Juan van Emmerloot
Juan van Emmerloot © Tracey Ganapathy
Juan was born and raised in Kaatsheuvel, a small town near Tilburg.
He started drumming at the age of ten, when he had lessons in classical drumming (Because that was the only possible direction in the only music school in that area)
Juan started learning Snare-drum basics in the first 3 years and then Timpani. His third instrument was the Gong.
He played all three instruments for about 6-7 years before going to the Music Conservatory in Rotterdam, although he only stayed there for two years.
After leaving the Conservatory he played with live acts as much as possible to earn some money and also to learn his art."I tried to listen to a lot of different music and music styles, and while playing in so many bands I tried to combine all the things that I'd learned to find my own style"
Juan got inspiration for his drum set-up from meeting Dom Famularo, at a 'drummer meeting' in Koblenz. Juan was impressed by Dom's drum kit and started talking to him about it. "He told me that he never plays longer than a year with the same set-up, because it is more inspiring to listen to different 'Tom-sounds' as it is very good training for your brain."
"If you play with your normal set-up all the time, then you play blind after a while because you know all the distances between the drums by heart. so all the 'fills and bits and pieces' are more or less the same"
Other drummers who impressed Juan include, Graham Lear (Santana) Bill Bruford, who was important when Juan made his first experiences with 'fusion'. And also the drummer from The Police Stewart Copeland.
Juan has always been a fan of good guitarists and Snowy White was one of the musicians he has always looked up to. They first met during a concert tour in 1992 - Jimi Hendrix Tribute Concerts - while Juan was playing with Arthur Lee, and when Snowy started looking for some new musicians for his band, he asked Juan if he was interested.
Juan is always the joker of the band, but he is a very serious drummer!
Equipment
Drum set-up A (normal set-up):
PEARL Master Custom (opal finish)
16 x 22" bass drum
6 x 14" snare (D. Chambers Signature)
6" quarter tom
8 X 8" tom
8 x 12" tom
14 x 14" tom
16 x 16" floor tom
Cymbal set-up
PAISTE
10" 2002 splash
15" Line heavy hi hat
6" EFX cup chime
8" EFX cup chime
17" Traditional mellow crash
18" Line mellow crash
18" 2000 Reflector mellow china
20" Traditional dark ride
28" Orchestra gong
Drum set-up B (with Peppino d'Agostino)
PEARL Mahogany Classic
18" x 22" bass drum
5" x 13" snare (O. Hakim Signature)
10" x 10" tom
8" x 12" tom
14" x 14" floor tom
Percussion set-up:
AFRO Percussion
11" quinto
12"--13" timbale's
14"--15" timbale's
22" gong drum
18" ocean drum
finger cymbals
sound discs
accent cymbals
bell chime
Juan plays with his own designed stick model '739 Juan van Emmerloot' by PRO-MARK