A hyperpop and emotional trance aficionado, nabii (she/her) has grown to be a well known punter in Melbourne/Naarm’s production and live electronic music world. With a talent for curating strong, ecstatic trance tracks, nabii (AKA. Grace) channels her femininity by maintaining a sexy undertone throughout her work.
Alongside a multitude of singles, nabii released her first five track EP ‘Take Me Home’ in 2024, which was picked up and promoted by Mixmag Asia. Last year also brought nabii a Triple J Mix, and a monthly radio show ‘Angel FM’ on Area3000 Radio. It's safe to say, nabii had a wicked year.
When we met up to chat with the Naarm producer, she shared her experiences and insights surrounding her journey navigating the music world; shedding light on her sound, her production process and inspiration. In getting to know nabii, it is immediately clear that she doesn’t feel tied down by industry or audience expectations: this is a DJ who creates for herself. When asked to describe herself in three words: Emotional, thoughtful and silly were the ones that sprung to mind. If your ears have been lucky enough to hear her tracks, those characteristics really stand out as her personality is conveyed beautifully throughout her work. Her tracks are meant to elicit that strange mix of euphoria and nostalgia that makes you want to dance and cry at the same time.
Grace reveals that the majority of her inspiration is drawn from how she feels, where she employs practice of reflection that allows her to process her emotion, almost leading to a state of catharsis. She is inspired by her own life and the lives of those around her, alongside her own and others’ experiences and observations.
Overdrive: How is your art important to your society or community?
nabii: I feel like it’s self-expression. It can give a voice to minorities. Music can make you feel heard and give a sense of freedom. There are no bounds or structure, so I think my community is able to connect even if we are from different parts of the world.
Overdrive: As an Australian/Korean musician, how does being Korean affect your work?
nabii: I have integrated the Korean language into some of my tracks previously, and it feels so freeing. Music has helped me reconnect with that side of me. I grew up in the Pilbara of Western Australia for 7 years. During that time, I felt it was difficult to accept my asian culture as I felt very different from the other children I was growing up alongside. I rejected that side of me, but I think I am able to embrace it more through music. I am not ashamed of my culture, I think it’s cool and music has really helped me get back in touch with that.
Music has always been a big part of Grace’s life. With a family in the industry, music was a constant throughout her early years, learning violin and piano and eventually translating these basic skills to teaching herself guitar. After leaving school, Grace enrolled in a psychology degree at university, with a dream to be a clinical psychologist but after facing some resistance in this field, she decided to take some time off. She travelled the world for a year, and upon returning to Australia, decided to take a different route.
It was November 2023 when nabii released her first track. After submitting a track to Playback, Grace was approached by Sol Flare, another live electronic artist, asking to play a live gig. With minimal experience, Grace spent the lead up to her first live gig trying to learn how to use hardware. She says “software is one thing, but hardware is a whole other ball game”. After a turmoil of preparation (lots of crying and trial and error), Nabii successfully pulled off her first gig, with a multitude to follow. Over the past two and a half years, nabii has grown as an artist and the progression is abundantly evident in her current work, proving that consistency and determination are paramount in curating a unique and authentic sound.
Grace explained that nabii translates to ‘butterfly’ in Korean, however that being said, in Korea, stray cats are also nicknamed ‘nabii’s’. The combination of stray cat + butterfly describes Grace as a person, and therefore culminates in the perfect artist name.
As a true music lover, nabii is going back to her roots, embarking on a new project making downtempo/alternative pop under the alias, Second Skin. For the non dance music lovers, Second Skin aims to explore the heavier emotions through sultry sounds.
If you’d like to match a face to the name and see for yourself how nabii commands the dancefloor, you can catch her at her next gig, ‘Ethereal Club’ at High Note on the 1st of February. and follow her on instagram @nabii_baby.
