Spinning the decks since she was in high school, musician, producer, songwriter, and DJ, Ninajirachi has made a name for herself in the Australian music scene. She was a finalist for Triple J’s Unearthed High competition in both 2016 and 2017 and since then, Nina has released two solo EPs Lapland and Blumiere. Most recently she’s collaborated with fellow Aussie musician Kota Banks on a girl power electropop EP True North, but the fierce collab didn’t stop there. Last month the duo released True North deluxe and they are bringing this electropop fantasy to Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.
Nina joins us this week for a savvy seven. Over to you Nina…
What inspired you to pursue music as a career?
It’s been a hobby since I can remember, and I was fortunate enough to start making some money from it before I finished school. It only made sense to keep pursuing it as I got older. Growing up though, I knew I wanted to work as a creative in some capacity and I love being able to work for myself as a musician.
Besides making music, what have you done to get to where you are?
Making friends who are also musicians has been great because we’ve been able to learn from each other, share ideas, critique each other’s demos, etc. I think just going out and meeting people who I can learn from and who can learn from me in general has been invaluable. Also playing shows big and small, doing mixes for blogs, radio, etc.
How do you approach developing timelines for your career?
I have goals for my work and milestones I want to reach. I try to check on them incrementally, but I don’t like to attach specific dates or arbitrary timeframes to them because there’s just so much that’s out of my control, and you don’t really know what’s going to happen. I think having goals for today and this week are just as important as developing long-term timelines and its important to be adaptable.
What will musicians discover from touring and how should they prepare for it?
There’s so much to remember. Sometimes you won’t have reception, so it’s good to have all the information you need in one place before leaving home, like contacts, site maps, set times, literally everything. I started touring mostly by myself, and I would feel anxious without a friend there, so now I like to make sure I’ve got friends to hang out with in each city I play.
What is the most significant challenge you have conquered in your career?
Probably knowing when to say no to an opportunity, whether because it’s not right for me or because I’m too busy and I’m going to burn out. Dealing with FOMO and pressure from others who ‘know better’ to do things that doesn’t feel right for me has been challenging.
How should people educate themselves on current industry issues?
I mostly keep up to date on Twitter, but I also don’t spend much time looking into that stuff unless there’s something I can do to help, because it’s very distracting and working in music itself already takes up so much mental and emotional real estate.
How have you integrated modern technology into your content process?
Most of what I do relies on modern technology! I often write, produce, arrange, and mix all my music inside the box, just with my laptop which I can take anywhere with me. It’s all very portable and seamless.
You can catch Ninajirachi and Kota Banks this Friday night in Brisbane or Sydney and Melbourne later this month.