Niki Buzz - Funkabilly (2023)

Niki began his career at the tender age of three years old while playing piano with his mother and father. Seven years later (at the age of ten) he started playing drums and by the age of thirteen he won a contest sponsored by the godfather of soul James Brown.

During that peroid he performed as a support act with the Ike and Tina Turner review and other legendary bands such as Exile, Parliament Funkadelic and The GuessWho.

By the time he was 20 years old he could play 13 instruments in which his favorite was guitar. Which to this day is his primary instrument.

In 1975 Niki was very much on the scene in New York City when the legendary CBGB's was at the forefront of the punk music scene. Performing with artists as the Ramone's, Patti Smith, the Talking Heads, The Shirts and Mink Deville, he is one of the few artists that can boast that he was on the first "Live at CBGB'S" album as the lead singer for the group Sun featuring Bill Laswell on bass

After working with the legendary Giorgio Gomelsky, the owner of the Craw Daddy club (who discovered the Rolling Stones), he decided to start the band Vendetta. With that band he landed a record contract in 1982. The debut album "Vendetta" was the end result.

For the next two years he toured with the likes of Billy Squier, Foreigner, Joan Jett and numerous other rock acts.

In 1984 he started the legendary band M-80 (RoadRunner Label) with bass player Don Costa from The Ozzy Osborne Band.

After touring the United States and Europe for two years Niki embarked on a studio career where he met Curtis Knight (discoverer of Jimi Hendrix). He was the resident guitarist and drum computer programmer at Planet Studios in NYC for the likes of Anita Baker, Whitney Houston Chaka Kahnand Kid Creole and the Coconuts and The Village People.

Finishing four years of touring with Curtis Knight, The Niki Buzz Band and Pat Mears, he started the brand-new studio Helping Hands (March 1998) of which he is the sole owner, proprietor and engineer.

The studio already has numerous CD's to its credit: Tengeh Ascension 2021 (with reggae artists Max Edwards and Ione Oslinger), Siembras ( featuring Marco A. Carrera) and Jerome Lee's mini-CD Basically yours not to mention The Blues and Jazola the two latest CD's from Niki himself. Niki is considered one of the top producers in The Netherlands.

Along with being a masterful musician, Niki is also considered one of the top midi experts in the world. He has been working with midi for the last 35 years.

He is a beta tester for Scope Creamware and Native Instruments and was very instrumental in the beta testing for Guitar Rig.

In the fall of 1998 Niki traveled to New York where he was asked to perform on the soundtrack for the "The Personals"a documentary produced by Cinemax about the sex lives of the elderly in New York City. In March of 1999 that same film won an Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject.

Having moved to The Netherlands he started his own record label BlackDust Records and a production company entitled Sleez Midgits Productions.

In December 2004 Niki won "Best International Animation award" for the "New York Independent Film Festival" for an animation that he composed and wrote the screen play for entitled "Whiplash" which can be viewed at www.sleezmidgits.com

2005-2006: Niki played guitar for new and up coming artist on Def Jam and Universal Music Group

2007: Niki toured with Cee Will (drummer for Marianne Faithful). Niki toured with The Niki Buzz Band and also with “Play like Jimi”a Jimi Hendrix tribute band that features the music of Band of Gypsies. August 2007 Niki was inducted into the "Blues Hall of Fame

2013: Niki toured extensively in Poland in support of the new CD with “Dr. blues and Soul Revision” resulting in the winning of the Polish Grammy for best blues album 2013

2015: September 2015 Niki releases his new single and video “Play Lucille like B.B.King”

This will coincide with a tour of Asia including the country’s China, Japan, Indonesia. Cambodia Singapore and Vietnam.