Glenn Pinto from Cansualim grew up listening
to his father’s vinyl collection of Latin, Pop, Jazz,
Reggae and Rock. It was no doubt that he had
an ear for music and soon enough he started
drumming without any formal training. “I was
17 years old when my grandfather, Facondo
Rodrigues gifted me my first set of drums. My
parents, Gracious and Rosalie supported me but
were not very keen on my aim of getting into the
music industry,” says Glenn, a BCom graduate. He
was hugely influenced by drummers like Bondo
Fernandes and Ranjit Barot from Bombay.
The Avedis Zildjian Company recently
welcomed Glenn to their family of worldwide
artists. “Zildjian are known as the world’s best
brands in cymbals. Receiving an endorsement
with the Avedis Zildjian Company is a very
prestigious award and it recognises the valued
contribution a musician is making in the music
industry and drumming community. There
are other Indian artists too who are world
ambassadors for the brand,” says Glenn. The
brand is 390 years old and is ran by generations
of a family, originally from Turkey. “The company
is now based in the United States of America and
their international artists are managed from the
United Kingdom,” adds Glenn.
Gaining popularity for his musical talent, he
started playing professional for bands in Goa.
Starting his career in 1984 as a drummer, Glenn
has performed with bands like Remo and the
Microwave Papadums, Lynx, New Generation,
Cascades and Rhythm and Blues. He has played,
recorded and toured extensively in and out of the
country with the who’s who of the Indian music
industry. He has played and is playing locally with
various Dance/Jazz bands. “My first love is Jazz
and Latin music and I have consciously decided to
dedicate my time for it. Hardly, any bands in Goa
play Jazz and Latin for weddings which usually
comprises of dance songs. I play at gigs with
musicians like Xavier Peres and recently played
with Jan Graveson at Antares, Vagator.
Glenn has been teaching drums for more than
ten years which he believes helps him to learn
more and stay rooted. “I strongly believe that I am
an eternal student of the drumset. Completing
the grade 8 Drum Kit Trinity College of London
with distinction was a turning point in my life
and a great experience to focus on reading and
rudiments. I have been training students, both
boys and girls, to play the drums and answer
their Trinity College of London exams which take
place twice a year in July and December,” explains
Glenn, who has trained Clinton Fernandes of
True Blue band and Clifford Sequeira of Syndicate
band. He trains nearly ten students per week with
the youngest being seven years old.
On how much has drumming changed since,
“Music has become a viable option now. Earlier,
music was more than a hobby and yet remained a
hobby and hardly became a main line profession.
Today, there is more of information flow on
media and internet which has helped drummers
evolve. Back then, in India, we had only audio
tapes which we could play and rewind constantly
to listen to the music and learn to play, but in the
west, there were already instruction videos and
DVDs available for musicians. I couldn’t afford it
as it was very expensive. After playing for nearly
15 years, I started earning a decent amount which
helped me buy new material to learn. Now, I
have all the possible books and CDs related to
drumming,” says Glenn.
He further adds, “I have been hugely
supported by my good friends, Christopher
Gomes of Furtado Music, Cedric De Sa from
Mumbai and Inayat Ullah Khan from Delhi who is
also an artist representative of Zildjan.”
