Alexei Podimkin was born in 1969 in Barnaul, Russia. He pursued his education in music by graduating from the piano faculty of the Novosibirsk Conservatory. Podimkin began his career on the jazz scene in 1985 and spent two years performing with the Novosibirsk Big Band under the direction of Vladimir Tolkachev. Throughout his career, he collaborated with notable musicians such as Igor Butman, Valery Ponomarev, Vladimir Chekasin, Arkady Shilkloper, Joe Locke, Tony Campbell, Essiet Essiet, and Tim Armacost. His performances have taken him to stages in Germany and Finland.

In 1995, Podimkin relocated permanently to Novosibirsk, where he formed his own ensembles, including the Art Trio in 1997 and the group "New Tone" with bassist Oleg Petrikov in 1998. He frequently collaborated with trumpeter Andrey Lobanov and saxophonists Andrey Turygin and Vladimir Timofeev. Podimkin also established a quintet dedicated to playing classic bebop and was a regular participant in jazz festivals such as "Jazz at the Old Fortress" in Novokuznetsk, as well as festivals in Angarsk, Tomsk, and Novosibirsk.

In June 2003, Podimkin moved to Moscow and formed the group "Le Groupe" with Pavel Chekmakovsky, Anton Rumyantsev, and young Siberian musicians Alexei Lyubchik and Artem Fedotov. He participated in the "Jazz Province" festival in 2003 as a partner of David Goloschekin and became a permanent member of Goloschekin's ensemble "Chetvero" alongside Viktor Epaneshnikov and Denis Dudko. In Moscow, Podimkin collaborated with top musicians such as Dmitry Sevastianov, Sergey Khutas, Sergey Ostroumov, Anna Koroleva, and Yuri Golubev, as well as international artists like Oleg Butman, Marcus Strickland, Richie Cole, and Valery Ponomarev.