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Jost Nickel: Der Deutsche Weg

Seamus Evely  /  UPDATED Apr 17, 2023

“Everybody says, “Yeah, you gotta practice your rudiments.” Normally I am always putting a question mark behind that sentence.”

Drummer Jost Nickel is affiliated with a golden generation of German drummers including Anika Nilles, Marco Minnemann, and Benny Greb. In fact, he is Anika’s teacher and even provided Benny Greb with some private lessons. 2019 was a really big year for Jost with the introduction of his new signature snare from Sonor and his brand new ‘Snare Book’ that was recently published through Alfred Music.

Jost has performed with many great artists including Randy Brecker, Jeff Lorber, Bob Mintzer, Jimmy Haslip, Barry Finnerty, Mitch Forman, and Brandon Fields – to name a few – but he is maybe even more well recognized in the drumming community as a premier educator. With three books now to his name (The Groove Book, The Fill Book, and The Snare Book), his 2016 nomination as “Best Clinician” by Modern Drummer Magazine, and being featured on MusicRadar’s 2016 and 2017 lists of “the 10 best drum clinicians in the world”, it is no question that Jost is one of the finest educators in the world. To add to his list of credentials, he is also a tutor at the prestigious University of Pop in Mannheim, Germany.

Jost endorses Sonor Drums, Meinl Cymbals & Percussion, Vic Firth, Remo, Ahead Armor Cases and Beyerdynamic Microphones.

In this episode:

You will hear about…

  • Our thoughts about electric drums vs acoustic drums
  • Jost’s new X 9 signature snare drum with Sonor
  • The process of creating the signature snare video with Sonor
  • Jost’s game changing moment
  • Jost’s opinion on rudiments and if we need them
  • Perfection and how it doesn’t exist
  • How Jost prepares for clinics
  • What Jost is doing in 2020, including his new record

Why you should listen:

Jost has amazing insights on the idea of perfection, on whether rudiments are really the answer to playing music on the drums, and on taking chances and removing yourself from a comfortable place in life to start something new.

Taking an hour to listen to our chat about all of this and more will hopefully provide listeners with some invaluable knowledge right here in this podcast. Just imagine if you had an hour with Jost and he offered his time to you for free. Would you take it?

Follow Jost:
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