Nikhil
Vasudevan
Drummer & Composer
More than fifteen years behind the kit across ska, jazz, funk, indie and art-rock — on record, in the studio, and on some of the world's biggest festival stages.
About Nikhil
Nikhil Vasudevan is a Delhi-based drummer and composer who has spent well over fifteen years at the centre of India's live music scene — moving fluently between ska, jazz, funk, art-rock, psychedelia, indie folk and world music with the instinct of a player who leads with the song rather than the fill.
With The Ska Vengers he has toured the UK and Europe extensively — performing at Glastonbury (three times), WOMAD, Love Supreme, Boomtown Fair and Bestival. He has been the live drummer for Prateek Kuhad since tracking the debut album In Tokens & Charms in Brooklyn, a partnership that has carried through a 48-city tour and Prateek's rise to become one of India's biggest independent artists.
He anchors Syncopation, India's most seasoned contemporary jazz-funk ensemble, with 1,000-plus concerts to its name; drums for the Susmit Sen Chronicles, the solo project of the Indian Ocean co-founder; and co-founded Dastaan LIVE, whose rock opera Kabira Khada Bazaar Mein premiered at the Mahindra Kabira Festival under director MK Raina.
As a composer he writes and leads Collage, an instrumental project released across two albums. Alongside the stage, he is a busy studio and session drummer — his playing runs from independent records to Bollywood soundtracks. He has toured across Asia, Europe and North America.
Live performance · drum-cam
Bands & Projects
Thirteen live projects — from international festival stages to jazz clubs, Urdu poetry to Beatles harmonies.
Ska · Dub · Rocksteady · Swing · Reggae
The Ska Vengers
Delhi's most internationally recognised alternative act — a politically charged, brass-forward octet built on the off-beat skank of traditional and two-tone ska, threaded with dub, rocksteady and swing. Across the kit, Nikhil supplies the one-drop and the drive that lets the horns and toasting sit exactly where they should. The band has played Glastonbury, WOMAD, Love Supreme and Boomtown Fair.
The Ska Vengers · Love Supreme Festival · 2017
Indie Folk · Singer-Songwriter
Prateek Kuhad
One of India's most enduring artist-drummer partnerships. Nikhil has been Prateek Kuhad's live drummer for years — a role that calls for restraint and dynamic control, brushes and rods as often as sticks, and a feel that keeps intimate songs breathing. It began when he flew to Brooklyn to record the debut In Tokens & Charms on vintage tape, followed by a 48-city tour.
Prateek Kuhad · “Oh Love” · Debut Music Video
Classic Rock · Live Residency
DDC
A high-energy classic-rock repertory band and a fixture of Delhi's live circuit, with a long-running residency at The Piano Man Jazz Club. The book runs from blues-rock shuffles to arena anthems — a drummer's playground of dynamics, and a weekly workout in locking a room together.
DDC · The Piano Man Jazz Club · New Delhi
Instrumental Jazz · Psych · Improvisation
The Jass B'stards
An instrumental jazz-psych trio built almost entirely on improvisation — surf and spy-jazz textures, groove vamps and long-form interplay, famous for inviting requests and then gleefully ignoring them. Co-founded with Stefan Kaye and Tony Guinard, they became a cult favourite of Delhi's underground.
One Night with The Jass B'stards · Film
Contemporary Jazz · Funk · Swing · Bebop
Syncopation
India's most seasoned contemporary jazz and funk ensemble — bebop heads, modal vamps and groove-based improvisation, delivered with the tightness that a thousand-plus concerts buys. Founded by guitarist Risshi Sachdeva, with Nikhil on the kit, it is the go-to live act for India's most prestigious events, with a corporate roster that includes Rolex, Audi, Honda, Google and Coca-Cola.
Syncopation · Live Session
Art Rock · Urdu Poetry · Multi-Arts
Dastaan LIVE
India's first art-rock collective — through-composed song-cycles that set the poetry of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Sahir Ludhianvi and Kabir to rock instrumentation, shadow puppetry, light design and archival projection. Nikhil is a co-founder and the rhythmic anchor. Their rock opera Kabira Khada Bazaar Mein premiered at the Mahindra Kabira Festival under theatre director MK Raina.
Dastaan LIVE · “Kaun Bataye?” · Official Video
Rock Opera · Theatre · Live Score
Kabira Khada Bazaar Mein
A full-length rock opera built from the verse of Kabir — staged theatre and live band as one work, directed by the celebrated MK Raina and premiered at the Mahindra Kabira Festival before touring on. For a drummer it is a score to be performed: cues, dynamics and dramatic pacing rather than a setlist.
Dastaan LIVE · “Mat Ro Bachche” · Official Video
Fusion · Folk Rock · Raga-informed
Susmit Sen Chronicles
The solo project of Susmit Sen, co-founder and guitarist of the legendary Indian Ocean. The Chronicles put raga-informed melody against folk-rock arrangements, with Nikhil on drums, Anirban Ghosh on bass and Varun Gupta on tabla. Their 2014 album Ocean to Ocean featured Bernie Marsden (ex-Whitesnake) and Hungarian accordionist Zoltán Orosz.
Susmit Sen Chronicles · Ocean to Ocean · 2014
Noise Rock · Shoegaze · Analog
Moonshine
Spacey, fuzz-soaked and analog-driven — a noise-rock project that leans on texture and dynamics, where the drums shift from a whisper to a wall. Their Colors EP (2013) was mixed in London by Miti Adhikari at Topstep Studios, a long-time BBC and John Peel engineer.
Moonshine · Colors EP · 2013
Fusion · Devotional · World
Samarpan
A fusion ensemble that reworks Indian devotional and folk repertoire through a contemporary rhythmic lens — bhakti melody and cyclical grooves meeting a modern kit. The playing here is about space and pulse: holding a meditative feel steady while the music opens and lifts.
Samarpan · Fusion ensemble
Alt Rock · Psychedelic Blues · Math Rock
Nok Nok
A power trio that pushes blues and psychedelia into odd-meter, math-rock territory — crunchy riffs, extended solos and knotty rhythmic turns. With Sumant Balakrishnan (vocals, guitar), Amar Pandey (bass) and Nikhil on drums, the 2023 EP NVRSTP earned a 4/5 from Rolling Stone India, its title track a 6.5-minute jam.
Nok Nok · EP NVRSTP · 2023
Beatles Repertory · Sixties Pop
The Day Trippers
A Beatles repertory band devoted to the Lennon–McCartney and Harrison songbook — the early beat-group snap, the studio-era arrangements and the harmonies in between. It is a discipline of its own: playing Ringo's parts with the taste and song-first restraint that made them work.
The Day Trippers · Beatles repertory band
Avant-Garde · Jazz-Punk · Disco
Emperor Minge
Delhi's most unclassifiable act — songwriter-keyboardist Stefan Kaye's self-described “free-form avant-garde classical-jazz-punk-disco hybrid.” Disco pulses collide with violent tempo changes and Dadaist stagecraft; for a drummer it demands both machine-tight groove and the reflexes to turn a piece inside out mid-bar. Rolling Stone India named them an act to watch.
Emperor Minge · Delhi
Explore all thirteen
Music & Videos
A curated selection of studio recordings, live performances and music videos — spanning ska and jazz to indie folk, art-rock and instrumental composition.
Drums Soundcheck
One Night with The Jass B'stards
Mat Ro Bachche
Kaun Bataye?
Syncopation — Live Session
Oh Love (Music Video)
Deathcab
Collage
Nikhil's own instrumental project — two albums of groove-driven original compositions, written and led from behind the kit.
Find my music
Stream and follow across platforms — my own releases with Collage, and records I've played on.
Bollywood · session credit
Drums on “Tu Mila To Haina” — composed by Amaal Mallik, sung by Arijit Singh.
Studio & Session Work
A first-call recording drummer across indie, folk, fusion and film. A selection of artists whose records feature Nikhil's playing:
Looking for a recording drummer for your next release, film cue or session?
Enquire About Session WorkStages & Highlights
Fifteen years of stages — from Delhi jazz clubs to international festival main stages.
Upcoming
Festival Stages
Notable Venues & Stages
Career Highlights
Three sets at Glastonbury
With The Ska Vengers, alongside a 38-date run across the UK and Europe.
Recorded in Brooklyn
Tracked Prateek Kuhad's debut In Tokens & Charms on vintage tape, then toured 48 cities.
Rock opera premiere
Dastaan LIVE's Kabira Khada Bazaar Mein at Mahindra Kabira, directed by MK Raina.
Two albums as composer
Wrote and led the instrumental project Collage across Indoor Walking and Low F-Ly Zone.
On a Bollywood soundtrack
Session drums on “Tu Mila To Haina” from De De Pyaar De, composed by Amaal Mallik.
Planning a show, tour or festival slot?
Start a ConversationIn the Press
Crunchy riffs, psychedelic blues solos, and a jaw-dropping 6.5-minute jam on the title track.
XX marks the spot for The Ska Vengers — an Indian band intent on world domination.
Dastaan LIVE: combining rock music with visual arts, Urdu poetry, and political consciousness.
Dastaan Live disseminates Delhi's dastaan through music — a band unlike any other in the city.
Syncopation: the pioneers of Indian contemporary jazz and funk, with over 1,000 concerts to their name.
The Ska Vengers release "Bad Cat Spray" — a new live video from the Delhi collective.
As Featured In
Work With Nikhil
Available for live shows, session work, recordings and live performances.
Available for
Session work · Live performances · Studio recordings & production
Fifteen years across the stage and the studio, brought to each project with the same song-first instinct. Send the enquiry form or email directly.
Brands & stages performed for
Download the press kit & one-sheet ↗
Send an Enquiry
Tell Nikhil about your project. Enquiries are typically answered within 24 hours.
Enquiry sent!
Thanks for reaching out. Nikhil will get back to you soon — usually within 24 hours.