On this page, you can have a little taste of what NikMartken uses while performing live, experimenting or recording.

When you are a percussionist, it is quite hard to not be amazed by other musicians playing something new… I still remember a trip to Morocco where our guide introduced to me the great band Tinariwen and immediately after I learned some rhythms with the Berbers in the Mezouca Desert… What an experience!

And you are probably wondering what all this matters since we are talking about percussions… Good question; this is where the discovery happens! When back in Dublin, I saw a poster saying Tinariwen were playing at Olympia Theatre and I immediately knew I couldn’t miss that.
So I went to the concert, I was simply astonished when I heard an incredible low percussive element that cuts through the mix, and it was a pumpkin cut in half. I did my researches and it was an instrument called Calabash. Of course, I bought one, glad I did it! And now this is one of the instruments that you can find in my music.

The same thing happened with the Didgeridoo for instance… I knew that instrument, tried so hard to get a good sound but nothing. Everything changed when I travelled to Cairns, Australia and I stepped inside the shop called Universal Joint and Anthony, the owner, helped me to reach a ‘good-enough’ sound considering it was the first time I was playing one in front of someone. Now I have one of his Didgeridoos.

Everything is out there: the limits are created by our minds and we have the power to go further and make new experiences… So MAKE them!

If you don’t TRY, you’ll NEVER KNOW.