Female Takeover

NERVO aren't afraid of the F-word – feminism. Aussie twins Olivia and Miriam Nervo, specialists in big room house, are the world's highest-ranking ever female DJs in the influential DJ Mag poll. At November's Stereosonic they'll be joined by Nina Kraviz, Nina Las Vegas, Tigerlily and Alison Wonderland – and festival organisers have actively promoted this female takeover. Long-haired Liv is happy to identify herself with a new gen of party suffragettes. "We pinch ourselves!" she says. "We can't believe that we're the highest-ranking females, because we look up to so many other girls in our field – like the Annie Macs [or] even, back in the day, the Soniques. In the '90s there were girls who were DJs, and in the electronic space, so for us it doesn't feel like we're doing anything different." Above all, she's "chuffed" to be inspiring more girls to DJ and produce.

The one-time teen models, based between London and Los Angeles, are in their Melbourne hometown – albeit for just eight days. It's early morning and the pair plan to hit the studio after a round of interviews and photo shoot. Liv laughs, "Our lives are totally different when we're home – it's all family. I don't go out, I'm up early in the morning, we're in bed early…"

When in Oz last summer, NERVO were spotted at Eminem's Rapture stadium show. "I loved it!," enthuses Liv. "Actually, ever since then, I've always wanted to work with him. I've literally been namedropping him in every interview, so hopefully it gets through to him." Shady has expressed disdain for EDM (well, "techno"), yet NERVO remain eternal optimists.

The twins, both classically trained, originally transplanted to London to pursue music careers, impressively securing a Sony/ATV publishing deal as songwriters. During these years of struggle, they befriended another aspiring star, Kesha – a kindred spirit. NERVO's breakthrough came when they co-penned David Guetta's 2009 mega-hit When Love Takes Over with Kelly Rowland. At Guetta's encouragement, NERVO added DJing to their repertoire. They continued composing for others, like Kylie Minogue. However, NERVO, who'd years before circulated the factitious song Boob Job, also released numerous club singles themselves – many collaborative. 

NERVO's 2014 has been productive. Their remix of Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time was included on the 30th anniversary reissue of She's So Unusual. "Apparently she was really happy with it," Liv says. They're currently promoting Ready For The Weekend with Dutch houser R3hab, featuring Jordanian divette Ayah Marar. Then NERVO are finally preparing to drop an album, having just secured a new deal. "The music has been done for probably about a year, but we're doing a few tiny little tweaks to make everybody happy." NERVO's debut won't necessarily be full of "bangers", being more radio-oriented. There are "fun collabs", such as a duet, The Other Boys, between Minogue and Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears – "quite a poppy disco number". Beyond that, NERVO mean to re-team with Kesha. "We always speak about it," Liv says. "We were with her at the beginning of the summer – I think it was around June… I was like, Kesha, we gotta get back in the studio. She's like, Of course – we gotta make it happen."