nimino: “More Than Anything, I’ve Learned It’s About Being Reactive”

Few artists in electronic music are having a moment quite like nimino. After a steady build over the past decade - from early SoundCloud heat to festival stages around the world - he officially broke through in a big way with 2024’s viral smash “I Only Smoke When I Drink,” racking up over 100 million streams and earning props from legions of fans and industry heavyweights all throughout Clubland. But for longtime followers of his sound, it’s been a journey in the making - marked by nimino’s ability to balance light and dark sounds, his world-building approach to production, and an ever-evolving live show.

With his new Creek EP out now via Ninja Tune’s Counter Records, a sold-out North American tour just wrapped, and a packed 2025 ahead, we caught up with the UK-based producer to talk early influences, laughter as percussion, lessons from going viral, and what’s next on his sonic expedition.

Hey Milo, thanks for joining us! How has 2025 been treating you so far?

Thanks for having me! It’s been kinda wild so far - I’ve toured the states, released an EP and prepped a new live show, all good stuff just been a lot going on.

You first started producing at the age of 14. Can you tell us about who some of your earliest influences were?

Yeah so around that time I was kinda just getting into the electronic side of music - listening to like Skream, Burial and then gradually listening to Koan Sound, Feed Me and the more Americanized styles of electronic music. Initially though I would listen to a lot of Muse, I was a big fan of Muse, but mostly their softer more emotional stuff.

Your single “I Only Smoke When I Drink” went massively viral, but what many of your newer listeners may not know is that you’ve been stacking up vast amounts of plays via your SoundCloud releases for over a decade. Compared to this last time, can you bring us back to the first time one of your productions went viral?

More than anything, I’ve learned it’s just about being reactive. The team I’ve surrounded myself with are all people who are aware that if something unexpectedly goes crazy, we are malleable and can change course - that could mean releasing a different song, releasing a song sooner, or quickly pulling together a complicated idea.

The first time something did well for me on socials was probably "Opening Credits" in 2021, but when the video was doing well, I hadn’t mentioned anywhere in it or around it that it was soon to be released or how you can pre-save, etc. I was just so gassed it was doing well and assumed that if people wanted it enough, they would dig deep enough and figure it out. Nowadays, I’ve made everything as clear as possible and as simple as possible to follow through with for people who don’t necessarily use social media a lot. 

Following a slew of releases on TH3RD Brain and two stellar singles on This Never Happened, how did you get linked up with Ninja Tune/Counter Records?

Ninja and Counter have always been a bit of a dream label for me, but in early 2023 I’d had a fair few successful releases and was lucky enough to have some of my favourite labels knocking at the door. For me, it was very much a case of checking the chemistry and making sure whoever I decided to go with was prepared to be constantly on their toes, so we could allow the songs to decide which one will come out next.

Tell us about your six-track Creek EP — how would you describe your overall experience putting this collection of tracks together, and is there a story behind its title?

I tend to make music that people can put their own meanings on, the lyrics are often unspecific and could be applied to whoever is listening, it’s not tactical it’s more just because if I like the sound of something I’ll put it in. So unless there’s like a featured vocalist or some proper well-thought-out lyrics the tracks end up being quite vague in their meaning. For this reason I tend to use the artwork and sound design to try to create a world for each release. For albums I will always make them more seamless and atmospheric from beginning to end, taking place at a destination (Rooms on the Ark all took place on the ark), and for EP’s they are treated as paths and stops on the journey (Woods is just within the woods as you’ve exited the ark). 

Creek is sort of the journey to the next location, with stops in some more friendly, flowery spots ("Shaking Things Up," "Do It Like Me") and in more sinister, darker, cavernous places ("Only Smoke," "The 6"). I like to imagine it from song to song going through these self-contained environments, and find it kinda fun to not know where we’re headed.

One of the things I love most about some of your productions is the “laughing” samples you’ll use in the middle of a breakdown, as heard in “I Only Smoke When I Drink” and “Do It Like Me” — anything you can tell us about that creative choice in your production process? 

So those samples are a mix between friends laughing and old recordings from like video cassettes I’ve found. Honestly I just think there’s such a rhythm in laughter and I love how using it as a drum fill can bring either a really bouncy joy to the song, or can make it more crazed and menacing depending on the style of the song.

You recently finished up your latest US tour. How was it? Any highlights you want to bring to our attention?

Ah so much fun - I’ve been working making a visual show to go behind my live sets for the past year, and although it’s nothing too crazy (I’m in no way a visual designer) it was really nice to have them in action. Weirdly though one of the highlights was in New York, when after the third song the visuals cut out and I had to apologize and explain everything. Was just really lovely to hear everyone show their love despite the show falling apart (haha).

What else can we expect from nimino this year? 

Building out a bigger live show is taking up a lot of my time, but in terms of releases I’m aiming to release a mix of softer more emotional stuff, as well as some hard hitting more intense stuff. I find it really motivating to be able to make music of all different sorts - if people expect a certain style from me it makes me feel a little boxed in. It means a lot to me that the fanbase I have is built from people with varied tastes, it gives me a lot of freedom.

nimino's Creek EP is out now via Counter Records. Listen below and buy it on Beatport.