Nervo: The EDM Sister Act Talk Being In Sync

A sister act isn’t exactly in keeping with the EDM scene, but the duo Nervo is here to change that with their perfectly in sync rhythms and sensational stage performances. The Nervo sisters share their thoughts on the music industry, life on the road, and the idiots asking them about threesomes.

Photography Jacob Dekat  Creative Direction : Prince Chenoa

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Being twins, would you say it is difficult to describe your collaborative process?

If anything, I think being sisters helps our collaborative process. We have a good flow together in the studio, in business, and also socially. We feel very lucky to have each other.

What is the dumbest twin-related question you’ve gotten?

Have you ever had a threesome together. Ha!

You were accepted to the Opera Australia Academy, arguably one of the best opera schools in the world, but turned it down to do music instead. How difficult was that decision? Was your family supportive? 

It was a super easy decision as we always wanted to pursue a different style of music. We studied music all the way through school so by the end of school we knew classical music was not something we wanted to pursue professionally or rather, we were more inspired by modern digital music making. I wouldn’t take back our training as it taught us a lot and started our journey in music. Our parents thought we were crazy when we wanted to pursue electronic music but they are now happy about it.

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Where do you find inspiration? 

From everywhere. Lyrics; from real life. Sonics/structures; from what we hear in clubs and festivals around the world.  Also just listening to random stuff on Spotify and YouTube is great for stumbling across new sounds/genres etc.

From David Guetta to Ke$ha, you’ve written for some of the biggest names in music, did you ever feel, in those early days, that it should be you guys up there performing your songs?

We’ve always loved collaborating and working on diverse projects so we were really pleased when other people supported/released our work. It was never the focus to perform those Guetta or Ke$ha songs ourselves so we were thrilled that they did well for them. Those tracks also gave us a lot of confidence to release records under our own artist name which is what we’re doing now. I think it was all meant to be.

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Without naming names, what was your worst experience in writing for other artists?

I think the most frustrating thing is when the artist’s record label won’t support yours or the artist’s vision. Or, when you work with an artist who is too concerned with what their record label want or what they think is right for the radio instead of just making the best possible track.

What was the catalyst to break out and start performing?

It was when we saw all our friends doing what we do, except they got to travel the world more. Plus, we figured it was a good opportunity to release the music we wanted to instead of relying on other artists or labels to release it.

Over the past few years the festival circuit has exploded, how important are they for you guys?

We love playing festivals! We love that people are there for a whole day or weekend to do nothing other than party and hear new music. It’s a super fun and creative environment and is a great way for people to broaden their music knowledge and appreciation – especially at the bigger festivals where there is a smorgasbord of genres and artists.

After every festival there are always videos of people making very wild choices. Do you have any fun stories?

Mim was knocked out when she stage dived last summer. That wasn’t really “fun” but it was a fun night up until that point 🙂

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Your remixes are known around the world, what is it that you guys do that no one else can recreate?

I guess our vocals bring a different texture to songs that is difficult for others to recreate. We try and make the best song we can and we try not to follow anyone else but to keep pushing until it feels fresh.

There are so many strong women in music today, do you feel like there is a community for empowered women in the music industry? 

We’ve always seen and looked up to strong women in our business. I mean, electronic music alone is full of great females like Annie Mac, Maya Jane Cole, Heidi, even Sonique from the 90s! There are also a lot of great women working behind the scenes who we look up to.

Top 7 Dance Tracks of all time?

In no particular order.

1. When Love Takes Over – David Guetta ft Kelly Rowland

2. You’re Not Alone – Olive

3. Leave The World Behind – Swedish House Mafia & Laidback Luke

4. Spaceman – Hardwell

5. I See You Baby – Groove Armada

6. Eat Sleep Rave Repeat (Calvin Harris remix) – Fatboy Slim

7. Cannonball – Showtek

What does being a CoverGirl mean to you? 

It means we can pinch ourselves everyday. We still can’t quite believe we’re CoverGirls! We love what CoverGirl stands for: individuality and beauty in all shapes, sizes, colors and people. They’re a great company to be working with and have embraced our world and what we do.

What CoverGirl item can you not live without? 

Liv: Smoochies. I love them!

Mim: Clump Crusher Mascara. I can always find the green tube in my bag.

Favorite lipstick color?

We like to blend a few colors. Generally it’s a mix of baby doll pinks to stain the lip, with a top gloss of smoochies to add the shine.

What is your daily beauty regimen?

Try and sleep as much as possible (which is difficult with our career sometimes), and we always wash our make up off at the end of the night. We also try not to wear too much make up during the day to let our skin breathe.

Tomboy vs Glam – what are your go-to beauty tricks? 

Confidence is beautiful. Be who you are and embrace your own individuality.

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Best remix of 2014 so far?

Calvin Harris’ remix of ‘Eat Sleep Rave Repeat’.

What festivals are you playing this year?

So far we know we’re playing : Ultra Miami, Ultra Korea, Tomorrowland, Tomorrow World, and Spring Awakening.

What city has the best dance clubs in the world?

Without a doubt, Ibiza.

Do blondes really have more fun and have you ever wanted to dye your hair a radical color? 

Yes, we think so. We have both been brown and Liv has been red before but, blonde feels right for us.

Do you have a special twin language only you two can understand?

We definitely have our own code of looks. Mim can give me one look and I know she means something and I can do the same back to her.

Styling ; KYLE BLACKMON

Interview by Max McCormack


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