Anika Nilles has been talking about her experience playing with Rush and her preparation for the reunited band’s 50 Something tour.
The German drummer has been much praised for not only taking on the immense challenge of replacing the late great Neil Peart, but also – by all accounts – excelling at it. But interestingly, she told Thomann’s Drum Bash podcast that before she started she wasn’t that familiar with their music: “I was familiar with Neil as a drummer, especially in combination with the song Tom Sawyer. That's a classic in the drum community, of course.
"But I haven't really listened to Rush music, even if I was growing up with rock music and progressive music. But for some reason I never stumbled into the Rush catalogue.”
Asked how she’s approached Peart’s original drum parts, she explained that: “I treat the music with great respect to the guys and also to Neil's parts, because Neil is a big part of the music. And so I try to make careful decisions with a great deal of sensitivity of what I'm playing original and where there is room for me to play more free or more me or more improvising. But I go from song to song and make these decisions.”
“I love to be challenged,” she continued. “I love to have challenges lying in front of me and see if I can manage it. But you also need to know what you can do and what you cannot do. You need to know your limits and opportunities also. And in this case, I was prepared and I was excited to play the music.”
Meanwhile, her bandmate Geddy Lee has opened up about a spooky occurrence that happened just after the start of Rush’s 50 Something tour in June.
Lee was being interviewed by Toronto Radio station Q107 when he was asked by the host if he had felt Neil Peart’s presence so far during the tour. “Well, it’s funny. I’ll tell you a little story,” he started. “After the opening night, we were staying in LA., and I was texting Al (Lifeson). We were in the same hotel, but we were texting each other.”
The poster promoting the tour features three birds, symbolising the three Rush members. Two are sitting on a wire, while another is flying away. Lee says that the door to his room was open a crack and he suddenly noticed a bird on the floor similar to the one on the poster.
“I was kind of shocked. And, you know, I love birds, so I approached it, and it flew by me and flew into my bedroom and sat on the edge of my bed. And when I approached it, it was like it was looking at me, and then it flew out the door. So, I quickly ran to the computer and was texting Al this crazy story that had just happened.”
“Now, I’m not a guy who believes in all that mumbo jumbo. But it was a kind of a remarkable moment, and as I was texting him, the bird returned and just stuck its head in the doorway, like to give me another nod. And then I said, ‘Okay, bye,’ and it flew away. It was crazy, crazy.”
Well… make of that what you will.
