Esteemed London-based artist NIKS has been taking the electronic underground by storm over the last few years, dropping some of the most captivating releases and providing a slew of scintillating sets across the likes of Boiler Room, Rinse FM and The Lot. Since releasing “Badness, Can’t Work” last year, NIKS has gone on to drop “Riding Senses” and most recently “V2B”, which is taken from her upcoming EP, Milieu. Set to release May 17th via Or:la’s Céad imprint, the upcoming project consists of four unique tracks, including sassy house number “And Chill” and melodic cut “Sequences”.
Ahead of the release, we caught up with NIKS to chat about the EP and more…
Hey NIKS, how’s things? What have you been getting up to recently?
Things are good, I’ve been finishing music and digging/preparing for the summer, and regularly at the gym.
To a first time listener of NIKS, how would you describe your sound and style?
I generally play underground variations of house, tech house in its original form and techno. My production is always on the percussive side and my DJ/radio sets have quite an array from downtempo to peak time club.
Musically, who and what have been some of your main influences?
In my early listening days, Mr. G, Grain, Kerri Chandler and connoisseurs alike, were who I was listening to a lot. In my recent days, producers such as Leod, Leonce, INVT, TSVI and more, who I really tap into – namely with these producers, the groovy, percussive and drum elements of their music I love. All features that I appreciate in my own tracks too.
Your forthcoming project Milieu is a lovely record. Firstly, where did the name for the project come from?
The EP title derived from the idea of teleporting listeners to 4 differing environments and spaces within 1 sonic journey. Each track places you in a setting that I enjoy to dance and play in, and has shaped my ears and taste. Milieu hopefully depicts this in a succinct way for inviting you to various sonic worlds of NIKS.
Can you tell us more about the main inspirations and influences behind the record?
The main inspiration was to tap into the different sounds that I love and showcase sounds that I don’t often get to. It was whilst I wrote all tracks over the past 16 months, that I realised that each reminds me of a different place and space that has influenced me to date.
What can listeners expect sonically?
4 sonically different tracks which all fit within the NIKS spectrum, that all be played and listened to different environments. From the peak time club, to a fun sexy space and the sunrise, I really explored different sonic directions.
What was the overall creative and production process behind the release? Did you have to overcome any challenges?
A combination of collecting field recordings of my own, in the form of birds and the sea, Ableton and the various plug ins and applications for sounds. I produce best when alone, so either from my home or TSVI’s studio and abroad, I built out each track out and would continuously develop on each. Re listening and honing in on the exact final sound that I wanted to achieve. I guess an element I had to overcome – which was a personal challenge for me – was accepting that there would be times when my production “flow” was not present and instead of trying to force myself to make music or beat myself up for not being as productive to a high quality as usual, was to accept this and realise that the best time I approach the track in “flow”, all areas would accelerate. Specifically to “Sequences”, I had to approach the track differently to how I usually do, and that required a little step back before jumping in.
If you had to pick a favourite track from Milieu, which one would it be and why?
I love all of the tracks individually, I will say that I’m particularly proud of “Sequences”, as I wanted to challenge myself to make something different – and Orlagh helped push me to complete this. A track that fits outside a standard peaktime club environment, a track for the sunrise that shows a different side of me.
Can you name some emerging artists who we should be keeping an eye on for the rest of this year?
Yes, the likes of Tsepo, BASHKKA, SUCHI, Ayesha and DreamrDreamr are some producers who I’ve been fully tapped into over the last year or so and I’d recommend keeping your eye on.
What’s next for NIKS? And where can we catch you over the coming months?
The full Milieu EP drops on the 17th May which I’m super excited about, plus more music throughout the year. I have many exciting summer debuts including Horst, Gala, Fabric, Zukunft and more.