Anika Nilles
German drummer and composer (born 1983)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anika Nilles (born 29 May 1983) is a German drummer, composer, and musical educator. She launched her career on YouTube during the early 2010s, and has released three full-length albums to date, all with the backing band Nevell: Pikalar (2017), For a Colorful Soul (2020) and False Truth (2025). On 6 October 2025, Nilles was announced as the touring drummer for Rush's 2026 reunion tour.[4]
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Anika Nilles | |
|---|---|
Nilles performing in 2020 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 29 May 1983[1] |
| Genres | |
| Occupations | |
| Instrument | Drums |
| Label | Sakurai |
| Website | anikanilles |
| YouTube information | |
| Channel | |
| Years active | 2012–present |
| Subscribers | 279 thousand |
| Views | 33 million |
| Last updated: 18 June 2026 | |
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."[5]
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,[6] the United States, and China in 2015.[5]
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,[7] and Salt City Drums in Salt Lake City, Utah.[8] Her second full-length album "For A Colorful Soul" (featuring her band Nevell) was released in 2020. It reached number 3 of the US-iTunes-Top40-Jazzcharts as well as number 3 in Germany.[9] Nilles teaches at Nexus ICA (UK),[10] at Drumeo (Canada) and at Popakademie Baden-Württemberg (GER). Since 2021, she has also been head of the drums department at Popakademie Baden-Württemberg.[11]
Nilles joined Jeff Beck's live band for his US and European tour in 2022.[12] In October 2025, Nilles was announced as the drummer for Rush's 2026 Fifty Something Tour.[4]
Influences
Jeff Porcaro of Toto is a primary influence for Nilles.[13] Her other influences include Carter Beauford, Jojo Mayer, Sheryl Crow, Joe Satriani, Dave Matthews Band, Joss Stone, Stanton Moore, and Prince.[5]
Awards
Nilles was twice elected as the "#1 Rising Star" in DRUM! magazine in 2015[14] and in 2016.[15] She also won the "Modern Drummer Readers Poll" for "Up And Coming Artist" in 2016.[16] Furthermore, she was voted as "#2 Best Fusion Drummer" in DRUM! magazine and as "#3 best educator" on Drummie awards in 2017.[10] Later on, she was elected as #1 "best clinician" on MusicRadar in 2018[11] and as #3 in 2019.[17]
Equipment
Nilles has endorsed Meinl Cymbals,[18] Tama Drums,[2] and Evans Drumheads.[19] Meinl released a custom 18" Artist Concept Model Deep Hats cymbals that was conceptualized by Nilles.[20] She also uses Promark sticks, and formerly Mapex Drums.[21]
Technique
Awards
| Year | Contest | Award |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Drummie Awards | Rising Star[22] |
| 2016 | Drummie Awards | Rising Star[23] |
| 2016 | Modern Drummer Readers Poll | Up And Coming Artist[24] |
| 2017 | DRUM! | #2 Best Fusion Drummer[10] |
| 2017 | Drummie Awards | #3 Best Educator[10] |
| 2018 | MusicRadar Awards | #1 Best Clinician[11] |
| 2019 | MusicRadar Awards | #3 Best Clinician[17] |
Personal life
Discography
- "Chary Life" (Sakurai Records, single, 2014)
- "Synergy" (Sakurai Records, single, 2015)
- Pikalar (Sakurai Records, full-length, 2017)
- For a Colorful Soul (Sakurai Records, full-length, 2020)
- "Florida" (Sakurai Records, single, 2021)
- Opuntia (Sakurai Records, EP, 29 April 2022)
- False Truth (Sakurai Records, full length, 2025)
Further reading
- Bin Muhammad Moritoshi, Mamoru Iwasaki (2021). Eksplorasi Teknik Sinkopasi Drum Set dalam Sukat A Simetris pada Lagu Spunky Karya Anika Nilles. Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta.
- Anika Nilles: Pad Book, Alfred Publishing, Los Angeles, 2020. ASIN 3947998171, ISBN 978-3947998173
- Wilting, Matthis (2020). Quintolische Grooves. Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg.
- An Analysis of the Drum Techniques of Anika Nilles - Focused on odd tuplet (2018). Popular Music Contents Society.
- Stadnicki, Daniel A. (2017). "Play like Jay: Pedagogies of drum kit performance after J Dilla". Journal of Popular Music Education. Vol. 1, No. 3. doi:10.1386/jpme.1.3.253_1.
- Lindroth, Niklas (2016). Skevt sväng. Att spela med kvintoler och septoler. Luleå tekniska universitet.