Anika Nilles Explained

Anika Nilles
Birth Place:Aschaffenburg, Germany
Birth Date:1983 5, df=y[1]
Origin:Germany
Genre:Progressive pop[2]
Occupation:Musician, songwriter, drummer, educator, composer[3]
Instrument:Drums
Label:Sakurai Records
Associated Acts:Nevell
Module3:
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Anika Nilles
Channel Name:anykmusic
Years Active:2012–present
Subscribers:212.00 thousand
Views:25.12 million
Stats Update:10 Jul 2022

Anika Nilles is a German drummer, composer, solo musician, and musical educator. She launched her career on YouTube during the early 2010s, and has released two full-length albums to date, both with backing band Nevell, Pikalar in 2017 and For a Colorful Soul in 2020.

Early life

Nilles was born into a family with multiple drummers and started drumming at age six. When interviewed by South African Drummer, she mentioned having two uncles, one cousin and a father who are drummers. Her father "taught me the first grooves as he realised I was interested in drumming."[4]

After school, Nilles had a career in social education, which she left to pursue drumming full-time. She earned a degree in popular music from the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg in Mannheim.[3]

Career

Nilles posted her first original compositions "Wild Boy" in 2013, followed by "Alter Ego" in 2014. These and other music videos usually contain a visual recording of her drumming alongside previously recorded music. In such videos, she has historically cooperated with producer and guitarist Joachim Schneiss. Afterward, Nilles began acquiring work and viral attention outside of her native Germany, such as with a tour of Europe,[5] the United States, and China in 2015.[4]

In 2017, Nilles' debut album Pikalar was released, consisting of 10 instrumental tracks. In promotion of the album, Nilles was the cover artist and interviewee for the June 2017 edition of Modern Drummer Magazine. In this interview, Nilles stated that she coined the word "pikalar", which is intended "to stand for things that happen in life that you can't describe".[3]

Nilles embarked on a six-date United States clinic tour in October 2018, and performed at venues such as the Chicago Music Exchange, Sweetwater Sound in Fort Wayne, Indiana,[6] and Salt City Drums in Salt Lake City, Utah.[7] Her second full length album "For A Colorful Soul" (feat. her band Nevell) was released in 2020. It reached number 3 of the US-iTunes-Top40-Jazzcharts as well as number 3 in Germany.[8] Nilles teaches at Nexus ICA (UK),[9] at DRUMEO (Canada) and at Popakademie Baden-Württemberg (GER). Since 2021, she is also head of the drums department at Popakademie Baden-Württemberg.[10] Nilles joined Jeff Beck's live band for his European tour in 2022.[11]

Influences

Toto member and career session drummer Jeff Porcaro is a primary influence for Nilles. Other influences include Carter Beauford, Jojo Mayer, Sheryl Crow, Joe Satriani, Dave Matthews Band, Joss Stone, Stanton Moore, and Prince.[4]

Critical reception

Nilles was twice elected as the "#1 Rising Star" in DRUM! magazine. The first time in 2015[12] and the second time in the following year.[13] She also won the "Modern Drummer Readers Poll" for "Up And Coming Artist" in 2016.[14] Furthermore, she was voted as "#2 Best Fusion Drummer" in DRUM! magazine and as "#3 best educator" on Drummie awards in 2017.[9] Later on, she was elected as #1 "best clinician" on MusicRadar in 2018[10] and as #3 in 2019.[15]

Equipment

Nilles has endorsed Meinl Cymbals,[16] Tama Drums, and Evans Drumheads.[17] Meinl released a custom 18" Artist Concept Model Deep Hats cymbal that was conceptualized by Nilles.[18] She also uses Promark sticks, and formerly Mapex Drums.[19]

Technique

Nilles tends to incorporate alternate note groupings, such as with quintuplets and sextuplets, over a backbeat.[20]

Awards

YearContestAward
2015Drummie AwardsRising Star[21]
2016Drummie AwardsRising Star[22]
2016Modern Drummer Readers PollUp And Coming Artist[23]
2017DRUM!
  1. 2 Best Fusion Drummer
2017Drummie Awards
  1. 3 Best Educator
2018MusicRadar Awards
  1. 1 Best Clinician
2019MusicRadar Awards
  1. 3 Best Clinician

Personal

Nilles currently lives in Mannheim, Germany.[3]

Discography

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Anika Nilles. drummerworld.com. 16 November 2018.
  2. Web site: Anika Nilles Joins TAMA As Signature Artist, Releases Debut Solo Album. Drum Magazine. 27 February 2017. 16 November 2018.
  3. Web site: Anika Nilles: Welcome to the New Age. Dawson. Michael. June 2017. Modern Drummer Magazine. 14 November 2018.
  4. Web site: Anika Nilles Interview. South African Drummer. December 2017. 14 November 2018.
  5. Web site: Anika Nilles Drum Clinic at Drumshop UK!!. McMullan-Jones. Thea. drumshop.co.uk. 11 May 2015. 16 November 2018.
  6. Web site: Tama Star Drums & An Evening with Anika Nilles. Sweetwater. 25 October 2018. 16 November 2018.
  7. Web site: Tama Star Drums & An Evening with Anika Nilles. tama.com. 16 November 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181117105335/http://www.tama.com/usa/news/show/anika_nilles_clinics/index.html. 17 November 2018. dead.
  8. Web site: Farbenfrohe musikalische Seele: Anika Nilles' neues Album. 2021-07-11. drumsundpercussion.de. de-DE. 11 July 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210711164930/https://drumsundpercussion.de/artikel/farbenfrohe-musikalische-seele-neues-anika-nilles-album. dead.
  9. Web site: Award Winning Drummer & Educator Anika Nilles. 2021-07-11. Nexus ICA. en-GB. 11 July 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210711164931/https://nexus-ica.co.uk/about-nexus-ica/faculty/anika-nilles/. dead.
  10. Web site: Baden-Württemberg. Popakademie. Lecturers Pop Music Design B.A. - Academics Popakademie Baden-Württemberg. 2021-07-11. www.popakademie.de. en.
  11. Web site: Instagram .
  12. Web site: 2015-03-17. Anika Nilles. 2021-07-11. DRUM! Magazine. en-US.
  13. Web site: 2016-04-28. DRUMMIES 2016: Drum Set Categories. 2021-07-11. DRUM! Magazine. en-US.
  14. Web site: Modern Drummer's Readers Poll Archive, 1979–2017 Modern Drummer Magazine . 2021-07-11. Modern Drummer Magazine. en-US.
  15. Web site: November 2019. David West 29. The best drum clinicians in the world today. 2021-07-11. MusicRadar. 29 November 2019 . en.
  16. Web site: Anika Nilles. meinlcymbals.com. 16 November 2018.
  17. Web site: Anika Nilles. daddario.com. 16 November 2018. 17 November 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181117105336/http://daddario.com/EvArtistDetail.Page?ActiveID=3551&ArtistId=46317&sid=58379106-1b4f-41b4-bcd0-9cea2d8e1245. dead.
  18. Web site: 18"/18" Artist Concept Model – Anika Nilles – Deep Hats. meinlcymbals.com. 16 November 2018.
  19. Web site: Anika Nilles: Viral virtuoso. Robbins. Nick. iDrum Magazine. 8 April 2015. 16 November 2018.
  20. Web site: Up & Coming – Anika Nilles. Haid. Mike. Modern Drummer Magazine. March 2015. 16 November 2018.
  21. Web site: Drummies! 2015 Artist Awards: Tim Alexander Wins Big. Drum!. Doerschuk. Andy. 27 February 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160118161155/http://www.drummagazine.com/features/post/drummies-2015-artist-awards/. 16 November 2018. 18 January 2016.
  22. Web site: Drummies 2016: Drum Set Categories. Drum!. 28 April 2016. 16 November 2018.
  23. Web site: Modern Drummer's Readers Poll Archive, 1979–2017 Modern Drummer Magazine . 2021-07-11. Modern Drummer Magazine. en-US.

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