I was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. As a drummer from a young age, it was nothing but natural to grow developing a deep love for the sound, looks, feel and mystique of cymbals; a love that truly exploded once I discovered the world of independent makers and Turkish tradition. This discovery came accompanied by a realization —I was now drawn towards cymbals not only as a player, but also, as someone desiring to find myself in the position to someday be able to make one of my own. Though, I was young, impatient and naive, so, with crude tools and a vast lack of knowledge, I went ahead and attempted to modify one of my own rides. Unsuccessful as that might have proved, just like that, with a wonky and irregular cymbal at hand, the goal was set and the dream was born.

Regardless, my early adulthood was spent as a first aspiring and then professional musician. After leaping away from home, I lived in NYC and Brussels for 4 years each. There, I obtained my Bachelor and Masters’s Degrees in Music, respectively. These were the towns where I grew and matured as a musician and performer, but it was later, in Bogotá, Colombia where I was finally able to take a proper first step towards the other calling. I signed a contract to work as a full-time artisan/floor-worker at a small up-an-coming cymbal factory: “MUYSK”.

I spent 2 years with them, working entirely in the vein of Turkish tradition, from the crucible to the anvil, to the inking station and everything in between. But once again, the time came to move, and luckily, I managed to find my way back towards Brussels. There, with all the gathered experiences both in the music and performing arts world, as much as a craftsman and employee, in November of 2021, Quijano Cymbals was born to further the dream that had been brewing for so long: becoming a full-time independent cymbalsmith.

Today my workshop is my dearest achievement, it is all I’ve physically got. What I create in there I do with the utmost respect and sense of responsibility, not only for my craft, but for the people that helped me get here. I am nothing without them, and I hope, if nothing else, that this shows through my work, as it is for them, and for the love of making.