“Own drum kit, will travel.”
It is natural when talking to or about musicians to assume that they are part of a band. Independent drumming, however, is a very common and often times preferred status of many drummers. In many cases, it’s the convenience of not having to travel and lug around kits that indie’s like. They get booked by traveling bands as stand ins for local shows or festivals and therefore play a wide variety of venues and artists all in their local area.
Yet the most successful independent drummers often travel and even tour the world. One such independent drummer hails from Tel Aviv, Israel. Nati Niv is a formally trained musician for hire with quite the resume including available drum lessons and volunteer work for charities as well as playing shows all over the globe. The video below is a good compilation of Nati playing different venues. I find it hard not to admire her energetic style and charisma.
Nati also DJ’s and plays live DJ shows with a unique standing kit set up.
Alex Carulo