Ivan Galvez
Percussion
Ivan Galvez grew up with music all around him. He would hear everything from the Chilean folk music of his heritage, to Latin Jazz music of the world, to Soul music of America. His family has always enjoyed a good note and he began playing piano and cello in elementary school, finally settling on drums/percussion in high school.
His first musical collaborations were with his childhood friends and the sound was a blend of Latin Jazz, Funk, and Blues. Ivan played everything from drum set, bongos, congas; anything he could get a sound out of using his hands. The group went by the name of Camealion and they still play today on occasion. While attending a house party in 1999, Ivan met keyboardist Amos Miller, which led to his first gig as a professional musician with a group called Furious Styles. This group was rooted in R&B, Hip-Hop and Jazz. Ivan focused heavily on congas and auxiliary percussion during this time. It was during this time he developed a musical connection to Aaron Walker-Loud.
The musical relationship Ivan developed with producer/song writer Amos Miller led to weekly performances with an improvisational band called Jumbalaya. This group went strong for approximately 2 years, featuring a powerhouse of musicians from the Northwest. Rotating on the bandstand for this 2 year run were seasoned artists Davis Martin (Maktub), Jamal Roc Phizzle Robinson, Kimo Muraki, D’Vonne Lewis, Amos Miller, Kevin Homeyard, Choklate, Reggie Watts (Maktub) and many more. Ivan then decided to focus on his Chilean roots and joined a group called Sin Fronteras playing/studying music of the Nueva Trova, or Nueva Cancion Chilena movement. Some of the influence for Sin Fronteras included: Victor Jara, Violeta Para, Silvio Rodriguez, Inti-Illmani, Quilepayun, Los Jaivas and many more. This journey inspired Ivan to continue the focus with Latin percussion and he studied Bata and Yoruba rhythms of Cuba with Steven Cherena in a group called Omo Alagba.
In 2004 Ivan joined a Northwest band called Iguales with founding members: Jefferson Rose, Aaron Walker-Loud, Andy Coe and Thione Diop. Being in this group led to an opportunity to perform with Mr Boogalu himself, Joe Bataan. The relationship between Aaron and Ivan grew stronger, they worked as hired musicians for several projects over the years, making it a natural fit for Ivan to become a core Big World Breaks member upon the music production team’s inception.
In 2008, Ivan became a member of a well-known Latin band in Seattle called Picoso for which music has been used in shows like Burn Notice and other short films. In 2014 Ivan started working with Grace Love & The True Loves, playing Funk, Soul, Gospel and R&B until 2016 when The True Loves and Grace decided to part ways. The True Loves Band have since released their highly respected album: ‘Famous Last Words’ which is frequently played on radio stations across the globe. In addition to his work with Big World Breaks and The True Loves band, he frequents local studios working as a session percussionist.