July 1, 2026 by Kreig Marks

 

German drummer and composer,Anika Nilles, was a preschool teacher who couldn't shake the drumsticks. She is known for her known for her technical precision, creative compositions, and unmistakable energetic groove.
Her own music is an innovative mixture of urban jazz, modern funk, and progressive elements. She fuses rhythmic complexity, introspective to bold, playful, and intricately layered. Today, Anika Nilles is one of the most exciting percussionists gobally, releasing acclaimed albums with her band Nevell. She also finds time for teaching thousands of students worldwide, and now she is about to embark on Rush's 2026 Reunion Tour, stepping into one of the most coveted, respected drum chairs in rock history. We sat down to talk about her path and drumbeats that echo into infinity.

​

Kreig: You grew up in a family packed with drummers. What was it actually like being a little kid surrounded by that much rhythm?

 

Anika: It was loud and wonderful! My dad, two uncles, a cousin, all drummers. So for me, drums were just part of the furniture. I never thought it was unusual. I would sit and watch my dad play, and my hands would just start moving on their own. He noticed that and started showing me the first grooves when I was six. I did not have some big "aha" moment where I decided to be a drummer. It felt more like the drums chose me before I even had a vote in the matter.

 

Kreig: Is it true that you spent years working in social education and became a preschool teacher before going all-in on music. What was going through your head during those years?

 

Anika: Honestly, a lot of conflict. I knew at 16 that I wanted to play drums for a living. I told my parents, and they said, that is great, but also get a real qualification. So I did. I studied and worked in social education, which I genuinely cared about. But I kept playing drums on the side, every spare hour. By my mid-twenties I was starting to feel burnt out on the job, and that is when something clicked. I looked at my life and thought, if I do not try now, I never will. Giving up a steady income is scary. But not chasing what you love is scarier.

​

Kreig: Quite a career change!. Around 2010 when you left that steady career and went full-time into music, was there a plan, or was it more of a jump-and-figure-it-out situation?

 

Anika: A bit of both! I enrolled at the Popakademie in Mannheim to study popular music, so I had a structured path. But financially it was very risky and I knew that. I was teaching drum lessons, taking any gig I could find, practicing constantly. When you are safe and you get a paycheck, it is genuinely not easy to walk away from that. You have to really believe, or at least really need to find out. I needed to find out. The worst case was that I tried and it did not work, and then at least I would have known.

 

Kreig: Your video for "Wild Boy" in 2013 went viral and basically launched your global profile. What do you remember about that moment?

 

Anika: I remember being very nervous and very excited at the same time. I had been working with Joachim Schneiss on the music, and we just posted it online, not knowing what would happen. And then it spread, and drummers from all over the world were commenting and sharing it. It was surreal. I had been working so hard and so quietly, and suddenly people in countries I had never visited were watching me play. It confirmed something I always felt: music crosses every border. Rhythm is a language everyone understands. That moment taught me not to underestimate what a single piece of honest work can do.

 

Kreig: What a story! ! A lot of people see drummers as timekeepers, not composers. But you write deeply emotional music. How does composition work from behind the kit?

 

Anika: I think the drum kit is actually a hugely expressive instrument for composition. Every element has its own texture, its own voice. When I start writing something, I hear it as a full picture, not just a beat. The drums are not just keeping time. They are telling the story. A fill is a sentence. A groove shift is a change of scene. Albums like Pikalar and For a Colorful Soul were me trying to say things I could not put into words, so I put them into rhythm and texture instead. Emotion does not only live in a guitar melody or a vocal line. It lives in the space between beats too.

 

Kreig: Very true. You have taught at places like Drumeo and Nexus ICA in the UK. What do you learn from your students that you cannot get anywhere else?

 

Anika: So much. Students ask questions that make you articulate things you do instinctively, and that process makes you a better player. When a beginner asks you why you lift your wrist here, you have to actually think about why. You cannot just say because it feels right. You have to break it down. And that reflection goes back into your own playing. Teaching also keeps me connected to the joy of it. When someone in a lesson plays something they could not play a week ago and their face lights up, that is a reminder of why we all started. We all began as beginners who fell in love with sound.

 

Kreig: It is a process and it is great that you honor the process in both performance and teaching. Passing the baton.  You have your own signature 18-inch Meinl Deep Hat cymbals. What does it mean to you to have an instrument built to your specifications?

 

Anika: It means the world, honestly. I have very specific ideas about sound. I want warmth, I want depth, but I also want a fast response. The 18-inch Deep Hat was a collaboration where I could say exactly what I was hearing in my head and work with craftspeople to build it. When you play a cymbal that matches your inner sound, there is a flow that is hard to describe. You stop fighting the equipment and just play. That is the dream for any musician: getting out of your own way and letting the music move through you.

 

Kreig:  You have become a hugely visible figure for women in percussion. Do you feel that responsibility, and how do you carry it?

 

Anika:  I feel it, yes, and I am happy to carry it. When I was growing up there were very few women I could look at in the drum world and think, that could be me. So if a young girl sees me playing and thinks that, I have done something worthwhile. But I try not to let the label define everything. I am a drummer first. I want to be judged by the quality of my playing, full stop. The best way I can contribute is to keep getting better, keep making music that moves people, and keep the door wide open for everyone who wants to walk through it.

 

Kreig:  You talk about odd time signatures and complex grooves like they are as natural as breathing. How do you actually build that fluency?

 

Anika: A lot of slow work! People hear me play fast or hear a complicated groove and assume it just comes naturally. It does not. It comes from sitting with a metronome at a tempo so slow it feels almost ridiculous, and getting every micro-detail right before you speed up. I also practice away from the kit, tapping on my legs, counting rhythms in my head while I walk. Music lives in your body, not just your hands. And I keep things fun. If I am not enjoying the session, I change what I am working on. Joy is not optional in practice. It is the fuel that keeps you coming back tomorrow.

 

Kreig:  When RUSH called about their 2026 reunion tour, what was your actual reaction in that first moment?

 

Anika: I definitely did not stay calm! RUSH is one of the most legendary bands in rock history, and Neil Peart is one of the greatest drummers who ever lived. To even be in that conversation felt enormous. But you also have to step past the awe, because if you let the weight of it paralyze you, you cannot do the job. Geddy and Alex have been so warm and so encouraging. We have had rehearsal sessions together and the music is incredible. The trust they have placed in me is something I take very seriously. I honor Neil's legacy by playing the music with everything I have, while also being fully and honestly myself up there.

 

Kreig:  For someone sitting in their bedroom right now feeling like their musical dream will never go anywhere, what do you want to say to them?

 

Anika: I was that person!  I was the person practicing in my room with no certainty at all that it would ever be anything other than a private obsession. And I want to say: keep going. Not blindly, but with intention. Work on your weaknesses. Find teachers who challenge you. Put your music out into the world even when it is scary. Every artist who is doing something real today has a version of that same quiet bedroom story. The difference between those who make it and those who do not is rarely pure talent. It is consistency, curiosity, and the willingness to look a bit lost while you are learning. Be willing to look lost. It is worth it.

 

Kreig:  Excellent advice! The RUSH tour, a new album, teaching, composing. What are you most excited about right now?

 

Anika:  Right now I am buzzing about the tour, truly. Playing those songs live with Geddy and Alex in front of big audiences is going to be something I carry with me for the rest of my life. But beyond that, I am always writing. I have sounds in my head that I have not captured yet. The next chapter with Nevell is going to go somewhere I have not been before. I want to keep pushing the boundaries of what a drum-driven composition can feel like. And I want to keep teaching, keep connecting with players at every level. The future sounds like possibility. It sounds like a groove I have not quite found yet, but I can feel it getting closer every day I sit down and play.

 

Kreig:  Thank you for taking the time to speak with me Anika.  Good luck on the rest of the tour and all of your endeavors.

 

Anika:  Thank you Kreig.  This was fun.