10 Things You Didn’t Know about Nandi Bushell
What do you know about Nandi Bushell? If you spend a lot of time on YouTube or you’re an avid music fan, you may well be familiar with her name. If you’re not, you don’t know what you’re missing out on. Either way, here are 10 things you may not know about her that will prompt you to go give her music a listen.
1. She’s only 11
It might be surprising that at only 11 years of age, she has already achieved more in the music world than most people achieve as fully grown adults, but she definitely has the skill and the talent to pull it off. Aside from being surprised at her level of skill, especially at her age, the thing that most people notice is the fact that she has such a bubbly personality, with a strong desire to get to know other people on a personal level. In a world where so many people have only superficial relationships and barely say more than hello to other people, often without even bothering to learn their name, it is a refreshing quality, to say the least.
2. She has dual citizenship
She is proud of the fact that she has dual citizenship. She was born in South Africa, part of the Zulu tribe. When she was very young, her parents moved to the UK. As such, she has both Zulu and British citizenship, something that she says she would not trade for anything in the world. In addition to making her unique, she says that she loves being able to explore both sides of her heritage and embrace all of the best qualities of each one.
3. She started playing when she was only 7
If it surprises you that she has this much talent at 11 years old, consider the fact that she started playing when she was only seven. That’s right, at an age when most kids are only thinking about learning to tie their shoes or comb their own hair, she was practicing drum solos. More importantly, she was keeping up with the songs that she was learning from, soon taking on the challenge of creating her own YouTube channel and covering those songs with a flare all her own.
4. Her skills have gotten attention from famous musicians
She definitely has talent, that much has already been established. However, it’s worth noting that she is more than just another young, relatively talented drummer who remotely entertains the idea of a future music career. Her talents are definitely at another level. In fact, she has gotten the attention of drummers and musicians alike, people that are instantly recognizable like Dave Grohl and The Foo Fighters. In reality, she has more skill than a lot of professional musicians, a fact that has been recognized time and again by those very same individuals.
5. The Beatles were her inspiration
The Beatles served as her inspiration. As a matter of fact, the very first time that she heard them play was when her father played Hey Jude for her. From that very moment on, she fell in love with music and with the idea of playing the drums. While most children her age eventually move on to some other interest, this has remained a constant for her throughout her young life.
6. She’s a good student
She has always been a good student. In fact, that is precisely how she got her first drum set. After she showed so much interest in the song from The Beatles that her father had played for her, she received a drum set from him as a means of showing his appreciation for her hard work in school. Needless to say, she hasn’t looked back since.
7. Drummer Questlove was impressed by her drumming skills
Anyone that loves music knows that Questlove is one of the more talented drummers in the business. When she started uploading covers of songs to her YouTube channel, he saw some of her work and was so impressed with it that he started saving the videos and then showing them to all of his friends. Eventually, he became so enamored with her abilities that he sent her a drum set that was custom-made for children.
8. She plays other instruments, too
Even more recently, she has been expanding her musical talents to include both the lead guitar and bass guitar. She has taught herself how to play both instruments quite well. It’s important to know that she has done all this work herself, without the help of music lessons or any other type of assistance from professionals. For the most part, she has gone online to learn what she needs to learn. The rest of it involves putting in the time, practice and hard work required to excel.
9. She uses technology to create unique covers
One of her favorite things to do now that she can play three instruments is to use special technology that allows her to create music videos on a loop where she can record herself playing each instrument individually, then marry all three instruments together for the final cut. The end result is her performing covers of some of the most famous rock songs in history, with her playing the lead guitar, bass guitar and drums on the same song.
10. She’s now writing songs, too
Eventually, she wants to have her own band and make music her career. In addition to learning two new instruments, she is also starting to write her own material. While she loves covering some of her favorite songs, she says that she doesn’t want to go on covering other people’s work forever, especially not if she plans on having her own career in music. As a result, she is now writing several of her own songs that she intends to perform and upload in the near future.
