Times 2 - UK (2020-11-18)

the times | Wednesday November 18 2020 1GT RM 3

times

vanish. He has also performed

in front of Emily Blunt and

Colin Farrell.

Archie Norbury aka

DJ Archie, 5, Hong Kong

(parents from Berkshire)

Archie was officially recognised

as the world’s youngest DJ after

performing a one-hour set

unassisted at a nightclub in

Hong Kong last year. His

musical talent was apparently

evident from the age of two,

when he started playing

with his father’s decks.

Wearing colourful pyjamas

and a snapback cap, he is

shown performing short

mixes (aka “five-minute

flexes”) on Instagram.

Guillaume Bénoliel, 6,

France

Guillaume started learning

piano two years ago, after his

parents noticed that he would

hear a tune once and play it

perfectly. Mozart, Bach and

Rachmaninov are in his

repertoire, which can be

watched on YouTube.

Isabelle Roberts, 10,

Georgia, US

From double front flips to

vaults and somersaults, Isabelle

can do them all — she has

been practising gymnastics

since she was three and

a half. Now she competes

internationally, sharing videos

of the ups and downs of

training with her 208,

Instagram followers.

Tanitoluwa Adewumi, 10,

New York

Tanitoluwa is the youngest

child of a family of refugees

who fled Nigeria three years

ago after they were targeted

by the jihadist group Boko

Haram. He went on to win

his age’s category in last year’s

New York State scholastic chess

championship after playing the

game for only a year. He has

since expressed an ambition to

become the youngest chess

grandmaster, and Paramount

Pictures is making a film

about his life.

Elisabeth Perlman

the super-tweens are taking over

angry or frustrated,” she advises.

“There is no secret to being really

good at rock drumming. It’s about

having fun... and screaming.”

Nandi knows her rock history, as

videos of her playing everything from

Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen to Creep

by Radiohead prove. “John Bonham is

really, really good. Keith Moon goes

crazy at the end and pushes his drum

kit around. Bernard Purdie and Clyde

Stubblefield are my favourites. And

with Queen the beats are simple, but

there are so many choruses and verses

to remember.”

Then there is Dave Grohl. “I did a

cover of Everlong and challenged him

to the drum battle,” says Nandi, citing

her video of a Foo Fighters song that

has reached almost three million views

since it was posted in August. A couple

of days later Grohl saw the video and

rose to the challenge by playing drums

to Dead End Friends by his short-lived

supergroup Them Crooked Vultures.

“And he was pulling all my faces

when he did it,” Nandi says. “He

admitted defeat [in the drum battle]

and made a song for me, which was

crazy. And then we went to a proper

recording studio to come back with

a song for him called Rock and Grohl.

Our song was better than his.”

Grohl has confirmed that Nandi is

the better drummer, but what does she

think of his abilities? “He’s a little bit

rusty,” she says, diplomatically. “He

plays guitar on all of his tours. But he’s

better than my dad, who I gave five

out of ten on the drums, but now he

can do ghost notes [ones played softly

between the main notes] so that gives

him an extra two points. Daddy is

seven out of ten. Dave is ten out of ten.

And I’m twelve out of ten.”

Nonetheless, not everyone is a fan.

“A man across the road complained

about the noise. I don’t know how he

can hear it from over there, so it

doesn’t make any sense,” Nandi says

with the indignation of a kid who

thought she got away with it. After

that unpleasant encounter, her father

minimised the threat of further angry

knocks on the door or terse notes

through the letter box by moving the

drum kit to the back of the house.

“I bought him a bottle of whisky and

apologised too,” he adds. “We’re trying

our best.”

Some of Nandi’s videos feature

multiple forms of herself playing

guitar, bass and drums. Her seven-

year-old brother, Thomas, pops up

here and there, joining Nandi on

guitar for a rendition of

Nirvana’s Come As You

Are. Thomas also

makes a contribution

to our interview by

pulling a face before

wandering off, as

guitarists are wont to

do. Is she teaching

Thomas the tricks of her trade?

“I don’t teach,” Nandi says flatly, and

her father confirms that she doesn’t

have the patience for it. Meanwhile,

my suggestion that she and Thomas

form a band falls on deaf ears.

“I’m happy carrying on with school,”

she says. “In DT we’re making scones

and in art we’re doing self-portraits.”

What do the other kids think about

her drumming and her famous mates?

“They know about it, and now they

know about Dave Grohl, Questlove

and Lenny Kravitz. They know who

all these people are.”

Nandi says that one day she would

like to write an album and tour the

world. “After that I’ll relax by playing

Minecraft in my hot tub.” Meanwhile,

there is that guest appearance

promised by Grohl at a Foo Fighters

concert to think about because, as all

parents know, a child never forgets

a promise. “I will definitely do that,”

she confirms. “And afterwards, when

I form a band, I’ll invite him on stage.”

Let’s hope that before that day

comes, he remembers to practise,

practise, practise.

She screams,

gurns and throws

her drumsticks

in the air

KEZIA TAN

They’re young —

and already famous

Omari McQueen, 12, London

Omari learnt to cook aged

seven and now posts tutorials

of his favourite vegan recipes

— from Caribbean “sausage”

stew to chickpea curry. He

honed his culinary skills after

offering to help his mum in the

kitchen because she suffers

from a rare form of migraine.

He has landed his own show

for CBBC entitled What’s

Cooking Omari?

Everleigh Rose Soutas, 7,

Los Angeles

Everleigh Rose and her mother

dance together in matching

outfits to Justin Bieber,

Little Mix and the like on

Instagram. Their impressively

choreographed, high-energy

routines have earned them

a huge online fanbase —

Everleigh Rose has five million

followers on Instagram.

w w W a s m

fl

G F G p p h p R r w I G

t de?

Nandi, 10

Omari, 12

Cormac Thompson, 11,

Lancashire

Cormac started recording

himself singing for his elderly

grandmother during lockdown.

A few months later his viral

rendition of Danny Boy had

landed him a record deal and

a 15-song album.

Aidan McCann, 11, Ireland

The self-taught magician

was a finalist on Britain’s Got

Talent, where he read David

Walliams’s mind and made

Amanda Holden’s ring

He has landed

his own TV

cookery show

for CBBC

Cormac, 11