Meet Santiago Galeano | Pianist, Music Director, Arranger

We had the good fortune of connecting with Santiago Galeano and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Santiago, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I’m from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Thanks to my father, I grew up listening to a lot of music from very different backgrounds. From Blues, Rock, Funk, to Brazilian music, jazz, and even Tango, the music from my own home country. At home there was a tradition, which is that at the beginning of high school our dad would give us an instrument of choice and 2 months worth of lessons. If we liked it we could continue with the lessons and if not, we could just drop it. I think this was key in my life, because by the time I was 15 I already had 3 different musical projects with each of my siblings, and one more with friends. All of this became a huge part of my life and made it easy for me to decide to pursue music as a way of living.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My work involves trying to bring out the best qualities in other artists’ music and live performances. I get very excited when artists want me to run their shows for them because it’s always a different challenge and a learning experience for me too. It takes a lot of listening to many different kinds of music and learning about different instruments and their capabilities to be able to handle a band during the arranging/producing and rehearsal processes. It is not easy, but it’s something that I love and comes naturally to me. I’ve had to work on dealing with many different kinds of musicians and artists to try to make sure everyone is as happy as possible while maintaining a stellar performance. In all of this time I think the main thing I’ve learned is that if you have your eye set on something that you like and you’re good at, you can’t let your own lack of discipline get in the way of that. Understand what you’re chasing and why you’re chasing it. There’s no greater fuel for life than that.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well I would definitely treat them to some traditional Argentinian food for sure. We would have to stop at Nahuen at some point to get facturas and other Argentinian bakery products that taste great. For dinner I would take them somewhere like Novecento, where they can have a traditional Entraña the way it’s supposed to be. And after dinner I would definitely take them somewhere like Lagniappe, where you can find cool live music every day, there’s no reservations needed and it’s also a great place to hang and have food/drinks. I like going there without knowing who’s going to be playing, or who I will find.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My biggest shoutout will always be to my parents. Life would not be the same without their unconditional love and support, and I will be forever grateful to them. A major one goes to Lazaro Santos, who helped me out whenever I needed it without ever asking for anything in return. Another shoutout goes to everyone in Argentina who believed in me and pushed me to take the leap and come to the United States when I was having doubts about auditioning for Berklee. One HUGE thank you to my music teachers and life mentors Manuel Fraga, Guille Forneiro, Alain Mallet, Nando Michelin, Henrique Eisenmann and so many others that I can’t include here, but you know who you are. Last but not least, a shoutout to all the amazing musicians in my life who inspire me to become a better musician and person on a daily basis.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/galeanosanti_/

Other: Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/album/27V1K2dj1aIA7ZyoFrcFK2?si=JafILDeWQh-Wsy2wQCVnNQ