In her final year of high school, Nostalgix went to her first electronic music show – and things would never be the same. “My entire life changed that night,” says the Vancouver-based DJ and EDM artist. “I felt like a found a place where I really belonged. I fell in love with the music and how much fun everyone was having.”
Nostalgix bought a mixer and began teaching herself how to DJ in her dorm room at the University of British Columbia, eventually landing a gig at a pub on campus. She started playing larger venues and festivals in Vancouver, which inspired her to start writing her own music. “I played this one really big show and I remember walking off the stage and thinking, ‘I want to have my own songs that make people dance,’” she says.
Around three years ago she released her first songs, including the infectious and instantly danceable “Alien Invasion” and the heavy-hitting festival anthem “Basics.” As she became a stronger producer technically, she also worked up the nerve to incorporate vocals into her songs.
“I can make a song and put it out easy, but if I have my own voice on it, it feels much more personal. I was definitely nervous,” she says. But those nerves don’t come through on her latest EP, Act Out, which came out in November of 2020 on Night Bass – where, on the title track, Nostalgix raps with cool-girl swagger.
Nostalgix has been celebrated widely, from signing to Steve Aoki’s Dim Mak imprint, to being tipped as one of DJ Mag‘s “12 Emerging Artists,” to coverage in Forbes magazine. She’s spent as much time as possible in 2020 in the studio, working on her vocals, writing new songs, and even teaching herself how to play piano – something she says she would have never done if not for the quarantine. “The year has had its ups and downs,” she says, “but I realized I need to take it day by day and just make music, and eventually, I’ll get back out there.”