This ethos extends to her sentiments about her own artist project. Agzarian laments that Nina Las Vegas “isn’t given the same opportunities as other people” in the space. She suspects that this is because she is widely attributed to a triple j sound, though Australia’s club, festival, and promoter culture, which remains “pretty uninspired by powerful women almost 40 [years old],” doesn’t help.
“I don’t get booked as much. It’s just how it is, and I think I have to put that aside. Australian promoters aren’t ready for women to be legends yet,” she observes. But this tone of resignation quickly turns to one of resolve: “I had a really good chat with my agent yesterday because I was just not feeling great about this [dynamic], and then I thought about it and was like, ‘no, let’s just wait till they’re wrong.”
In the meantime, as Agzarian and NLV Records lead by example, in an invitation for the rest of the industry to follow suit, the wins will make the noise. Unsurprisingly, there are many, and they are as vast and diverse as NLV’s roster. These include international radio play for productions like Anna Lunoe’s 2022 club-minded ear worm, “Double Dip,” and tours that bridge international markets, like Ninajirachi’s 2023 North American run. In early 2024, the fellow Australian producer will remain on the road in support of her latest EP, 4×4, with stops planned in additional U.S. cities and Canada.
Samples of NLV releases have also vaulted its sounds to different audiences and genres, like Doechii’s “Booty Drop,” which takes Jersey Club cues from UNIIQU3’s 2018 single, “Bubble Gum.” This reach ballooned when Doechii performed part of “Booty Drop” at the BET Awards earlier this summer.
In 2021, NLV’s presence was notably heard in Apple’s iPhone 13 Pro advertising campaign, thanks to a synch of Laces’ 2021 single, “The Ridge,” which featured on in-store billboards and social media. And, more recently, Four Tet’s integration of Chris Lorenzo’s take on Anna Lunoe’s “Back Seat” into his sets took Lorenzo’s remix on a circuitous but high-profile spree through the dance/electronic circuit.
“Four Tet emailed me for an instrumental of the remix and then had a massive summer with Fred again.. and Skrillex, and just watching the Shazams of the remix…he was playing that [song] every set for six months,” Agzarian recalls. “It does make a difference when you get this support. It’s wild.”
