“If making music is your work you must completely dedicate to it”
Appearing – literally – to the window of Septeto Santiaguero’s essay place when he still was a music student, signed Gabriel Montero Gonzalez’s life forever. According to his version, listening to that band’s music quality, influenced him to become the conga’s owner of Septeto, and to gain the nickname of El Montero de la Percusion.
His childhood passed through Reparto Municipal in Santiago de Cuba, where you could see him playing with a stick and a can as his first approach to music, which was the lifebelt to save him from bad influences, and to help him convert in music professional to serve Septeto Santiaguero during five years.
Before, Gabriel has joined almost 10 bands. During his education he tried to be an integral percussionist, in fact, congas is his latest instrument. First he performed drum, timbal and sometimes the two of them concurrently.
Considering that the world of music is endless, when he is not strongly playing the congas, he listens to music in his free time.
The more you listen to music the most you have tools to carry to your instrument or to help to conform news ideas to the band. If making music is your work, you must dedicate to it completely.
El Montero de la Percusion feels preference for Salsa, Jazz and traditional Cuban music. In his free time he likes going out with family and friends. He also practices sports, especially footing. “This also helps me a lot to a better performance on the stage”, he admits.