NINA KRAVIZ Covers Rollacoaster Magazine Spring/Summer 2020

“Ironically, the more mature you become, the less freedom you have,” says our latest cover star Nina Kraviz. “That’s a challenge but I love going outside my comfort zone and trying different things. I’m just one person evolving.”

Hailing from the Serbian town Irkutsk, when Eastern European communism was crumbling, Kraviz (her actual surname Kravits) was once a dentistry student. As a 19 year old working in a hospital for war veterans by day, when darkness fell she would flee into the crisp Moscow night  – learning her craft which originally was set on an acid-tinged disco sound. After a short stint fronting the band MySpaceRocket, it was Kraviz’s own productions that led to her superstardom within the dance music community – with slow-burner “Pain in the Ass” and arguably her most recognisable tune to date, “Ghetto Kraviz”, both cementing themselves as dancefloor mainstays throughout the 2010s. 

Slithering between trance, drum’n’base and old-school hardcore, Kraviz’s masterful DJ sets are second to none. And when she’s not entertaining the masses on the stages of the worlds biggest festivals, you can find her crafting transcendental full-throttled techno remixes for the likes of Charli XCX and Mount Kimbie, scouting proteges’ for her record label трип Recordings (pronounced ‘Trip’), or hard at work in the studio honing in on her ever-evolving sound. What a hero.

“I take every show absolutely independently. I consider my shows and my performances as part of some sort of live narrative,” Kraviz responds with a definite firmness when quizzed on her favourite spots to play live. “I feel myself most of the time very comfortable no matter where I’m going because I can integrate quite easily it seems to the new context.” Nowadays, you’ll usually find Kraviz two-stepping over the biggest stages across the world, which include the Eiffel Tower and sunrise set on The Great Wall of China, of all places. You can catch her this summer at Junction 2 Festival in London and Parklife in Manchester, where she will undoubtedly close out the Palm House stage with blistering force. “The UK is a very special place to go. This country offers such a different vibe when you go to the north of the country than when you go to London or the south. The crowds, the languages, the accents. It’s all very interesting."