Nejvex and SLANDER first met digitally in 2023.
After hearing Nejvex’s tunes, the star dubstep duo slid into the young bass artist’s Twitter DMs to ask for tracks to play out and whether he’d be interested in releasing on their labels. At the time, the producer and DJ—born Miloslav Šimon—still lived in a small village in his native Czechia.
Now, three years, nine label releases, 18 months of music school, and several studio sessions later, SLANDER and Nejvex’s first collaborative release, “Booster Ignition,” brings the rising star’s story full circle.
The hard-hitting, sci-fi-inspired bass track arrived last month, marking the culmination of Nejvex’s remarkable growth alongside SLANDER (Derek Andersen and Scott Land), who selected him as their ICON Collective scholarship program recipient in 2024—the same year he made his label debuts for Heaven Sent and Gud Vibrations. Since then, he’s relocated to Los Angeles, released three EPs on SLANDER imprints, and opened for his mentors on tour for their immersive audiovisual show, “The Voyager.”
Days after “Booster Ignition” landed on Gud Vibrations, EDM Maniac slid into Nejvex and SLANDER’s DMs for an exclusive Q&A about their flourishing partnership.
EDM Maniac: When did you first hear eachother’s music? What was your impression?
Nejvex: Funnily enough, I think the first songs I heard from them were actually remixes of their tunes by other people, like Topi’s remix of “Back To U,” Moore Kismet’s remix of “Heart Break,” or Eliminate’s remix of “Potions,” and after that I discovered their originals. All those remixes are bangers, but the originals are just as good!
SLANDER: The first time we heard about Nejvex was when Chime sent us a bunch of music from his [Rushdown] label that was shutting down at the time. When we saw Chime was closing shop, we reached out to see if we could step in and help any of the upcoming artists he was working with at the time.
Out of all of the stuff Chime sent over, Nejvex was clearly ahead of the game production-wise. We were super impressed by not only the quality of his mixing, but his unique production ideas.
EDM Maniac: How did you first get connected?
Nejvex: I first got connected with them when they sent me a DM on Twitter back in 2023. They were asking to grab some tunes to play out and to release on their label. I was super taken aback since they were the biggest artists that reached out to me with interest in my music (and they still are).
Plus, I only had a couple hundred followers on SoundCloud as well back then, so it was crazy seeing someone like that have interest in my tunes. But the first time I actually personally met them was when I came to LA to attend ICON Collective in October 2024.
SLANDER: After we first heard his music, we directly reached out to see if he might be interested in releasing on Heaven Sent or Gud Vibrations, and then began supporting him through both labels.
EDM Maniac: What has it been like to watch the relationship grow?
SLANDER: It has been a really amazing story. After we initially started releasing his songs, we put up a music scholarship contest for a full ride to ICON Collective in LA. Unbeknownst to us, he applied for it.
When we were reviewing the submissions, his video came up, and we were pleasantly surprised. We knew he was from Europe, so the fact that he wanted to make the jump to LA to go to ICON was really extraordinary. He also was the most skilled out of all the people who submitted their music, so picking the winner for the scholarship was an easy choice. We were very excited to meet him in person and potentially do a session together.
Nejvex: It’s definitely amazing to see what it’s grown into. I mean, the first time we actually met up here in LA in the studio, we just sat down and talked for hours instead of making any music, so we definitely already got along super well from the start. And as artists, we have a pretty similar taste in what sort of music we like, and when we work together, we are able to complement each other super well, so the overall creative process is super smooth!
EDM Maniac: Milo, what did it mean to you to be selected for the ICON scholarship, and how did that education impact your journey?
Nejvex: Getting the ICON scholarship was definitely the most pivotal moment in my music journey. When I came to ICON, I was already producing and releasing music on my own for some time, but there were a bunch of other classes that were more focused on practical studio knowledge or the mental side of music that helped a ton.
But at the end of the day, what really helped me the most was being in an environment full of people who loved making and talking about electronic music every day. I was very much missing that before I attended. I definitely made friends and connections that will last me a lifetime there.
EDM Maniac: What was it like to move from Czechia to LA? What risks did you take to make that move, and in what ways have they paid off?
Nejvex: It was very exciting and scary at the same time. It didn’t really hit me until I was literally at the airport about to get on the flight. My parents and sister were there with me to say goodbye and we all just started crying! I moved alone just a few days after turning 21, and I had to drop out of uni back home to come here.
Before moving to LA, I never really traveled abroad much, and I was just making music in my parents’ bedroom. I was definitely more of a homebody before coming here. So it was truly zero to one hundred really quick and also a complete start from scratch.
But it was definitely the best decision of my life. It gave me so much resilience and ability to do things on my own, but it also taught me how important it is to make connections and stay close to your friends. I’ve met so many incredible and kind people around the U.S. since moving here. It’s honestly unbelievable to me. Moving here definitely changed my life and how I view everything in general.
EDM Maniac: What is it like to work together in the studio? What is the dynamic like between the three of you?
Nejvex: For me it’s always such a pleasure. We’ve been working in the studio for a while now, so I’d say it’s a pretty ironed-out process at this point. Before we work, we don’t mind just hanging out for a bit and chatting about whatever comes to our minds. We definitely like to keep the dynamic lighthearted in a way.
Then we usually brainstorm ideas and decide what we’re working on. We like taking turns when we’re working, and we don’t usually interject when the other person is doing their thing. I feel like we get the best results that way anyway. And whenever someone gets stuck, someone else can just hop in with a fresh idea to put in the track. It’s an overall great experience every time!
SLANDER: Speed is the one thing that comes to mind. For “Booster Ignition,” the main idea was fleshed out in a day. We honestly found a real flow state, and were able to bounce back and forth seamlessly all the way to the finish line. This is not something that always happens with collaborators, and we were very thrilled to have such synchronistic musical DNA.
The dynamic could be described as finishing each other’s sentences, but inside the DAW.
EDM Maniac: Tell us about how “Booster Ignition” came together. What were your goals or stylistic intentions with this one?
SLANDER: It initially started as a video game OST cover, but in the end we changed the idea into a tribute to space travel. We haven’t made a heavy bass song in many years, so it was very important to us that it felt cutting-edge and wasn’t treading on ground that thousands have already paved over. It being fresh-sounding was the most important goal.
We finished the initial idea the first day, and then it took a few months of playing it out and honing it in to get it correct.
Timing-wise, we are always aware of what type of style we are trying to highlight at the moment in comparison to our previous releases and forthcoming releases. For our upcoming StarDisc project, we felt this heavier track was next up on the list vibe-wise.
Nejvex: When first brainstorming ideas for what sort of song we wanted to make, SLANDER came to me with the idea of making a dubstep track that samples the game Armored Core VI. In the original demo of Booster Ignition (which was then called Armored Core), we sampled the intro soundtrack from the video game, as well as some voice lines.
We wanted to take inspiration from the ‘Star Wars riddim‘ wave that’s been going on recently. (Modal Nodes, Evar Orbus, etc.) That sort of style is full of triplet clap fills, broken-up swaggy drum patterns, voiceline/soundtrack sampling, and more sophisticated basses. I think we managed to put a really unique spin on that sort of style, with a much heavier production and a more pushed mixdown. We worked on the track both in the Gud Vibrations studio, as well as from home. It came about pretty naturally and quite fast, which I think is always a good sign.
Since we didn’t manage to clear the samples with the game’s publisher, we had to replace the samples from Armored Core VI with something else. To my surprise, it turned out to be a pretty quick process. We ended up replacing the samples with sounds and mission recordings from NASA. We were super satisfied with this solution, as we felt like it gives the track deeper meaning and more soul, which we felt could’ve been compromised a little bit if we used generic samples from royalty-free sample packs.
EDM Maniac: What have you learned from each other?
SLANDER: The biggest thing we have learned from Nejvex is you can right-click and AirDrop something to someone else without having to drag the file into the AirDrop window in your Finder on Mac haha.
Nejvex: Every time we sit down in the studio, I personally learn something new, whether it’s more related to music or just life in general. But I’ve definitely learned a lot about how things work in the music industry and navigating the intricacies of it. Honestly, before moving here, I didn’t really know anything about how that side of things worked. And in terms of making music, it’s definitely interesting to observe. When I produce now, I see myself using techniques I picked up from them, and now I also see them doing things I would usually do!
EDM Maniac: Milo, what was it like to join SLANDER on the Voyager tour?
Nejvex: Getting to experience the tour life this year (especially in July, where I was playing a show with them basically every week) has been great! Before moving here, I never played a live show either so that’s been a brand new venture for me too.
It’s been great practice trying to put together a cohesive live set and also testing all my music live. I would basically travel and play shows on the weekend and during the week I would be at home working on music and making improvements to the set. It can definitely get pretty busy and hectic, but it’s also a lot of fun and you get to meet a lot of new people on the road!
EDM Maniac: How important is it for established artists to help lift emerging artists up?
Nejvex: I think it’s super important. Getting a co-sign from a bigger artist can do wonders for an emerging artist, but they also have to be able to take advantage of that opportunity if it comes. I think more established artists have a natural tendency to seek and bring up new talent because they want to hear new and exciting music, which I think a lot of the time comes from the underground!
EDM Maniac: Derek and Scott, what does it mean to you to use your platform to help the next generation of artists?
SLANDER: It means the world to us, and it is one of the pillars of why we do what we do. Number one is to give as many people positive experiences through our music and shows. Number two is to help as many upcoming artists as possible through our labels, giving them slots at shows we curate, and through musical collaboration.
The latter always means so much because we can look back and see ourselves in those exact same circumstances and know how much any support really means to someone truly fighting to follow their passion.
You can stream Nejvex and SLANDER’s new single “Booster Ignition” now on all platforms.
Both acts continue touring together in Hawaii and Albuquerque, New Mexico, this month.
Featured image courtesy: SLANDER / Nejvex. Credit: Julian Bajsel (@jbajsel).