In conversation with emily nash
By Audrey Herrin
Image credit: Press/Emily Nash
At just 20-years old, Emily Nash from Worcestershire is a rising star in dance music. I recently had the opportunity to interview the young DJ and music producer for insight into her experience in the UK house music scene.
Emily Nash creates electronic music with pumping beats and smooth, soaring vocals. Her music is perfect for losing yourself in the vibes on a night out at a club. No negativity, no worries, just vibes.
My personal favorite of her tracks, “Pressure”, is the ultimate vibe for a summer night in a club or a beach dance party at sunset.
Nash’s music has rapidly gained popularity. Her tracks have been streamed on major radio stations such as Radio 1 and Kiss FM, and she has performed at major festivals and event venues all over the UK.
How would you describe the vibe and the mood that your music creates?
The music I produce is normally tech-house and dance. I guess it creates sort of a summer vibe. I always picture myself on a beach, listening to my music. So yeah, I guess just like a summer vibe.
Would you ever consider using a DJ name/performance moniker? Why or why not?
I have thought about it before, but to be honest unless I was doing, like, a new artist name, then maybe I would. But I don’t think I would ever change my name. I get a lot of people saying Emily Nash is such a broad, cool name, so I thought I might as well just keep it!
What is the first step of your process when creating a track? Do you typically start with bass, synth, vocals, etc. or is there no rhyme or reason?
If I’m producing an instrumental track, I normally just start with the bass. But typically if I’ve been sent a vocal, I’ll work around the vocal. Or sometimes I’ll make an instrumental and send it off to the vocalist and they’ll put the vocal over the top. So, a few different ways, really, but my favorite way is probably with the vocal first.
Where do you get the vocals that you use? How do you collaborate with the vocalists?
Normally I’m just on Instagram and I follow people and just send them a message, or have my management send them an email and it all just happens from there really. You just get to know people over social media and become familiar with their name, you start seeing them at gigs, and you be like “oh do you wanna collab?” and it all just happens around that.
When you’re creating a track, do you imagine performing it at a venue or people reacting to it in your head? Does thinking about an audience shape your creative process at all?
Yes. So when I made one of my tracks, ‘Gift of Life’, and obviously in my new track, ‘Garden’, I just imagined playing it out like at somewhere called Printworks in London. I’m playing there for the first time next weekend and I’m quite excited to play them out and see how they actually sound now.
If you had your own nightclub to perform your music in every night, what would its aesthetic be like?
I think just, like, really cool, with LED lights everywhere. Quite a dark vibe but with neon lights everywhere, if that makes sense. Maybe some funny pictures on the wall, you know, something unique.
What has been your favorite venue to perform at?
If it’s not counting festivals, I’d probably say Tobacco Dock in London, that’s been pretty cool. But one of my dream venues to play at is Printworks and Warehouse Project. I’m playing at Printworks this weekend, and I’ve got Warehouse Project in April, so I’m quite excited about that. But I think my favorite place I’ve already played is Tobacco Dock.
I saw a recent post on your Instagram about performing along with MK soon, have you met him before? How do you feel about that?
I haven’t met him before, but he’s always been one of my influences. So to be able to be in the same lineup as him, I just can’t go for it to be honest! I’m so excited!
You’ve named other house music artists like Gorgon City as your musical influences, but do you ever pull creative inspiration from other genres of music? Or do you have any creative inspiration coming from non-musical places?
I listen to quite a lot of indie music, but I don’t really put that into my own work. My usual influences are like Gorgon City, Duke Dumont, MK, all that sort of dance music. I think Annie Mac’s a big influence as well because she’s a female DJ. When I saw her play I thought, ‘well if she’s doing this then I can do this as well,’ so I think she’s been a big inspiration as well. But all in my head is pretty much the dance music scene.
Were you a fan of house music before you started creating? What music did you listen to when you were a kid?
I used to listen to the typical stuff that was in the top 40, and I used to listen to a lot of indie, and then over time I started to get more into the tech/house scene and the dance music scene. I’ve always loved dance music the most, but I think the tech/house side of it, especially this year - it’s like all you hear now in the clubs, and it’s gotten me into that side of the music.
You’ve had your face on a billboard in London, performed at major music festivals like Leeds, had people share TikToks using your songs - what has been the most surreal moment for you on your journey so far?
I think my second gig playing at Creamfields and Leeds festival. I think that was the moment when I thought, ‘wow, how have I got to this point?’ Because it’s kind of unheard of to have someone having a second gig at a festival that big, so I felt extremely lucky to be playing there. It was almost like I was in a dream, but it happened and I loved it!
Can you tell us anything about what you’re working on now or in the future?
Yeah, so I have a few dance tracks coming from Ministry of Sound, and then at the moment I’ve used some vocal samples so I’m hoping to collaborate with some artists. I’ve got a session with Camden Cox next week, and the track I’ve made for her is one of my favorite tracks I’ve made to date! So I’m excited to see what she puts over this track and to see where it goes! That’s one thing I’m really excited for, and hopefully if it goes well it can get released!
Would you ever consider performing at one of our venues in St. Andrews?
Yeah, I’d love to! I’m open to performing anywhere really, so you can get in touch with the booking agency. That would be quite cool actually!