Pick yourself up with a dose of this 9-year-old drumming master rocking out to Nirvana
Hey, congratulations: Assuming you have a traditional work schedule—whatever that even means in our modern, gig economy, freelance-friendly, all-joys-must-be-transmuted-into-content world—you’ve completed four-fifths of your week, and have only the dreaded Friday between yourself and the blissful embrace of the void. And if you happen to need a pick-me-up to get yourself through the last remaining hurdle of the working week, well, you’re in luck: Go ahead and click that video sitting mere inches above these very words.
We’re not saying that all problems can be solved by watching 9-year-old drummer Nandi Bushell—whose credits include TV commercials, performances with Lenny Kravitz, and absolutely fucking whaling on some drums—scream her way through Nirvana’s “In Bloom.” No, for total soul reinvigoration, you should probably also watch her play “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” with some Prince thrown in there to boot.
Bushell has been posting drumming videos since 2017—i.e., like a third of her life, which is the sort of thing that puts own’s own vocational choices into stark and terrifying relief. She’s just begun picking up increased prominence, and if you need to understand why, well, go watch the videos again: She’s nailing these songs, not just in terms of technical skill, but also in the way she throws herself into the music. One can never tell, of course, but she seems to be having a genuine blast while playing; it’s the kind of sufficiently infectious joy that can easily get you through one more otherwise dreary working day.