Clubland has lacked patience in recent years, but NIKS never rushes a room. She lets the percussion roll, gives the low end space, and holds the tension until everyone's united under one groove.
Her sets move through house, techno, breaks, dub, and UK bass without you ever really noticing the joins. Blends luxuriate, before a flash of Carnival energy lights up the room, only to leave things seeming ever darker in contrast.
Might this movement, this flow, have something to do with NIKS's decade and change training in contemporary dance? Certainly her approach behind the decks is as fluid as any Merce Cunningham performance, all physicality and flow. It's a similar story on-record: her debut EP, Milieu, carried those instincts into production, shifting between muscular club tracks, Bristolian pressure, and flecks of field-recorded calm; last year's 'Moves Like 2' sharpened the rhythmic edges and inaugurated her Bloom Tone imprint.
NIKS is also the co-founder of Black Artist Database, which has grown from a community-led directory into one of electronic music’s most important platforms for finding and directly supporting Black artists.
At No Bounds, NIKS the selector, producer, and scene-builder combine. It might start deep and controlled. It won't stay there.
