I wasn’t very familiar with the Rush catalogue, but because of the Fifty Something tour and Annika Nilles being chosen as the drummer for that tour, it piqued my interest. And I’d better get this out of the way up front: I am not a prog-rock devotee. Some of that genre I dig, and some I’ll leave to the fans.
I’ve watched a few of her performances, and I’m very impressed. I’d seen her before in videos, and as someone who used to teach, I always took pride in having female students and watching them excel. There should be a lot more female drummers! Full stop.
Because I was in the drum business for so many damn years — managing drum stores and writing for Modern Drummer — I started thinking about drum sets. Specifically, the instruments she uses.
What started me thinking about this was an interview with Rolling Stone, in which Geddy Lee said it was really interesting that, in one of the first rehearsals, Annika was playing and the cymbals she was using just didn’t work. That made sense. But then I started thinking about the entire concept and strategy of this gal stepping into this position. What would she use?
From what I’ve seen, she was a Tama player for many years, and Neil played Tama as well as Slingerland, Ludwig and then DW. Plus, of course, some electronics.
I don’t know what happened. I can only guess. But here’s my noodling.
First, because of the comment Geddy made about the cymbals, what about playing an identical set to the one Neil used? Either the early Zildjians or the later Sabians. For that matter, why not the same drum kit he used? Not the one he actually played, but DW could certainly fashion one, or some configuration that she would be comfortable and pleased with.
And thinking about it, she was a Tama endorsee for many years, and previously with Mapex. Did Tama jump right in and say, “We’ve got you covered”? Or did DW approach her or her management? I’m assuming she had management of some sort. And in fact, did DW want to work with her? The same question applies to the cymbals. She’s a Meinl endorsee, not a Zildjian or Sabian one.
Second, because DW owns Slingerland now, as well as Roland, which makes the V-Drums, that could have been a very persuasive argument. That would mean building a Slingerland kit specifically for her. However, I believe the Slingerland line is quite new and has only a few configurations, so it might have been overambitious for them.
And finally, was she simply very loyal to Tama and Meinl?
The proof is in the pudding, because she’s playing a Tama set and Meinl cymbals. And it sounds amazing, by the way.
Plus, looking at what she’s playing, it seems pretty customized to the requirements of the Rush book she had to cover. Definitely not the kits she was playing in the videos.
Having played drums for decades, I honestly believe it’s the drummer, not the drums, that creates the sound. I can think of dozens of top players who have switched brands, sizes, shell materials, configurations and cymbals, yet kept their unique sound.
Personally, over the years I’ve had at least a dozen different kits, all different brands, and only one or two were memorable as instruments in their own right. Mind you, my requirements were entirely different, obviously, as I wasn’t touring with Rush. I have done a number of tours, and the drums had to be reliable, roadworthy and fairly durable. With the exception of one kit, they all were.
And funny enough, sitting here thinking about it, probably the nicest kit I ever owned was the one that was least reliable, least durable and least roadworthy.
I would have liked to be a fly on the wall during those rehearsals, because no doubt when she showed up, she didn’t have the drums that were eventually used on tour. And from seeing her videos, she had a number of different configurations of Tama drums.
Furthermore, it would have been interesting to witness the first rehearsal with the new kit and cymbals. I had that experience once. I got called for a large country act, and my kit at the time was a serviceable four-piece. Well, the production company wanted glitz! So they fitted me out with a huge, multi-tom Slingerland kit in copper!
It looked amazing and sounded great. I played the same parts as required by the songs, but the band, and especially the two singers — doing a Donny and Marie act — were enthralled by the huge set. I didn’t even have to hit a drum, and they were excited just by the looks of the kit.
Hearing the discussions at the Rush rehearsals, the ideas and what everybody was looking for would have been fascinating. First of all, because Geddy and Alex have been doing this for a long time. They know what they want to hear. And from listening to Annika in interviews going way back, she’s a very, very bright woman. She has an amazing brain, and when you listen to her in the many interviews, you cannot help but be so damn impressed!
Having to replicate some of the parts Neil played no doubt would have been very challenging, not only because of their intricacy, but because the particular instruments he had aren’t the ones she has. So she had to improvise, calculate and create the “impressions” of those fills, licks and grooves.
Now, to be fair, it’s not like she had to duplicate what Terry Bozzio is playing with his monster drum set. But Neil’s last rig was not a simple four-piece kit either.
Drums, eh? Ya gotta love ’em.