BIO
Originally from Caracas, Venezuela Neil grew up in a neighborhood abounding in musicians and loud Latin music. His first instrument was a set of bongos given to him by his grandmother, and later bought himself his first drum set. He studied beats from Rock to Afro-Venezuelan and Afro Cuban rhythms. The result of this combination was the formation of his first band in 1990: “El Octavo Pasajero”.
Around the same time Neil joined the famous art collective “Art-o de Caracas” a group of artists of different backgrounds striving to create an integral harmony between various art forms. They toured and taught all over Venezuela and in other South American and European countries.
Since 1995 Neil has been living in NYC developing his carrier as a versatile musician. His achievements include performing, touring and/or recording with: Ricky Martin, David Byrne, Los Aterciopelados (Grammy Award winning rock en español band). Los Amigos Invisibles (Latin Grammy Award winning latin band) Pianist Ed Simons, Jovino Santos (Hermeto Pascoal), Leon Parker’s Live Ensemble, Guitarist Aquiles Baez, Francisco Pacheco (Un Solo Pueblo), Xiomara Laugart, Marta Topferova, Venezuelan folk singer Cecilia Todd, among others.
Neil is the percussionist for Si*Se, the critically acclaimed NYC based trip-hop/Latin electronic project that was discovered in 2000 by former Talking Heads’ leader David Byrne. The band’s second album, More Shine, and its promotional single of the same name were chosen by iTunes as “Single of the Week” in January of 2006, currently the band it’s about to release their third discography production “Gold”