Jaime Sanchez was born in the South American Nation of Ecuador, in the city of Quito, where he spent most of his childhood and adolescent years. Always being interested in music, Jamie’s parent enrolled him in piano lessons at the age of 6. Just after a few short years of lessons, Jaime grew tired of the piano and abandoned his dream of being a musician…but only for a little while. As a teenager Jaime started dreaming of becoming a rock star. At the age of 14, he would join some of his classmates and form a rock band. Jamie had no time to picky and filled in the only available position in the band as their bass player. Jaime had never touched a bass before in his life but that wasn’t about to stop him. Not being able to afford his own electric bass, he was forced to borrow one from a friend and began to practice. After two years of practicing, the self taught Jamie Sanchez decided to finally take some lessons, which in turn opened his eyes to the wide world of music. Jamie started to explore and experiment with other musical genres and become well versed in his ability to play his instrument. Jaime first band started to record and some of their songs got radio play on local stations. However, things were about to take a drastic turn as Jaime family decided to leave Quito and move to Canada.

In 2002 Jaime officially moved to Toronto where he was about to start a new life. Jaime had to leave his first band and start all over again. While in a Canadian high school Jaime became an active member of the school’s music ensemble. He bought his first electric bass and joined the school’s jazz band. Several music project eventually stemmed from this experience such as “Left Handed Jazz” and “The Doron Zor Band”. It wasn’t until going to York University that Jaime was able to enroll in world music courses and expand his knowledge of various music traditions.

Jaime enrolled in the University’s Escola de Samba class led my award winning percussionist Rick Shadrach Lazar and was introduced to the world of drumming and percussion. It was in this class where Jaime met percussionist David Figliano and the two hit it off. While discussing shared interests in music and genres, the two become close friends and would have never guessed that they would one day share a stage together.

After many failed attempts at new music projects, Jaime started working on forming a new band and collaborated with Manuel Rivas, who answered an online ad, and thus Babalao Stereo Club was born.

Jaimes musical interests span a variety of genres and styles: hard rock, jazz, Latin, Brazilian, funk, soul and disco. His favorite bands include Los Amigos Invisibles, Jamiroquai and Dream Theater.


We recently caught up with Jaime for a brief interview:

Q: So how did you meet the guys in Babalao?

I met David when I took a samba class at York university. We both joined the Samba Squad after and I knew he was a great percussionist and I wanted to play with him. Manuel answered a posting I put up on craigslist looking for musicians to start a band. We met up jammed and talked about our interests and it seemed like the right fit. Luis and Adam came in to audition for the band on different occasions, and that was the first time I met them. I guess you can say we're a craigslist band.


Q: Babalao is a pretty multicultural group, what is your background?

I was born and raised in Ecuador, south America. My mother is from Ecuador and my father from Chile.


Q: Do you have a background in any other instruments?

I learned to play keyboard as a kid, but stopped. In the past few years I've become a percussion enthusiast and have learn a little about different percussion instruments. I also play a little bit of guitar.


Q: Do you have anyone who you would consider an inspiration to you musically?

Far too many to mention. One that comes to my mind right now is David Eidelstein (rulo) the former bass player from Los Tetas. He is an amazing bass player, great singer, song writer, and DJ.


Q: What’s your most memorable gig?

Our first soybomb show I think. We played inside a half pipe, and as soon as we started playing, the whole place started dancing. It was the first time I felt like we had accomplished our mission.


Q: What is your astrological sign?

Libra


Q: What do you do with your free time?

Procrastinate. Practice, or hang out with family and friends, or try and relax watch TV or Movies.


Q: Last Question, any words of wisdom to share?

Never give up, sometimes you just have to take a step back and try a different approach. But consistency goes a long way.