Nesa Azadikhah

Nesa Azadikhah is an Iranian electronic music composer, DJ, and producer, born in Tehran. She began her musical life at the age of six, learning the tombak and daf, and by sixteen was already organising underground gatherings in Tehran. She is widely recognised as one of the first female DJs and live performers in Iran.

Nesa is the founder and executive director of Deep House Tehran, a platform that covers the Iranian electronic music scene on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, publishing compilations, podcasts, educational content, and album reviews. Through the platform she has also fostered connections with artists beyond Iran's borders, including a collaboration with Sama' Abdulhadi, the first female Palestinian DJ.

Alongside her DJ work, Nesa has composed music for albums and theatre, contributing to Bahram Nouraei's records Khodha and Gozaar, as well as providing the score for the play House, Kitchen. She also collaborated on the sound design for Every Beginning Is But a Continuation, an exhibition by her twin sister, the artist Niyaz Azadikhah.

Nesa has been an active supporter of the Women, Life, Freedom movement, both through signing the Statement of the Iranian Artistic Community in Support of Art Students and through her music. Her electronic album Women, Life, Freedom, made in collaboration with DJ Aida, led her to relocate from Iran to Europe in August 2022. In 2024, her contributions to dance music culture in Iran were recognised when she was included in the BBC's 100 Women series.