Metric Modulation

Here are 2 metric modulation lessons by Angel Alonso Aranda, inspired by Anika Nilles.

Anika Nilles

Anika Nilles recently got into my list of favourite drummers. I just love the way she hits the drums. Her feel is perfect and she makes it look effortless. Her groove is solid so is her technique!

I remember attending art class and one of my professor said this - "To become like an artist you admire you have to know what inspire him or her. Who are their role models?" Hence, I decided to read up interviews about her to know what are her inspirations and how she got so good!


Here it goes:

On Meinl Website:

Anika Nilles
Birthday: May 29, 1983
Zodiac Sign: Gemini
Drumming since: Age of 6
Teacher: Udo Dahmen, Claus Hessler, Jost Nickel

Biography 
"Anika started playing the Drums at the age of 6. She studied several years with different drum teachers and her main teachers were Claus Hessler, Udo Dahmen and Jost Nickel. Anika is currently studying Pop Music Design at the University of Popular Music and Music Business in Mannheim, Germany, where she has been living since 2010. She also features with various artists, live and in the studio and has recently joined the 80's Disco Pop band 'Mini Moustache' and went on the „We Moustache You“-­‐Tour across Germany in 2013. In the meantime she focuses on working and producing her own songs in the Studio, which will in the first instance be published on her YouTube channel."


Interview with Anika Nilles 

Take a base of solid groove, add a pinch of technical, tasty fills and top it all off with a humble, classy coolness - and you get Anika Nilles. Coming to your screen from Mannheim, Germany,  Anika’s YouTube videos made her a well known face in the international drum community literally over night, but that was only the beginning...

Anika, tell me a bit about your background. How did you get into drumming?

That’s actually a pretty short story. My dad used to be a drummer, so we always had drums around the house. As a kid I just started playing around on them. My dad started to show me some things when he noticed that there was some talent. He was self-taught though so it was a bit tricky for him to teach me. Then, at the age of six, I joined the local music school and had drum lessons from then on.

I know you’ve also learned a ‘normal’ job? When did you decide that it really should be music?

Yes, I worked in a nursery for a couple of years, but I actually always knew it had to be music and it was my dream to study drums. But my parents convinced me to learn a ‘proper’ job first, you know how it is. [laughs]

After my education I got offered a pretty good job straight away and kind of settled for that.

I worked there for a couple of years but then decided I just wanna do music, quit my job and enrolled to study drums. Before that, drumming was only a hobby.

Was there some kind of trigger or event that pushed you over the line?

Yes, there actually was. A band I used to play for won a competition and got to spend some time in a band camp. One of the coaches there was Benny Greb. Actually all of the coaches told me I really should do drumming but Benny was the one who suggested I should make a decision between my job and drumming. That really was the decisive point that made me make the change.


So your first step towards a professional career was the music degree?

Yes exactly. I did a B.A. in Popmusicdesign at the Popakademie in Mannheim (Germany). Most of the guys in my course had already done a lot more in that direction than me, which kind of made me realise how many things I had to work on. I really had to sit down and practise to catch up.

The course I did at uni was more a music degree in general rather than instrument specific. We did have drum lessons but it was important to put a lot of work in yourself and constantly improve. Therefore I always kept my eyes out for new things, and if I found a topic I was interested in, I just drove there and had the person teach me.

Did you start gigging during your degree already or did you just focus on the studies?

Yes, it all started during that time. Rather than doing many sessions though I always had two or three bands I played for. I did (and still do) a fare share of function work, which isn’t my dream, but it pays the bills. It’s always good to have something like that to be on the safe side.

Through your whole process of becoming a drummer who were your influences? Drummers? Bands?

Hm, I guess the biggest influence was Toto and Jeff Porcaro, simply because I’ve been listening to that music since I was 10. That really influenced not just my playing but also my songwriting. In the last couple of years I quite got into the gospel chops side of things as well. I love watching Chris Coleman or Aaron Spears. Other than that I really like German drummers like Benny Greb or Jost Nickel. It’s great to have them within reach and be able to see them at workshops.

Your ‘breakthrough’ - if you don’t mind me using that word - happened through your YouTube videos. How did that come about?

I never had anything on YouTube but people kept asking me for videos when I was offered jobs. Generally they were never intended to really be promotional drum videos. In fact, I recorded the first video ‘Electrify Me’ for a competition, but it hardly had any views.

The second video ‘Wild Boy’ was a song I wrote for an exam at university. I was quite happy to finally have an original song I could show to people and decided to film it. I did however keep it tucked away for quite a while trying to decide if I should upload it or not. One night I just went for it. When I woke up the next morning my mailbox was packed! I couldn’t believe all the hype at all, especially because of the low viewing numbers of the first video.

After that the whole thing just developed naturally. Following the success of the first video I decided to record some more. ‘Alter Ego’ and ‘Queenz’ both were songs I already had in the drawer so it was an easy one to record them. ‘Chary Life’, the most recent video, actually is the first song I wrote with the purpose of becoming a drum video.


Your drumming in the videos is mainly based on grooves but filled with pretty technical licks. What do you put your focus on when writing these drum parts?

Hm, I don’t know, that’s just how I play. [laughs]

To be honest, I’ve never even thought about this. When I play drums I somehow already hear the fill I want to play next in my head - almost like a little melody. Sometimes this goes totally wrong because I haven’t checked out how to do a certain combination but that’s just what happens.

Of course I practise fill-in’s, but I mainly work on components which I can then combine on the spot. My greatest goal is to learn more of those components and become much more free and fluent with them; and finally get rid off little hick-ups between what I hear in my head and what comes out playing. I really don’t like practising anyone else’s licks though - I could never remember them anyway! [laughs]

How did your career change through the videos?

If we talk about gig bookings nothing changed at all. The probably biggest change was my view on all of this. During this whole process I learned a lot about myself and got a lot of feedback from others - I’m still growing into it all. The whole drum clinic side of things that is happening now is completely new for me - and pretty scary! Also the fact that people now recognise me when I walk into a music shop is really weird. [laughs]

All of the tracks are music you have written yourself. Is that an important part for you? What are your influences on that?

Yes absolutely, that’s a very important part of my videos. I don’t want to play covers, I’d never fancy bringing out a drum video which is not based on my own music.

I’d say I take most of my songwriting influences from the pop scene. Artists like Rihanna and the likes. Quite often that kind of music doesn’t use drum kits as such but I just love the sounds and structure they use. I’m quite a big fan of synths as you may have noticed in my music. I just enjoy playing pop more than fusion or something down that road.


Do you still find time to practise at the moment? If so, what are you working on?

Yes, since I started practising that much at uni it kind of stayed with me till today. I still just love to discover and work new things.

At the moment I practise quintuplets with a passion! I find it super exciting what you can do with that. ‘Queenz’ was already mainly based on quintuplets. At uni you always get told you have to be able to play the whole rhythmical pyramid with all the subdivisions including quintuplets and septuplets, and I always just thought: “Well great. And can anybody tell me when I will EVER need this?!”. So I just sat down and took some time to check out what you can do with quintuplets - and it turns out you can do exactly the same as with 16th notes! [laughs]. I’m still exploring that, very exciting.

The drummer scene is still pretty much dominated by male drummers. What was your experience making your way up there as a woman?

Well, I hear stuff like “Quite good for a girl” quite often, but to be honest, I’m so used to that by now that I don’t even notice those silly comments anymore.  Generally I feel pretty comfortable and accepted in the drumming community, I can’t complain. But I do still have the feeling that due to being a woman people keep a sharp eye on me much more than on male drummers. Not sure if that’ll ever pass. We just need more female drummers so we’re not standing out that much. [laughs]

It has it’s pros and cons though.

Any words of advice for other female drummers?

Just stay with it! I have the feeling that a lot girls don’t dare to take the final steps to go out, play gigs and show themselves. I used to have quite a lot of female drum students but so far none of them managed to stay with it. They just give up to quickly.

You’re off on a clinic tour with Meinl and Mapex soon. Tell me more about that.

Yes. We’re doing a three month clinic tour in Germany, Austria and France, plus I’m planning another clinic tour around Europe beginning of next year. The clinics are a mixture of me performing, Q&A and some set topics I want to talk about. Some of them being: playing musically, musical decision in your playing and quintuplet grooves.


I know you come from a band background. How do the band gigs compare to the clinics? Does it feel awkward to be alone on stage now?

Yes, it definitely does. Especially because at uni I was the one who did everything to get out of my exams, with doctors note and everything, just so I didn’t have to play on my own! Now this happens to me… [laughs]. But that’s great!

I got much better with that sort of situations but it still feels weird. You never know who’ll be sitting in the audience, how they will react and what questions they’ll ask. You’re all on your own in a room full of drummers who exactly watch every move you make. That makes me a million times more nervous as when I play with a band. So far I’ve only done five or six clinics, so I hope some kind of routine will settle in at some point.

Apart from the clinics, what other the plans do you have for the near future?

I definitely want to make some more videos. Especially because through them I had the chance to get my original music out there a bit. The next big goal definitely is to bring out a full album with my songs. Maybe a live full band video as well, we’ll see.

And in the long run? Did you find a new passion in doing clinics or would you rather sit in the back again and play for a band?

I always wanna keep playing in bands! I really enjoy sitting in the back and not being the main person. It’s a much more relaxed playing when you’re under the magnifying glass all the time.

In the long run I definitely wanna work on my music more. I don’t really see myself as ‘just’ a drummer but also a songwriter and composer, so my music is just as important to me as my playing.

Looking at the perfect band gig, what would be your dream gig if you could choose?

Oh, that’s a long list, but definitely a pop artist! Justin Timberlake, Jessie J, Beyoncé - all the pop ‘biggies’. I just love how they arrange their songs for live gigs. Recreating those programmed grooves live is phenomenal! Something along those lines would definitely be a dream gig.

And finally, when can we expect to see you on stage in the UK?

Well, I hope next year. I really hope that the UK will be part of the clinic tour next spring. We’ll see...

Thanks a lot Anika! If so, I’ll be there.


Interview by Tobias Miorin

How to Be An Amazing Drummer

How do I get better at drums?

I think this is the question we kept asking ourselves and Fredrik Olsson made a good summary of the what you need to do to get better!




1) Practice!!!
The act of glueing your butt to the throne and working on your groove and chops! Not some chops that make you feel better about yourself but something that you know you fall short off. Working on what you can't do is important. If keep learning a thing or two everyday, in a few years time you will look back and notice how far you've come.

The following video is a method of practicing drums, 45mins a day. (*Note the difference between 'playing' drums and 'practicing' drums.)


2) Perseverance!

Don't give up!



I wonder if you had watched this video by Mike Johnston.We are all human and sometimes we can't help but compare ourselves with people who are better and feel inferior but remember this, everyone starts off at sucking really bad at something.

Like Jake in Adventure Time says - "'Sucking at something is the first step towards being sorta good at something."

Here in the video Mike Jonston mentioned that we are better at drums or worse at drums than another drummer, we are just earlier or later down a drumming timeline.

Don't give up. Once you decided to quit, that is the end of getting better, no doubts about it.