Independent artist Joel Rodrigues Da Silva Jr was born on June 7th, 1971. In 1985 he started to play with a teenage band, influenced by the Rock in Rio Festival and the Queen album, 'A Night At The Opera'. Joel Rodrigues Da Silva Jr: "It was a gift from my father. He found the LP in the street, intact! He gave me and I listened many times per day!"
So Joel Rodrigues Da Silva Jr starts playing a lot with his teenage band Doce Veneno, doing several gigs, televison and radio programs. "We travelled a lot and played a lot. At my first ever gig, the audience were about 3,000 people! And I was not nervous!" In 1989 Joel starts to play Jazz Brasil with new friends and musicians.
The band was called Musa Paradisiaca (the scientific name for the Brazilian banana). The band travelled and recorded some of the first instrumental materials of the city (Curitiba, at south of Brazil). Between 1990 and 2000, Joel Rodrigues Da Silva Jr played with a lot of artists both live and in studio.
The styles were (and still are) as varied as possible, from blues to samba, from rock to salsa, from orchestral to eletronic. The most memorable moments were with the salsa bands called ElMerekumbe (2001-2007), Catholic University Choir (PUC-PR) (from 2000 to today) and the Chamera Orchestra (from 2006 to today), live acts with DJs and the current band ParanoiKa.
Joel Rodrigues Da Silva Jr contributes a lot as columnist with several magazines as DRUM!, Batera (Brazil), Modern Drummer Brazil, Musica & Tecnologia (Brazil), BackStage (Brazil), Drums and Percussion (Argentina), Drum Study (UK).
In 1990 Joel Rodrigues Da Silva Jr opened the first off the major drum and percussion school at country's south, the Drum Time. Some great Brazilian and international drummers already visit and give lessons at there. The school also produces all the major drum events in the state.
Today Joel Rodrigues Da Silva Jr continues to play more than 100 gigs per year since he is one of the most requested drummers in the region and he maintains his very own drum school .
