Jan-Vincent Velazco is a Filipino-born British drummer, session rock musician and composer. He is a current member of

Pendragon Pendragon or ( wlm, pen dreic, ''pen dragon''; composed of Welsh , 'head, chief, top' and / '' dragon'', 'dragon; warrior'; borrowed from the Latin word , plural , 'dragon , br, Penn Aerouant) literally means 'chief dragon' or 'head dragon', bu ...

after the recommendation of Craig Blundell, drummer for

Steven Wilson Steven John Wilson (born 3 November 1967) is an English musician. He is the founder, guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Porcupine Tree, as well as being a member of several other bands, including Blackfield, Storm Corrosio ...

and

Frost* Frost* are an English neo-progressive rock supergroup, formed in 2004 by Jem Godfrey and members of Arena, Kino, and IQ. Frost* released their first studio album, '' Milliontown'', in 2006, before splitting up. In 2008, Godfrey reformed Frost ...

. He also plays with

Raymond Watts Raymond Watts (also known by his former stage names Nainz, Nainz Watts and Ray Scaballero) is an English musician, the founding and sole member of the industrial music project PIG, sometimes written as <PIG>. Watts was an early member and p ...

KMFDM KMFDM (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, loosely translated by the band as "no pity for the majority") is a multinational industrial band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art project. ...

Ben Christo Ben Christo (born 22 March 1980) is an English rock musician, guitarist, songwriter, vocalist, lyricist and session musician, he is best known for his tenures with The Sisters of Mercy, Night By Night and Diamond Black. Early life Christo ...

The Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is an English rock band, formed in 1980 in Leeds. After achieving early underground fame there, the band had their commercial breakthrough in the mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasin ...

(Diamond Black and Night by Night) and previously with Control.

Early life

Velazco started playing drums at the age of 13. He was a self-taught drummer at first then later studied at

Yamaha Music Foundation The Yamaha Music Foundation is an organization established in 1966 by the authority of the Japanese Ministry of Education for the purpose of promoting music education and music popularization. It continued a program of music classes begun by Yamaha ...

whilst playing in several bands until college. In 2012, he moved to Guildford, UK to study at the

Academy of Contemporary Music The Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) is a music academy in Guildford, Surrey, England providing contemporary music-based courses. The school of music has a focus on rock, pop music, electronic dance music and a vocational approach. T ...

and graduated with a Higher Diploma in Contemporary Music Performance before moving to London a year later.

Pendragon

In July 2015,

were scheduled to perform at Night of the Prog in Germany and Ramblin' Man Fair United Kingdom together with acts like

Neal Morse Neal Morse (born August 2, 1960) is an American singer, musician and composer based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1992, he formed the progressive rock band Spock's Beard with his brother Alan and released an album which was moderately successful. ...

and

Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

but due to commitments for the

tour, Craig Blundell was unable to appear with the band so recommended Vincent to stand in for him for these 2 shows. Later that year, both Pendragon and Craig decided that Velazco would become the new permanent drummer for the band and in 2016 they announced a string of European headline shows in Germany, France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Poland, Belgium and the UK with support from

John Young John Young may refer to: Academics * John Young (professor of Greek) (died 1820), Scottish professor of Greek at the University of Glasgow * John C. Young (college president) (1803–1857), American educator, pastor, and president of Centre Coll ...

Lifesigns Lifesigns are an English progressive rock band, first conceived by lead singer and keys player John Young in 2008. By 2014, the band's lineup included Steve Rispin as their sound engineer, Jon Poole on bass and vocals, Martin "Frosty" Beedle on ...

Bonnie Tyler Gaynor Sullivan (née Hopkins; born 8 June 1951), known professionally as Bonnie Tyler, is a Welsh singer who is known for her distinctive husky voice. Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album '' The World Starts Tonight'' a ...

. They also recorded their live DVD from Katowice, Poland and an interview from

Metal Mind Productions Metal Mind Productions (MMP) is a Polish record label founded in 1987. The label focuses on rock and heavy metal. MMP is also publisher of ''Metal Hammer'', the largest and the oldest heavy metal magazine. As a concert agency, it organises Metal ...

. Whilst in Pendragon, Velazco has played alongside

Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of the ...

Marillion Marillion are a British rock music, rock band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becomin ...

, Scorpions,

Pain of Salvation Pain of Salvation is a Swedish progressive metal band led by Daniel Gildenlöw, who is the band's main songwriter, lyricist, guitarist, and vocalist. Pain of Salvation's sound is characterised by riff-oriented guitar work, a broad vocal range, o ...

Steve Hackett Stephen Richard Hackett (born 12 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who gained prominence as the lead guitarist of the progressive rock band Genesis from 1971 to 1977. Hackett contributed to six Genesis ...

Blue Öyster Cult Blue Öyster Cult ( ; sometimes abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American Rock music, rock band formed on Long Island in Stony Brook, New York, in 1967, and best known for the singles "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Burnin' for You", and "Godzilla ( ...

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

, FM,

Anathema Anathema, in common usage, is something or someone detested or shunned. In its other main usage, it is a formal excommunication. The latter meaning, its ecclesiastical sense, is based on New Testament usage. In the Old Testament, anathema was a cr ...

Gregg Allman Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman Br ...

and

Camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...

and has also toured Europe, Japan and North America. In 2018, Velazco recorded the albums ''

Men Who Climb Mountains Pendragon are an English neo-progressive rock band established in 1978 in Stroud, Gloucestershire, England, as Zeus Pendragon by guitarist and vocalist Nick Barrett. The word ''Zeus'' was dropped before the band started recording, as the membe ...

'' and ''The World'' as part of Pendragon's fortieth anniversary booklet which included a live CD from their sold out European tour. In 2019 Pendragon went back to the studio and recorded “Love Over Fear” which is the band’s most recent album. It became Amazon’s best selling album for a week, spent 3 months at the Official Progressive Charts and number 4 in the 2020 Prog Reader’s Poll.

Session and Other Works

In 2018, Velazco went on tour with Industrial rock musician

(

Pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...

) in the U.S. supporting

Killing Joke Killing Joke are an English rock music, rock band from Notting Hill, London, England, formed in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''Ki ...

as part of their fortieth anniversary world tour. They performed the newly released album
Risen
plus some classics like "

Juke Joint Jezebel "Juke Joint Jezebel" is a song by industrial rock group KMFDM from their 1995 album ''Nihil''. It is KMFDM's most widely known song to date, with around three million copies of the song sold across various releases. Background and composition The ...

" which was

’s biggest hit and was featured on films '' Bad Boys'', and ''Mortal Kombat'' (1995) soundtrack. This was followed by a UK tour in 2020 supporting the Los Angeles-based band 3Teeth. In April 2019, Velazco was invited by Chris Dale to perform a special show in Sarajevo, Bosnia, commemorating 25 years since

Bruce Dickinson Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who has been the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1981 to 1993 and 1999–present. He is known for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stage ...

’s band,

Skunkworks Skunk Works is an official trademark for the Lockheed Martin Advanced Development Programs (formerly Lockheed Advanced Development Projects). Skunkworks or Skunk works may also refer to: * ''Skunkworks'' (album), alternative rock album by Bruce ...

(featuring Dale on bass), had played there during the war (as documented in the award-winning movie "Scream for me Sarajevo"). The show was a sell-out success, filmed for national television and with Dickinson himself in attendance. In 2020, Velazco collaborated with Gabriel Agudo and

Steve Rothery Steven Rothery (born 25 November 1959) is an English musician. He is the original guitarist and the longest continuous member of the British rock band Marillion. Outside Marillion, Rothery has recorded two albums as part of the duo the Wishing ...

to record the full length album “New Life”. In 2021, it was announced that Velazco recorded the drums for world renowned guitar virtuoso and former

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

guitarist and Firewind founder,

Gus G Kostas Karamitroudis (born 12 September 1980), better known as Gus G, is a Greek heavy metal guitarist. He currently plays with his band Firewind. He has also played in Mystic Prophecy, Nightrage, Arch Enemy, Dream Evil and Ozzy Osbourne' ...

. The single, “Exosphere”, was released via AFM Records and also features Dennis Ward on bass.

Endorsements

Velazco uses and officially endorses

Tama Drums Tama Drums, (from Japanese: (Kanji), (Kana), read as ) is a brand of drum kits and hardware manufactured and marketed by the Japanese musical instrument company, Hoshino Gakki. Tama's research and development of products, along with producti ...

Sabian Sabian may refer to: *Sabians, name of a religious group mentioned in the Quran, historically adopted by: **Mandaeans, Gnostic sect from the marshlands of southern Iraq claiming John the Baptist as their most important prophet **Sabians of Harran, ...

, D’Addario (

Evans Drumheads D'Addario is a family-owned and operated American multinational company that specializes in musical instrument accessories headquartered in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York. D’Addario is the world’s largest musical instrument accesso ...

and Promark), Audix, Protection Racket and Drumtacs.

Discography

Pendragon

Albums *''Masquerade 20 Live'' (2017) *
The First 40 Years
' (2019) *
Love Over Fear
' (2020) DVD's *''Masquerade 20 Live DVD'' (2017)

Gus G

Albums *
Quantum Leap
' (2021)

Gypsy Pistoleros

Albums *
The Mescalito Vampires
' (2021)

Gabriel

Albums *
New Life
' (2020)

Esprit D'Air

Singles *
Glaciers
' (2021)

Lannon

Singles *
Heaven's Gate
' (2020)

Leo Carnicella

EP *
Until a New Dawn
' (2020) Album *
Super~Sargasso Sea
' (2022)

References

External links

Official Jan-Vincent Velazco WebsiteOfficial Pendragon Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Velazco, Jan-Vincent British rock drummers British session musicians Pendragon (band) members Living people Year of birth missing (living people)