DJ Niina
If there’s one constant in a DJ Niina set, it is taste. Whether she’s soothing a cocktail crowd at sunset or rocking a dancefloor in the thick of the night, you can guarantee a captive audience. Add to this her natural charisma and sense of style behind the decks and it’s not hard to see why promoters from across Asia and Europe have been seeking out her services.
It was in Stockholm, Sweden that Niina first cut her teeth on the dance music scene, making a name for herself on the local venue circuit spinning everything from jazzy down tempo grooves to deep house to melodic progressive – often in the same set. In 2002, however, Niina felt it was time for a change – she headed out to South East Asia, little knowing that it would become her second home, that she would become one of the main movers in the nightlife of Bali, twice be among the nominees for best DJ of the island and hold 2 of the main venues (Double Six club, KuDeTa) residencies on the “island of God” with the new addition S.O.S Anantara summer 2008.
Niina quickly established herself as one of the key movers in the growing nightlife scene, locking down regular gigs at the foremost venues of the time like De Ja Vu, Spy Bar, Café Del Mar, Paparazzi, Bacio, F, Dj Club and a residency at celebrated beach front club Double Six, the most important underground club of the island, where her dynamic sets never failed to fever up the dancefloor. Double Six became her homevenue since the early years, Niina is one of the few female Dj’s at Double Six that has succeeded to do so and keep it that way until today.
She have played most of Bali’s memorable outdoor parties, venues like Nyang-Nyang and the vast Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK), Bali Cliff among them. 2006 she was invited to take part in “The Junction” party series (thejunctionbali.com) which brings together some of the world’s finest house DJs from all over the world, every year. Junction festival covers series of day, sunset and late hour parties over one full week during Bali’s high season in August.
Niina’s also active on a more underground level, where as part of the Soul Faith Hi Fi collective she helped organize and headlined “Fade2Black,” two nights of deep techno from Detroit and beyond which were both groundbreaking and successful. This led to the AIRBORNE collaboration with local electronica artist Electrofuxx, an incendiary mix of live and recorded elements. Among the most recent collaborations is with vocalist Heather Wildman adding that sexy deep vocal to Niinas groovy house sets. In 2005, she compiled internationally released double pack CD series Destination Lounge: Bali (destinationlounge.com), lounge and house compilation that had a release event at WMC Miami 2005, Niina was one of the Dj’s lining up…
Since June 2004, she is a resident also at KuDeTa, (kudeta.net) one of the Bali’s groundbreaking lifestyle venues, where she is as happy playing eclectic dinner sessions as upfront late night sets and often seen as one of the opening acts of the famous summer parties.
During her frequent visits out from Asia, she plays trend-setting venues as Hong Kong Dragon i, Munich Pacha, Spain Purobeach, Greece, Finland, Sweden, Australia, India, Eastern Europe, Dubai and to be continued with many other destinations.
Under her belt she have also several co-operations between luxury resorts and hotels as Bvulgari, Ritz Carlton, Alila, Westin Resorts, The Legian among them. 2008 Raffles Dubai New Asia & China Moon Champagne Bar guest residency adds reowned Raffles to her resume as a first resident of the venue, one of the hottest new “to be” places in Dubai.
Word about the stately spinner with the emerald-green eyes soon spread and before long Niina found herself traveling everywhere from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur to Singapore – Bangkok playing clubs like Musro, Embassy, Stadium (Jakarta) the popular “Get2gether” night at The Loft and the “Red Sessions” (Kuala Lumpur) and for MTV Asia. She have played all the major cities in Indonesia past the last years and the list of the venues is long enough in order to impress anyone, today she have truly earned her strong reputation among the regions best Dj’s, and has been nicknamed “the stately queen of progressive house”.
Niina regularly plays alongside top flight DJs, including names like Armand Van Helden, Norman Jay, Pete Tong, Gregory, Martin Solveig, Jo Mills, Jim Breese, Claude Challe, Funkagenda, Matthias Heilbronn, DjRap, Julie McKnight, Miss Nine, Nicolas Matar, Behrouz just to name but a few.
These days, Niina is musically more versatile than ever, weaving electro, progressive, twisted-disco, and acidic elements into her ever versatile big room sets. Or deephouse to tech, leftfield breaks and nu soul if you prefer. One thing you’re always guaranteed though, is quality and that effortless sense of taste.
