When you’re jumping up and down and feeling the beat while dodging cryo-cannon blasts and Champagne showers at Encore Beach Club, you’re probably not thinking about all the time the DJ spent sifting through new tracks to create the perfect mix for this particular party.
No matter who’s spinning, rest assured he or she spent some time crafting and choreographing this soundtrack, but if you catch Nightswim on Friday, you’ll be in the presence of a true curator. Few artists are as current with the freshest dance music sounds as Anna Lunoe.
The Australian DJ, producer and host of Apple Music’s Beats 1 Dance Chart show, Red Bull’s Twitch series Remix Lab and her own HyperHouse livestream likes to “listen in clusters” when she’s hunting for addictive tracks.
“The great thing about having curation be a part of my repertoire is it’s a great way to make sure you’re always curious and looking at what’s fresh and new,” she says. “It’s a double-edged sword, because you can get really inspired but you can also get exhausted. Listening to 500 different dance songs every week can get a bit jarring and even unmotivating, but I’ll take one afternoon a week and do all my listening, just go really hard, and then clear the slate so the next day I can think about my own music. It’s a different part of the brain that plays and creates and writes and wonders.”
Lunoe clearly manipulates her creative switches at will. Last week she dropped the Right Party EP on fellow Wynn Nightlife resident Diplo’s Mad Decent label, a summer-appropriate collection of new and previously released songs that should ignite dancefloors all season long.
“My goal for this EP was to make really simple, playable songs,” she says. “I played them all at my last Vegas show. [It] was really nice to get outside and play the pool, because the first time [at Wynn this year] it was raining and I had to play inside.
“The really nice thing now is getting to settle into the room and experiment. I’m learning how it works and what works best, and [to] push myself in different areas. I’m stoked to be able to do it, and obviously Wynn is the most beautiful place to be. I’m really enjoying the time I spend there and just getting familiar with the space.”
NIGHTSWIM WITH ANNA LUNOE June 21, 10 p.m., $25-$45. Encore Beach Club, 702-770-7300.
