Eric Nagrampa, better known as Bay Area-born DJ E-Rock, has been leaving his mark on the Las Vegas club scene for several years now. Constantly voyaging to the Strip from San Francisco, where he’s the official DJ for the 49ers, or from LA, where his radio work blossomed with the recent national syndication of his Radio Bassment show, E-Rock developed a strong connection and deep affinity for Vegas beyond the glitz of the nightlife landscape.
That’s why, he says, he became a full-time Vegas resident just a few weeks ago.
“It just made a lot of sense. There’s so much energy shifting here right now,” he tells the Weekly, pointing to factors like the ongoing development of pro sports and the city hosting new mega-events like the Grammy Awards. “I’ve seen the grand effects of how those things impact a city, and I don’t want to miss out on any of that here.”
E-Rock will be spinning at Light February 18 and 19, with DJ Romeo and Neil Jackson on Friday and then holding down the decks when Iggy Azalea performs Saturday night. This month’s reopening of Light was a big deal for him, since the Mandalay Bay club has been one of his steadiest gigs for multiple years.
“I actually started my journey out here with the Light Group, working with them at Haze [now Jewel]. They brought me to Light a long time ago and it was a very special thing for me,” he says. “I feel like I’ve lived lifetimes doing that residency, because I’ve seen so much in there. To lose that during the pandemic was very defeating for a while.”
Like many DJs, E-Rock went online when the clubs closed, but he went harder than most by becoming an official partner with Twitch, streaming sets and collaborating with colleagues to build a new, virtual DJ community. He’s streaming less now that IRL nightlife is back, but he’s planning to reconnect with that audience this spring, and he has another big media project in the works, connected to the ongoing evolution of the radio show and its many celebrity interviews. Catch it in Vegas on Real 103.9-FM.
E-Rock has his hands full for 2o22 with those projects and gigs at Light, Jewel and Tao, plus he has begun playing other Vegas clubs like Marquee for the first time.
“At Marquee, I was actually a little nervous for the first time in a long time because of that gold standard that company [Tao Group] has always held,” he says. “It was crazy to play that room after being out here for 15 years and I just feel super grateful and blessed. And doing something like that feels even better when you live here.”
DJ E-ROCK February 18-19, 10:30 p.m., $20-$30. Light, 702-632-4700, thelightvegas.com.
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