New Rush drummer Anika Nilles, who replaced the late Neil Peart for the band’s ‘Fifty Something’ tour, shared her thoughts on working with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson in a recent interview on Thomann’s Drum Bash. She also detailed how she prepared for the historic comeback tour.
“If you know those two guys, they are so funny and they’re so human,” Nilles said. “And that made it really easy to connect to each other. So they treated me immediately, from first minute on, on the same level. I mean, they are legends. They could be whatever — whatever, arrogant or whatever. They are not. They are funny. They are so human.”
“This is a way where you have easy access to each other,” she continued. “But also they love to play music. They are very enthusiastic when it comes to play music. They love working on details. They are detailed when they work together, and you see them having fun and the energy they both have together, and I really can connect with that attitude.”
Nilles also spoke about her approach to honoring Neil Peart’s legacy. “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,” she explained. “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. And this [was] actually my preparation at home. So my homework [was], first off, to learn the songs because every song is kind of a blank page to me.,” the drummer said. “So I really [had] to start from zero, learning the arrangements and learning the drum composition within the actual song arrangement. So Neil’s way to play the drums is basically an own composition, and this is what I mean.”
“I treat it with great respect because that’s a huge skill he brought into it, and I wanna honor that,” Nilles concluded. “And so I have to make these decisions really careful song by song, what I’m playing on original and where I go more free. And this [was] my preparation at home, but when we rehearse[d], then it [was] kind of a thing that we [had] more attention to the energy and to the feel of the song. And then we look[ed] back if my decisions were working out or if there [was] anything to adjust.”
The German drummer’s journey to one of rock’s most demanding positions began long before she ever shared a stage with Lee and Lifeson. She started playing drums at age six, taught by her father, and later worked as a preschool teacher before committing to music full-time at 26.
A viral YouTube video in 2013 helped launch her reputation in the drumming world. She spent years building her profile through drum clinics, university teaching, and releasing original albums under her own name. Her career took a major turn when she toured with Jeff Beck, and it was through Beck’s camp that her connection to Rush began to form.
Geddy Lee’s bass technician reportedly introduced Nilles to the band after witnessing her work with Beck. The band made it clear from the start that she was not hired to be a replica of Peart but to bring her own voice while respecting his legacy. Nilles took that responsibility seriously, preparing extensively at home before stepping into rehearsals.
