Nina Las Vegas
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If you follow any of Nina Las Vegas’ social media escapades, you’ll know how busy she is and how much she loves what she does. Over the past…
Nina Las Vegas
If you follow any of Nina Las Vegas’ social media escapades, you’ll know how busy she is and how much she loves what she does. Over the past decade, Nina Agzarian has become one of the most influential figures in the Australian music scene, passionately dedicating herself to promoting and celebrating the sounds of underground dance music from both Australia and abroad.
Her reign began at 18 years old when she packed up her piano and made the move from Wagga Wagga to Sydney working as a producer in radio. It wasn’t long before Nina’s unprecedented passion and talent as a DJ saw her hosting her own weekly radio program, quickly becoming the unmistakable voice of Saturday nights on triple j with her shows, House Party and Mix Up Exclusives.
When Nina wasn’t on radio, she was playing gigs and promoting club nights with friends Anna Lunoe and Bad Ezzy. Together the girls formed DJ collective ‘Hoops’ in 2007, bringing new life to Sydney’s underground club scene.
As a DJ, she has played at just about every major music festival in Australia including Big Day Out, Stereosonic, Splendour In The Grass, Groovin’ The Moo and Parklife as well as HARD, Holy Ship, Voodoo Fest and SxSW internationally and appearing as a special guest for artists like Mark Ronson, MIA, Pharrell Williams and Baauer on their Australian tours.
Between working full-time at triple j and playing a never ending stream of club shows, Nina also co-founded charity, Heaps Decent with fellow Sydney DJ, Andrew Levins and DJ / producer, Wesley Pentz (a.k.a Diplo). Now in it’s 8th year, Heaps Decent is an ongoing initiative dedicated to discovering and supporting the creative endeavours of underprivileged and indigenous youth around Australia.
Leaving House Party in 2014 allowed Nina to focus on her own music, while still presenting, producing and programming Mix Up Exclusives. Every Saturday night from 9pm, Nina presented a new hour-long mix from herself, followed by 3 hours of exclusive sets from global acts like Diplo, Flume, Skrillex, Hudston Mohawke, Four Tet, Cashmere Cat, RL Grime, Dillion Francis, A-Trak, and SBTRKT to name just a few.
Along with championing innovative dance music on the radio she also began promoting tours of her own, blazing the trail for collective touring in Australia. Her NLV Presents brand has had 4 highly successful runs and continues to expand with each installment. A testament to her influence, NLV Presents and has helped break local artists such as Ta-Ku, Wave Racer, Motez, Emoh Instead, Cosmo’s Midnight, LDRU, Tkay Maidza, Indian Summer, Nile Delta, Sable, Playmode, Basenji and Swick; with the last 2 international editions showcasing overseas acts Sam Timba, Eclair Fifi, UNIIQU3, Monki, Mssingno and Djemba Djemba.
Never slowing down, Nina has drawn on her experience programming for radio, Heaps Decent workshops and past remixes to develop her own production skills. She has two co-produced EP’s with Swick, Don’t Send and Cool Sports and is looking to step it up with her next release.
Having moved on from triple j, Nina enters the next phase in her already wide-spanning career. Known for using her platform to champion underground artists and connect them with their fans, it makes sense that her next move was to start her own record label, NLV Records. The final piece in the NLV puzzle, the label was created to continue celebrating the eclectic and essential dance music Nina loves so much. Keep your eyes out for the first few signings in the coming weeks.