How Australian DJs NERVO Got Into A Real ‘Pickle’ With Their New Foodie Collaboration

Photo Credit: Nervo

We love a good celebrity food collaboration, especially one that doesn’t take itself too seriously — which is why we’re massive fans of the new item that Australian DJ sisters Mim and Liv Nervo — best known as NERVO — just launched with C3’s Umami Burger in celebration of their latest single, “Pickle.”

The NERVO Pickle Burger is the latest collaboration in Umami Burger’s artist series, which has previously featured Jayden Smith, Bon Jovi, and Cindy Crawford. Now available as of April 9, the burger features the new Umami burger patty, provolone cheese, fried pickles, and a special jalapeño pickle ranch all on a brioche bun. The burger comes in a decked out branded box with a QR code to stream the debut video — which features Paris Hilton and Tinie Tempah — bringing the experience of live shows, concerts, and festivals that we have missed over this last year to your home.

We chatted with the sisters — who happen to be the all-time top-ranking female DJs in the world (and have written and produced hits for the likes of Kylie Minogue, Ke$ha, The Pussycat Dolls, Afrojack, Steve Aoki, Armin Van Buuren and Miley Cyrus and received a Grammy Award for writing ‘When Love Takes Over’ for David Guetta and Kelly Rowland) about their collaboration, pivoting in the pandemic era and what’s next for the year to come.

Photo Credit: Umami Burger

What inspired the song, “Pickle”?

We were actually just eating cheese and Branson pickle sandwiches in the studio (it’s an easy thing to make when you’re in a rush and need to keep focusing on work). We were talking about how amazing pickles are for a sandwich and then we came up with the main hook ‘you’re the pickle in my sandwich make me wanna eat you up’, as a bit of a joke. Then the beat came and we were laughing so hard that we carried on working on the idea. Next thing you know, we had recorded a song about Pickles. We sent it to Paris bc she has such a great sense of humor we knew she would understand the humor behind it and a few months later, she sent us back some vocals. Then came Tinie. Then we shot a video in LA. And here we are today- celebrating pickles ;) HAHA!

How did you get Paris Hilton involved? Is she an old friend?

We’ve known Paris for a bunch of years and she has always been super cool. She is great fun to party with, but also just a great girl. She’s a girl’s girl really. Since she has been DJing we see each other all over the world and in the past have celebrated our birthdays together (we’re all aquarians) so it was great to collaborate with her on a music level.

Are pickle burgers an Australian thing? What are other Australian items you wish you had on tap when in the U.S.?

It might be an Aussie thing, or it might just be an us thing. We LOVE pickles. It’s annoying when burger places (uh hem.. McDonalds!) don’t give you double pickle when you request it. A bit of spice/kick is always great for a burger. We added jalapeno’s for our Umami collab. It is next level delicious!

Why did you want to partner with Umami Burger for this collab?

Have you seen their menu? It’s so good. They’re our go to when we’re in LA!

How did the collab come to be?

Our friend (Dean May) works for SBE and came over to our house with some Krispy Rice and Umami Burgers. We literally invited him over every-day-that-week so we could eat more of the delicious food that he would bring. hahaha In that time, we showed him the preliminary version of the Pickle video that we were editing and then I think he suggested we do a collaboration with Umami. Of course we jumped at the opportunity!

Photo Credit: Umami Burger

If you had to pick one item (that wasn’t a pickle burger) on the menu, what would it be and why?

The Umami Fry Combo and the Cheesy Potato Tots are delicious because who doesn’t love fried potatoes? With truffles, or loaded with pastrami and chili and cheese. Ugh ‚ so good! The fried pickles are also really yum! It’s all so good it’s really hard to choose. Sorry if I didn’t answer the question properly.

What other ways have you been innovating during the pandemic?

We have been super focused and actually really busy making music. During the evenings we have become really good at cooking – Asian dishes especially, and I can now say I make and incredible Singapore Noodles in about ten minutes flat!

How did you pivot from live events?

We are hanging to get back to playing live events again. We have enjoyed the pause but it will be nice to play our new tunes to a live audience. In the meantime, we will just keep making more music (and cooking great meals at home).

Do you have anything live in the near future now that the world is opening back up? Where and when if so?

It looks like Tomorrowland is happening in September so that is a big show to look forward to!

Can we expect new music in the near future? Any other collaborations coming up that you can speak to?

Yes – loads of new music and some really great collabs coming which we don’t want to talk about incase we jinx ourselves!

What are you most grateful for right here, right now at this very moment in time?

Our health and that of our family and friends. The love that surrounds us. Also we can’t underestimate our privilege in that COVID didn’t threaten our livelihood and we were able to spend the time being creative. That is such a privilege which we do not take for granted!