Almatraz

ALMATRAZ

Almatraz is an Andalusian progressive rock band formed at the end of 2022 by three experienced musicians who unite their dreams, illusions and experiences that merge their ideas and creations giving rise to endless melodies and harmonies.

They are…

Santiago

González
(Guitars)

Guitarist with an extensive career, he will have his first contact with the

guitar at the young age of 14. In a completely self-taught way, he decided to dedicate most of his time to the guitar, which led him in 1989 to form with a group of friends, his first heavy band with his own songs, “Legend“.

Years later, in 1994, with part of this formation the Andalusian rock group was born

“Alcazaba“, where he will play as lead guitar, and where Juanma Rodríguez will temporarily join the keyboards. With this group he will record a demo with which

will participate in the national contest “Imaginarock’95“, and will play in the “Espárrago Rock” held in Jerez de la Frontera in 1996, sharing the bill with other bands such as “Gamma Ray” and “Extremoduro” among others.

In 2002, after the separation of “Alcazaba“, together with the vocalist enters the ranks of a new

Heavy rock band. With them he will open for groups such as “Saratoga” and “Marea“, will record a CD in studio and will participate again in festivals, winning some contests, acquiring

certain success and thereby making a hole in this musical genre.

At the end of 2006 he decided to leave the formation to dedicate himself to studying melody and harmony and delve into more progressive techniques, more eccentric music and from all over the world, looking for a more eclectic style.

In parallel to these years of study, he will join Juan José Braza (drums) in a mutual project, and it will be he, Juan José, who years later, in 2015, invites Santiago to be part of ““Agnódice” with whom he will record in 2016 an album and promotional video of it. With the arrival of the pandemic the group will end up dissolving and it will be at this moment when Santiago continues with his studies and takes the opportunity to dedicate himself to solo instrumental projects.

In 2022 together with Juan José Braza and Juanma Rodríguez begins this last musical journey called “Almatraz“.

On the other hand, the influences that have marked him the most are groups like “WhiteSnake” or “Dream Theater” and guitarists like “Joe Satriani“, “Steve Vai” or “John Petrucci“.

Juanma

Rodríguez
(Keyboards)

Keyboardist and composer, after belonging to the band “Transylvania” (1992/93) and play the opening act for “Wall” coincides with guitarist Santiago González in the band Rock Andaluz “Alcazaba” back in 1994 and share scenarios such as “Asparagus Rock 95” until 1998 in which he parks the musical activity until 2013 when he becomes part of the heavy metal band “Horganza“.

In 2014 he left the band to set up a new project which he named “Sherish“. In 2015 the formation is consolidated and after the passage of several components they will end up recording two studio albums in which they have important collaborations from the world of Andalusian Rock.

In 2018, the band “Mosque” he gets in touch and offers to replace his keyboardist Paco “Roscka” convalescing from an injury, playing with them at the Andalusian Rock Festival of the Ibero-American Forum (Huelva) with “Medina Azahara” and “Poplar grove” among others and in the Velá de la Fuensanta de Córdoba.

For personal and work reasons the band decides to disband. From there Juanma participates in important projects such as the collaboration with the keys in the new work of “Randy“ López” (3 tracks), “Omni” (2 tracks) and “Attila” (1 track).

In November 2022 he reunites with his former partner from “Alcazaba” Santiago and they go on to form a new project with Juan José Braza called “Almatraz“.

Juan

José

Braza
(Drums)

Drummer with progressive influences and rock in general, he began to play as a hobby and wanting to know the sensations behind a drum kit. Totally self-taught and open-minded to experiment.

He began his musical career with the drums in 2006 with the company of Santiago González performing his own songs and his first versions.

After this time he was stopped for a while until 2011, when the bug to play again returned and he joined “Onza” who at that time were looking for a drummer. With them he was playing until 2015. During these years he met many musicians from the area and played live in bars and small concert halls.

Part of ” Onza” was Alejandro Pérez, keyboardist and composer who, at the end of 2015 proposed a side project called “Agnódice“, with whom he would end up playing in the following years. In this group he coincides with Santiago González again in the guitar part. With them he recorded his first album in 2016.

During his participation, he makes a few steps with the metal with the group “Sonem” to whom he will lend a hand on the drums for a couple of concerts.

After the dissolution of “Agnódice” after the 2022 pandemic, he returned to play with Jaime Padilla in “Onza” in trio format and also joins Juanma Rodríguez and Santiago González in “Almatraz“.