Photo by Jacob Blickenstaff

I'm a musician from Queens, NY named Nikhil P. Yerawadekar.

I like creating and executing lots of different kinds of music in a variety of roles, from leading bands and producing recordings to writing, arranging and performing on guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals and percussion.

I spent nearly a decade as the bassist in the Afrobeat band Antibalas, and my interest in the legacy and music of Fela Kuti will always be a big part of my work in music. I’ve also studied and worked on a variety of West African guitar music, Jamaican music, classical guitar, various eras of jazz, R&B and the blues. I’ve done my fair share of rock, pop and commercial music too. 

I’ve performed all over the world in countries such as:

Australia, Brazil, Ecuador, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Spain

At events including:

2017 Womens March (Washington, DC), All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival, Austin City Limits, Lock’n Festival, Felabration 2022 (Lagos, Nigeria) Meadows Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, NPR Tiny Desk Concert, Outside Lands Festival, Roskilde Festival (Denmark), Pan-American Games (Toronto, Canada)

All over New York City at:

BAM, Bowery Ballroom, Carnegie Hall (4x), Celebrate Brooklyn, Central Park Summerstage, Fela! On Broadway, Highline Ballroom, Lincoln Center, Roseland Ballroom, Terminal 5, The Apollo Theater, The NYC AIDS Walk

I’ve performed and/or collaborated with a wide variety of artists such as:

Allen Toussaint, Anjélique Kidjo, Billy Gibbons, Cedric “Im” Brooks, Davido, Esperanza Spalding, Grand Puba & Lord Jamar of Brand Nubian, Judy Collins, Kenny Loggins, Khaira Arby, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Santigold, Sharon Jones, Taj Mahal, Tony Allen

National TV show performances include:

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, PBS Sound Tracks

In Studio radio performance highlights include:

KEXP (Seattle), WFUV (New York), WFMU (New Jersey), WNYC (New York), Radio Nova (France)

I’ve recorded at a wide variety of NYC-based studios including:

Electric Lady Studios, Daptone House Of Soul, The Magic Shop, Quad Studios, The Bunker, Electric Garden

On top of my freelance work, I lead two projects of my own in which I get to dive deeper into my particular creative interests. I also get a kick out of teaching (I have a BS in Music Education from NYU) and DJing with my record collection (I held a year-long residency at Threes Brewing in Brooklyn). I’m proud to be a part of a supportive and diverse community of independent artists in Brooklyn.

 Select Discography

Some recordings I’ve produced or co-produced:

• Nikhil P. Yerawadekar & Low Mentality - Everything Lasts Forever LP

• Nikhil P. Yerawadekar & Low Mentality - “Reel It In” 45

• Akoya Afrobeat - Under The Tree LP

• Antibalas - Where The Gods Are In Peace LP (co-produced with Martin Perna, Duke Amayo, Marcos Garcia and Geoff Mann)

• The Sway Machinery - You Will Love No One But Me EP (co-produced with Jeremiah Lockwood)

• Takuya Kuroda - “Think Twice” feat. Antibalas (co-produced with Takuya Kuroda)

Some recordings I’ve worked on:

• Akoya Afrobeat - “P.D.P.”, “Wahala” (guitar)

• Antibalas - Antibalas LP (bass)

• Antibalas - “A.W.O.L.” (bass)

• Antibalas - “Sáré Kon Kon Pts 1 and 2” (bass)

• Antibalas - “Se Chiflo” (guitar solo)

• Antibalas - “Tattletale Pts 1 and 2” 45 (bass)

• Armo - Armo EP (guitar, vocals)

• Bright Moments - Natives LP (guitar, cavaquinho)

• Combo Lulo - “Atlantico” 45 (bass)

• Combo Lulo - Neotropic Dream LP (bass)

• Combo Lulo - “The Sieve & The Sand” 45 (bass and Pianet solo)

• Combo Lulo & Ralph Weeks - “Algo Muy Profundo” 45 (bass)

• Directors - Action! EP (bass, vocals)

• DJ Center feat. Akoya Afrobeat - “Dem Say Ah” 10” (vocals)

• DJ Center feat. Akoya Afrobeat - “Dem Say Ah Akoya Re-Rub” 45 (bass, vocals)

• Gitkin - “Canción de Aplauso” (organ solo)

• Ikebe Shakedown - “Chosen Path” (organ solo)

• Jovanotti - “Melagioco,” “Libera” (bass)

• Leyla McCalla (feat. Yah Supreme) - “As I Grew Older / Dreamer” (engineering)

• Say She She - “Apple Of My Eye,” “Fortune Teller” (bass, co-writing), “Believe,” “Don’t Wait” (bass)

• Setenta - “Da Manha” DJ Center remix 10” (bass)

• Chris St. Hilaire - “Coconut Chutney,” “Ruby Topaz” (guitar)

• Superhuman Happiness - “Needles & Pins” 45 (bass)

• Superhuman Happiness - Hands LP (bass, vocals, percussion)

• Superhuman Happiness feat. Cults - “Um Canto De Afoxé Para O Cloco De Ilê (Ilê Ayê)” (bass)

• The Sway Machinery - Purity & Danger LP (bass)

• Underground System - “Sebben (La Lega)” (bass)

There are also a number of things that I’ve recorded that have yet to be released, chief among them a recording I co-produced and played bass on featuring the legendary Tony Allen (1940-2020) on drums from July 4th, 2018. Much of my career in music has been focused on the Afrobeat style Tony co-created alongside Fela Kuti, and the opportunity to work with him while he was still with us was an immerse blessing and honor— truly a highlight of my life!

Musical Direction

The skills of leading, rehearsing, conducting and providing creative direction to bands have come in handy throughout my musical career.

A couple of projects that stand out in this regard:

ANNUAL FELABRATION CONCERTS: From 2016-2019 I’ve been at the helm of four Felabration concerts at Nublu 151, putting together large ensembles to perform some of my favorite Fela Kuti material in celebration of his October 15th birthday. These shows were co-organized with my friends Daniel Yount (of Super Yamba Band) and Mickey Pérez, and were conducted in cooperation with the Lagos, Nigeria-based Felabration organization. I’ve been lucky to draw from the large pool of awesome musicians in NYC who have spent time working in the genre to create one-of-a-kind shows that are a yearly highlight for Afrobeat lovers who appreciate integrity.

HAILU MERGIA & LOW MENTALITY: In 2013 I was asked to work with a true legend of Ethiopian music, the one and only Hailu Mergia, who would be making a return to performing live after nearly two decades away from the stage. I offered an expanded, seven-piece version of my existing Low Mentality band as the hit squad for the occasion. I found myself in the fortunate position of learning about the language of modern Ethiopian music directly from one of its pioneers, and translating the material for my NYC-based crew of musicians. For a year our performances at venues such as Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, the Pop! Montreal festival, the Big Ears festival and Baby’s All Right garnered rave reviews, both from music critics and from regular party people. These days Hailu performs with his trio-- highly recommended!

Live performance on NPR’s World Cafe

New York Times review of our debut show at Baby’s All Right

Washington Post review of our Kennedy Center performance

“Nikhil P. Yerawadekar & Low Mentality make some of the best music coming out of NYC. Not the best Afrobeat, not the best post-highlife, not the best South African psychedelic disco. Some of the best music, period.”

-Saxon Baird, Afropop Worldwide

I started Low Mentality in 2012. It’s my version of what Donny Hathaway once referred to as “the totality of music.” Low Mentality music draws from all the various sounds and ideas I am most fascinated by to make music that can bring all types of people together. Our songs are heavily influenced by Fela, reggae and dancehall, the great rock and R&B voices, modal and early electric jazz and 90s hip-hop. When I write songs for the band, I look for common points between seemingly disparate styles and find ways to fit them together organically. Over the years we’ve performed regularly in NYC, with scattered out-of-town shows and a lineup that has evolved as the concept has grown.

In addition to releasing a full length LP in 2016 and a handful of singles and videos before and after, an expanded version of Low Mentality served as the backing band for Ethiopian music legend Hailu Mergia, and we even contributed a School House Rock style original song to a series of educational shorts produced by Morgan Spurlock called We The Voters. A number of recordings have been in development since, to be shared when the timing is right..

Official website

Bandcamp (the best way to support independent musicians!)

In 2017, Odie Powell, Chris St. Hilaire, and I co-founded The Sound Mind Collective, a democratically-run group of independent music makers in NYC. Our mission was to collaborate internally and with other organizations to find ways strengthen our local communities. From its inception in 2017 to its end in 2022, SMC took on a number of projects, such as hosting several skill building workshops for our music community, producing concerts to benefit local organizations we admired, and contributing our voices to influence local government policies that affect musicians. In 2019, the collective was given a residency at Human Impacts Institute in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The following year, SMC turned its focus to raising funds for musicians and venues affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and created spaces for dialogue and healing within the community.

Contact

Write me anytime at:

nikhil [at] nikhilp.biz