5 Minutes with…Nina

I’ve always said that the French know their music. From French Touch to Electro, they are always at the forefront of modern electronic music in my opinion. The DJ/Producer duo Nina is no exception to this trend. The work that they produce under this alias is frequently experimental and holds a dusty aesthetic. They are one of the most pro-active musicians I have come across, with them regularly uploading tracks on soundcloud and youtube as a part of Fridance project. ‘Nostalgia’ showcases the producers signature sound and it is very much a Lo-Fi gem, combining wonky vocals and melodies with cracked percussion and kicks.

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Interview

ZF: Let start at the very beginning. How did both of you meet and start making music together?

Nina: We know each other from high school. We started making music together at 14 I think.

ZF: What was it about the instrumental dub/live dubstep project
you enjoyed the most?

Nina: I remember when we first started making dub, we bought our first sampler. We were so happy to sample old horror movie or traditional Japanese music like bands we were listening to. I think this is what we enjoyed the most!

ZF: When did you decided to change the style of music you were working on and what was the catalyst for this?

Nina: We decided to change everything when the band split up. We were four then 2 were gone. Denis and I had the same desire to make people dance. We decided to start from scratch, with a new name, a new style of music. The rest is history!

ZF: You list 90’s New York and Chicago dance scenes as some of your influences. What are your favourite tracks from this period?

Nina: It’s very hard to drop 2 or 3 tracks from this era. When we speak about the 90s, it’s especially about the energy of this period. The culture, the sounds and colours of this time. Honestly, my biggest influence is hip hop culture and rap music. I’ve always listened to rap, It’s a big part of my life. When I’m making music, I think more about Neptunes, Kanye West and Just Blaze than Franckie Knuckles or Kerry Chandler.

ZF: Looking at your back catalogue, you certainly have been busy over the past two years! How do you keep the project on track?

Nina: It’s a lot of work. We’ve known each other for a very long time so when there is one who loses motivation, the other one is there to keep the other motivated.

ZF: You have recently stated that you’re slowing down the rate of tracks being released, is there any reason for this?

Nina: It takes too much work to drop an exclusive track a week, I don’t think we really realised that when we started the Fridance. Every track is an original creation and we don’t want to make the same twice. In the beginning we had tracks in advance but now it’s more complicated. Due to the interest from labels, they always ask us now for unreleased tracks so we work on that more actually and unfortunately we can’t do both. But we won’t stop Fridance, it will be just less regular.

ZF: What is your favourite past time?

Nina: For a long time I would have answered you my childhood,
but I think my favourite time is now, present.

ZF: If you could change anything about your country, what would it be?

Nina: Wow, hard question…I don’t want to give lessons, I’m far from perfect…but I think France is an intolerant country, maybe working on that.

Thanks to Nina for their words and contribution to ZF!
We wish them all the luck in the future.

ZONE FOCUS

Music & Visual Art

5 Minutes with…Nina

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