Berlin-based, Russian-born DJ and producer Yulia Niko has quickly become a rising star in the house and techno scene. With prominent releases such as ‘Molly & Sally’ and ‘Pura Vida,’ on her roster, the Watergate resident has crafted her own musical style which she terms ‘melodic-minimal’. Coming full-circle, Yulia will now be returning to Miami to play at Damian Lazarus’ 24 hour long journey in sound Get Lost Miami, six years after her first EP landed on Lazarus’ Rebellion imprint. Having helped break some of the biggest electronic artists in the world, Lazarus remains on the forefront of championing breakthrough artists and sounds on his iconic event lineups-including this year’s edition of Get Lost.

We caught up with Yulia to chat about her career, forthcoming performance in Miami, and upcoming releases.

WWD: Hello Yulia, welcome back on When We Dip. Tell us quickly, how would you describe your music style?

Haha, always the most difficult question for me, in this case I never use any labels for things. I prefer someone else to do this job. But seriously, I call it Melodic Minimal. Why? I started from playing and making minimal house and had a slow transition into the melodic techno world so I feel like this is the most perfect label I can put on my music Genre. By the way in 2 weeks, I will have my first Sample Pack available on sale as a collaboration with “LoopCloud” x Beatport, and I called it Melodic Minimal because this style simply does not exist and maybe (I really hope) I will create a genre in our EDM world.

WWD: What have been your most impactful milestones you’ve achieved in your career?

Well, I think first and most important I proved to myself that it is so important to just listen to my own intuition and do everything as my heart says. So many people were telling me that I will not be able to be a musician and reach any success. As soon as I realized I have a power inside to do all I want, it impacted my career and I started to create and grow so fast.

And another person who believed in me was Damian Lazarus, who discovered me 6 years ago and has supported me so much. My first EP on Rebellion was an entry into the melodic world which I belong to now.

And I think one more thing is my bravery to move to Berlin after several years in New York. I’ve heard so much about music and developed myself as a person and creative item. I really appreciate this city for all the inspiration I got and the people from there.

WWD: You’ll be playing at Damian Lazarus’ Get Lost Miami during Music Week, can you tell us about your favorite memory at Get Lost?

Oh, yes! I wish i remembered!!! For me it’s an event where I let go and finally party hard besides playing. Last year, unfortunately I could not make it to Barcelona, my flight was canceled due to an airport strike but I made it to Miami in time. It was a bit hectic because in the beginning we had a confusion about set times, cause Tiga was insisting that it was his time slot but at the end when Ameme and I figured it out, we started to play b2b. I was kinda stressed because I never played with Ameme and I guess we were both so busy to show our best. At some point I turned back and saw in the DJ booth people like Jamie Jones, Damian Lazarus, Gorgon City and many other people we know showed up to support me. My stress level went up even more but the energy was just insane. It was so sad that our set only lasted for 1,5h. We had such big feedback from people about this set. I think it was one of the most influential moments of my career.

WWD: Crosstown Rebels is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Tell us more about your relationship with the label and what it means to you.

I think as soon as I joined CR my career changed and started to grow up so fast. Damian has such an eye on upcoming talents and great taste. So people trust his predictions and look at the artist with much more respect if he has been released on the label. It was always my goal to get myself to the label and still now even after a few releases on it, I get rejected and motivated to make something more extraordinary. It’s a very healthy community which is so much more than tracks on the label. I am very proud that I am part of it and I will try to surprise you very soon in another decade of the label existence.

WWD: What can attendees expect from your performance at Get Lost?

This year I am doing b2b with Ida Engberg again. I don’t really remember when I played b2b with a female Dj, but Ida was an inspiration back in the day when I was studying in music school in New York and coming to see her play. As i know we will play at sunrise on Sunday and i am not sure what we will play but i know it will be so magical when we connect our two spiritual music souls.

WWD: You will also be joining Damian Lazarus on the Crosstown Rebels anniversary world tour. What are you most looking forward to?

I am most looking forward to meeting all the other artists with whom we play together these days. It always causes a new great friendship or exchange of music or something fun… Also I play for the first time in Fabric London, so I guess it’s like a dream come true for each artist. I’ve never played there and it will be such an exciting debut.

WWD: Anything you’re currently working on that we should have on our radar?

Yes, definitely!!! I am dropping a super fun vocal track including a remix by Maxim Lany on Realm in April. Keep an eye on it because it’s a banger.

Thanks x