Thanks for having me.

I want to start from the very top. Could you dive into how you decided on your name, Nikki Nair?
My real name is Nicole McNair (it’s Irish), and I wanted my artist name to be shorter and a little easier to say.

You have a new single out, “Don’t Work.” It’s lovely to listen to, embellished with your singular satirical touch. How was the production process?
Me and my friend Saint Thomas LeDoux recorded vocals together several years ago. We both wanted to leave our jobs, but opted to make a song instead of resorting to violence. The main two things in the track were recording vocals and then adding kick drum.

Breaks, bops, bloops – you have some of the best breaks in your repertoire – could you indulge us with your process of sampling or using technical tools to combine and merge sonic elements?
My main process in production involves trying not to get bored. If the production process becomes boring, I won’t do it. Usually this involves using some amount of hardware– plugging things into other things is very fun and turning knobs is also very fun, but changing settings with a mouse is significantly less fun. Most of my tracks don’t have too many sounds happening at once, and part of that is because I usually get bored of making a track pretty quickly and finish it before I have the chance to add too many sounds. Dance tracks also usually hit harder when there is less sounds.

“Quit your job, kill your boss,” the lyrics, the title, the track speaks to a specific anti-capitalist crowd with teens and punks alike; did you have a boss you wanted to kill?
It’s all figurative. Every day I wake up and kill my inner boss while quitting my inner job. This is how I stay present and mindful.

Talking about the EP, how is the production going?
It’s great; it’s done! I’m extremely excited about it. I’ve made tracks with a bunch of amazing vocalists– Uffie, Yunè Pinku, Blaketheman1000, and Harmony Tividad. I also sang on some tracks. It’s sick, fun and cute. I love it and wish it was already out so everyone could hear it.

What has been a propelling force for you to finish this project?
I’m not sure if there is any propelling force other than me wanting to make more music all the time. Every day that I don’t make music, I get depressed– like actually. So I have to make it all the time. If I stop, I will spiral.

You have come such a long way from 2019 and have amassed a phenomenal discography. What have been the highlights of your musical journey so far?
The biggest thing has been that I can make music all the time. Like I said, if I don’t make music, I get depressed, so when I had a job I would get depressed a lot. Now I can just make music all the time and that’s great. The other big highlight is all the friends I met from making music.

From a lighter perspective, you’re genuinely incredibly funny: audacious track titles, such as “Cheese Interface,” and unforgettable lyrics; how do you relate to satire as a musician and a person?
My music is very serious. I try to make all of my tracks have important meanings, and broach topics that make us uncomfortable as a society. Cheese Interface, for example, is about the dairy industry, and how we as dancers in the club have to reckon with the exclusion of cows to club spaces.

What’s the funniest sample you heard and have not been able to forget ever since, or are you waiting for the right time to use?
All sounds can be funny or serious if they are framed right.

Final question: What is the next step after we quit our jobs and kill our bosses? What do you want to tell your audience, in suspense, till the EP is out?
I wrote a song about doing taxes that has just come out. It’s called “IRS Love“. I read once that in order to write a pop hit, it has to be about something both relatable and personal. I know everybody has to do taxes, but it’s also deeply personal for everyone (for example, in the US, you have to provide your social security number, which is something I’ve never told anyone)  so I wrote a song about that. I hope it is a big hit.