Born in Israel and raised in Massachusetts, guitarist Nili Brosh is one of the most versatile musicians you’ll come across. She’s a solo artist who has released two albums and is steadily assembling another this year, but she has also picked up the axe to play alongside the likes of Danny Elfman, Steve Vai and more. Brosh charted a new path six years ago when she took a role in Cirque du Soleil’s epic Michael Jackson ONE at Mandalay Bay, where she still rocks audiences today. But she’s also a “shadow member” of Dethklok, a fictional death metal band that stars in the popular Adult Swim animated series Metalocalypse. She’ll be continuing both of those gigs while releasing new music throughout 2023.

You first moved to Las Vegas to perform in Michael Jackson ONE in 2017, when you were onstage every night. What’s your schedule like now?

I’m doing an average of four shows a month, a few shows every couple of weeks. Sometimes they need me at the last minute and that’s the nature of it. But I had that experience of the full-time life, did that grind for a few years, then I realized I’m not an acrobat. (Laughs.) Honestly, it’s incredible for me, a real gift to get to do other things. And the amount of talent in that building of all different varieties, you just want to be around it.

How has living and performing in Las Vegas influenced your music?

Being from Israel and then originally coming here, it always felt natural, something about the desert habitat. It’s some mysterious way I’ve felt since my childhood that I couldn’t quite articulate, but I’ve always felt like it’s a source of inspiration. It’s not something conscious, just something I remember in my bones in some way.

Your new song, “Lavender Mountains,” is definitely inspired by your surroundings.

That and (other new music) was all written here, mostly during the pandemic, and I was kind of aiming at a sense of hope that seemed necessary at the time. That title is literally taken from the mountains that surround us and how they look purple in the light, and the music video reflects that as well.

You’re on the road quite a bit this year, particularly with the Dethklok tour, which will visit Vegas in October at the Pearl Concert Theater. How much fun is that project?

Yes, believe it or not, that’s the only time I get to come through Vegas with any other act, so I’m really excited about that. It’s like my first real hometown show. But Dethklok has been amazing and it’s something I never really thought was a possibility, as someone who went to Berklee College of Music when Metalocalypse was really popular. You were not allowed to be a metal kid without really digging that; it was a big part of the culture. So to get to come full circle with that is incredible, and the fans are second to none—those crowds go crazier than any I’ve ever seen. And that’s another big production, because theoretically, we’re a pit band playing in the shadows while these large screens are playing the animations.

Maybe your Cirque du Soleil experience helped prepare you for that unique gig?

Yeah, I think so. It’s funny how, theatrically, those are so different, but that skillset from (Cirque du Soleil) really sets you up to be able to dip your toe into anything else.

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