In The Booth: Monki

The international edition of the next NLV Presents shows are upon us, kicking off in Melbourne tonight, before bounding around the country in a tour bus airplane that consists of Nina Las Vegas, Djemba Djemba, Mssingno and the lady you're about to get all around, Monki. She's an underground tastemaker from London that got her start championing electronic music talent on the airwaves (much like the host) before hitting festival and club stages around the world. We asked her for a typical night in the jungle that is her DJ booth, and these are a little taste of what to expect. Click through the tour poster below to grab tickets for the NLV Presents shows too:

Take us through a set with Monki:

Okay I'll give you a set I did the other night at Boomtown which is a fucking crazy festival in the South of England, basically the whole place looks like a scene from mad max. This is how it went.

What track are we opening with?

This track actually came out 2010 but it's still sounding relevant. I started this set with the second break down in the record which comes about halfway through, it's a pretty long track. Warm the people up.

You’re miles away from home and you want to show some love for your home town/country. Which friend’s work are you gonna play?

This track has been huge over here this summer and in Ibiza. It's essentially just a big old vocal and some really good drums, but just goes to show you don't have to overcook it. Came out on Lobster Boy (which is Redlight's label) the other month. So yeah repping the UK hard.

The audience are well-oiled, now it’s time to make them lose their shit. What track is going to do it?

A new one I've been playing recently but it goes off every time I have. It's got a wicked bassline, super high energy. Looking forward to playing it in Australia!

You’ve got ‘em now, got a track show off how deep your taste goes?

I'm not sure what your take on this tune is over in Aus' but here it's a classic. Like many house classics it came out on Defected about 10 years ago. Still sounds massive - I love this record.

Energy levels are waning slightly, what’s a fail safe pick me up – either for yourself, or the crowd?

Eats has done a little remap of this Tiga and Audio track that came out a while back. Coming out of Method (Disclosure's imprint). The track's huge, I'm not sure how you can not dance to it.

We’re on the home stretch, what’s a brand new track you’re going to test out?

Applebottom - Freak Beat is a new one from my label Zoo Music, really excited for everyone to hear it. I've tested it out a few times and it's always gone down really well. It's a bit of a monster, you couldn't just drop it in willy nilly it's definitely something you would have to build up to. [Editor's note: this is a fresh dub, but we're gonna guess you might find it amongst the mix above if you're willing to hunt!]

It’s time for a breather, got a track with some real emotional feels?

If we're going to get emotional a big rave piano has to come into that. These guys are great at making emo bangers. This HUGE piano breakdown would even get your hardest mate to shed an emotional tear on the dancefloor and give you a big hug.

Good night all and thanks for coming – what track are you going to leave everyone with?

If we're going to end on a high you might as well end it with one of the greatest records ever and just do what it says on the tin.

Follow Monki: FACEBOOK / SOUNDCLOUD