Australian DJ duo Nervo performed its first Las Vegas club gig in more than two years on April 15. It was quite the occasion for sister act Olivia “Liv” and Miriam “Mim” Nervo, who got started in the music industry at the age of 18 and have impacted the Strip scene with long-running residencies with Wynn Nightlife and Hakkasan Group.
“Vegas is such a special place for us,” says Liv. “Of course, it’s the most fun city in America and arguably the world, but also because the clubs really try to be better than each other. The competitive drive there just makes everything amazing.”
This month’s comeback was also Nervo’s first show at Zouk Nightclub at Resorts World, where a new residency will keep the progressive house-leaning artists all summer long. Their first visit to Ayu Dayclub is set for April 24.
The move to the hot new spots on the Strip was a natural one, having partnered with Zouk Group venues in Asia for almost a decade. But a Vegas transition is “never a no-brainer,” Liv says, “because when you move, you kind of burn a bridge and you always really think about it. We know how good they are and we’ve heard the rave reviews of these [new venues].Tiësto said it’s incredible.”
The sisters are beyond excited to amp up their touring schedule again after COVID, bouncing around the states this month and pinging over to Europe in May before the summer festival season arrives. Traveling will be a little different now that Liv has one child and Mim has two, but their extended family shares homes in LA, London and France as well as Australia.
“We have a summer [planned] that’s gonna hit us like 45 jet planes,” Liv says. “It’s definitely back to pre-COVID, which is a bit scary, the how-to-do-it now that we’ve got the kids, but we’ll figure it out like everything else. We’re really just very grateful that we have a lot of work going on, overwhelmingly grateful that we’re still going, still able to do what we love, truly.”
A new Ibiza residency at Eden is also on the summer agenda, and plenty of new Nervo music can be expected along with the rampage of tour dates. The sisters fell into a period of prolific creativity during the forced downtime of the pandemic, “one of the most creative times we’ve ever had,” Liv says. “We’re really happy with the music and now we’re polishing it up to release it, and it’s nice to have some more distance from that [period of time] now.”
She says the pause actually came at a time when Nervo needed a break. In January, the duo participated in a discussion series produced by the International Music Summit that focused on mental health awareness. The hectic lifestyle in the entertainment industry can obviously breed issues and specific challenges, some of which Nervo has been able to avoid through their unique career.
“We’ve been a little luckier, I think, because we don’t have the loneliness that follows DJs. We have each other, and families that follow us,” she says. “And where we thought it might be a burden to [tour] with the kids, it ended up being a lovely addition. They love it.
“We have a different life, there’s no hiding that, but it’s great to see how happy they are, thriving, learning different languages. It makes you realize you are the master of your destiny, you can do things differently and it can be great.”
NERVO April 24, noon, $20-$30+. Ayu Dayclub, zoukgrouplv.com.
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