Exploring Life & Business with John Jairo Triviño Arbelaez of JOHNPERCUSION

Today we’d like to introduce you to John Jairo Triviño Arbelaez.

Hi John, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself. 
My story begins in a warm and safe home in the city of Los Teques in the state of Miranda, Venezuela, where I had the support and love of my parents at all times in the interest of knowing and playing Afro-Venezuelan and Latin-Caribbean percussion instruments (my mother bought me my first bagpipe drum and orchestra timpani). From a very young age, I dedicated myself to learning the execution of various popular genres; then I started studying music that allowed me to develop in various local musical groups. As a teenager, I was introduced to the restoration of Venezuelan percussion instruments at the hands of the physical education teacher at the institution where I was studying, who was also the director of the gaita de furro student group (a musical genre typical of the Christmas parties of my country). It is here where my connection to various stages and platforms in cultural and festive activities that took place inside and outside the city began. To all this experience is added the continuous learning in Latin music, thus motivating me to continue my academic preparation at the Miranda State Symphony Orchestra Foundation, today the “Simón Bolívar” National System of Orchestras. Years later, I decided to form my own groups with innovative and original arrangements that I direct to this day: Orquesta Melao (salsa), Irys y su Parranda (parranda), and Vikingo’s Orchestra (gaita de furro). In the same way, I dedicated myself with passion and dedication to my career as a Music Teacher (for more than 18 years) in the training of children, youth, and adults, from elementary school to university level, imparting knowledge and identity through our percussion instruments and popular and traditional Venezuelan and Latin manifestations. 

Near the city of Los Teques, in the Carrizal Municipality, I had the opportunity to form and direct the “Afro-Venezuelan Orchestra of Carrizal” with the participation of children and young people from the surrounding communities, being recognized in the state of Miranda for the interpretation of the varied repertoire according to the Venezuelan Festive Calendar. It is in that municipality that I was given the opportunity to create the rhythm and build the drums that identify the Festivities in Honor of San Juan Bautista, patron saint of the Carrizal municipality, which was later proclaimed National Cultural Heritage in safeguard of our traditions. Remaining at all times in constant research regarding the construction of percussion instruments, since they are not economically easy to access for students many times I was forced to lend and donate some of my property that I had bought or built. It was only during a pandemic that I decided to dedicate myself to the acquisition of tools, machinery, and raw materials that allowed me to work fully (I had enough free time) in the construction of various Afro-Venezuelan and Latin-Caribbean percussion instruments, thus managing to place these instruments in the hands of local musicians and recognized percussionists, who currently represent JOHNPERCUSION inside and outside the country. 

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Every path that leads to the achievement of your dreams and reaching the goals you set for yourself requires overcoming tests, going through obstacles, and rethinking goals along the way. But hand in hand with Almighty God and in the company of my wife, family, and true friends, I have advanced with firm and safe steps, with a hopeful heart and infinite ideas in my mind that make me innovate and make each percussion instrument a work of art of art that, in addition to liking it, fills everyone who acquires it with pleasure and satisfaction. With that, I am more than pleased. 

Among the adversities that have crossed my path, I can mention the lack of economic resources and the little confidence of some people in the project; however, this generated in me a motivation to continue developing innovative elements in the construction of my percussion instruments, managing to highlight a good structure and particular sound, without losing its essence as an important piece present in traditional and popular festivals. Always encouraged by the advice and love of my mother, whose loss caused me a great void and to whom I dedicate every day of my life. More than an obstacle, it has become my inspiration. 

We’ve been impressed with JOHNPERCUSION, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
In the search to develop quality, innovative, and accessible percussion instruments, JOHNPERCUSION emerged as an innovative idea for the manufacture of timpani in 2005, based on the handling and knowledge that my father gave me in metal mechanics, of which I feel immensely grateful and very proud. In 2012, I design and build my first “Calypso Drum” (typical of the carnival festivities in El Callao, Bolívar state, Venezuela) with sheet metal forged in metal cylinder molds. This is when the first percussion instrument for personal use was really born and was later commercialized in the city of Los Teques, where the company’s workshop is currently located. In the middle of the pandemic, I managed to manufacture the drums of the three round drums culo e’puya ass native to the town of Barlovento, Miranda, where they also commemorate San Juan on June 24 and the three drums to interpret fulías (prima, cruzao and pujao), for the wakes of the Cruz de Mayo, which are held in that same town. Said instruments were tested, accepted and acquired by autochthonous musicians and musical groups, as a sample of the quality control to which each of the pieces that are made in JOHNPERCUSION are subjected. 

In the first quarter of 2020 I put into practice a new technique of gluing wooden staves, applied in the construction of the following percussion instruments that I elaborated step by step: tambora de gaita de furro, tumbadora, bongo, furro, cumaco , bugle, synthetic membrane bugle, culo e’puya, fulía drums, calypso, batá, d’jembé and Dominican drums. In the same way, I add original and personalized vinyl designs that give it identity and a sense of belonging, where the authenticity and ornamentation of the instrument is revealed according to the client’s need. 

JOHNPERCUSION has participated in various exhibitions and talks inside and outside his town, and his percussion instruments have been exported to the US and France. To his credit, government and educational institutions, as well as musical groups of various genres, have acquired these personalized instruments, pleasing popular, local, and recognized musicians and artists in the national and international music scene (some have become brand sponsors). In order to expand the company, increase quality standards, satisfy market demand, and with the support of my son, JOHNPERCUSION moves to the city of Detroit in Michigan, USA in May of this year to carry out a new stage of the company in the company of great friends, partner and Business Manager, with whom they have been developing marketing strategies for the production and export of Afro-Venezuelan and Latin-Caribbean Percussion Instruments. Twinned agreements in order to promote and exalt our music that is capable of crossing borders, intertwining culture, and making export-quality percussion instruments available to the general public. One of the things that has filled me with pride during my stay in the USA was the fact that I recently delivered, in the hands of the Venezuelan major league player Miguel Cabrera of Los Tigres de Detroit, a personalized cumaco as a way of honoring and exalting this brother of whom we are all proud. 

What matters most to you? Why?
Thank God I have been able to develop myself in other stages of art that I am equally passionate about, such as theater, which allowed me to direct and present “Ismael Rivera, the Work” with a live musical orchestra, where I impersonated Ismael’s great friend, Rafael Cortijo. I have been working for some years as an audio operator, a medium that has led me to share and work with recognized musical groups inside and outside the country. I love cooking, and I never tire of learning and sharing what I have learned, always highlighting a phrase that I carry with me at all times: “Let’s not settle for just consuming knowledge; let’s build it.” 

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @johnpercusion
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/john.j.arbelaez/