Miles Arntzen

Miles Arntzen, a young drummer from New York City, began playing with Antibalas after reaching out to them as a fan of their style and of afrobeat music. He started learning from Stuart Bogie over Indian food dinners and duo sessions in his basement music studio. He also asked Victor Axelrod all the questions he had about afrobeat and Antibalas’ music. With Stuart and Victor’s support, Miles began studying the drumming of Tony Allen and Chris Vatalaro while completing his first year at NYU. It is a dream come true for Miles to play with this group of amazing musicians and people.
Miles currently leads his own band, EMEFE, that plays his original afrobeat and funk-influenced music. He is also a member of Stuart Bogie’s forward thinking band Superhuman Happiness. You can catch him drumming with indie rock trio Milo and The Fuzz. Outside of Stuart and the members of Antibalas, his major influences and teachers include Billy Martin of Medeski Martin and Wood, his dad Leif Arntzen, producer Scott Harding, drummer Tony Moreno, and Dave Anania of Blue Man Group. Recordings by and more info about all of Miles’ projects are available online through http://www.myspace.com/milesarntzen.