Drummer Nico Manssens thrives on his love for the drums and the need he feels to communicate through it.

When he was eleven, he taught himself to play the drums in the kitchen of his home in Hoboken, a suburb of Antwerp, Belgium. His mother soon sent him to the local Academy of Music where Nico developed his talents and fell in love with jazz.
After high school, Nico studied at the jazz faculty of the Royal Conservatory in Antwerp. There, he was taught and influenced by drummers Jan De Haas, Dré Pallemaerts, Stéphane Galland, Chander Sardjoe and Billy Hart, among others. He graduated from the Conservatory with a Master’s degree in 2000 and began an active professional career, performing with Bram Weijters, Jan De Haas, Toots Thielemans, Nathalie Loriers,, Piet Verbist, Nicolas Kummert, Eve Beuvens, Ed Verhoeff, and Marco Locurcio, to name only a few. He has been a band member in Quatre and in Zoshia and in the Mingus project Fables of Fungus.

In addition to his work in jazz, Nico has performed with a number of internationally acclaimed singer/songwriters like Trixie Whitley, Philippe Robrecht and Anton Walgrave, and has laid down fat grooves in the groups Jerboa and Skeemz. He has  played with Belgian sensation Lady Linn, has worked in theaters with Belgian celebrities Mathias Sercu and Maaike Cafmeyer, and has toured internationally with Roberto Olivan's dance company in the De Farra production.
He brings forth a delicate blend of live drums and chamber ensemble in Along a Line, singer Aline Goffin’s project.

Nico honed his composing skills in his own band, Multitude, featuring Chris Mentens, Stefan Bracaval and Peter Verhelst. He was an active contributor to The Hoboken Homies, along with Joachim Saerens, Vincent Brys and his brother Juan Manssens, and the fusion group Arkham Asylum.
Recent years he has been performing  and recording with the Anthony Claeys 4tet, bassist René Calvin and Ilse Grace.

Despite of the challenging times new exciting collaborations have started with the Stefan Bracaval Q4rtet , Peter Verhelst Fisk Trio and indie band The Me in You. 
Resulting in the release of Fisk's "Paranoid Lobster" and "How Does it Feel to be Wrong all the Time" with The Me in You.
Stay tuned for upcoming gigs!


 Recordings: 
   
Unfinished (Be-Bob)
Dwarsligger (Philippe Robrecht)
Robrecht  (Philippe Robrecht)
Robrecht Live  (Philippe Robrecht)
Music for my Instruments (Dj Jerboa)
Moon Talk (Zoshia)
Rocket Fuel (Dj Jerboa)
Elf (Blauwe Periode)
Dog of Teahan (Multitude)
Shh. (Along a Line)
Becoming Whole (Ilse Grace)
Paranoïd Lobster (FISK)