If Gabriel “Gabo” Lugo has found a musical challenge he hasn’t overcome, it’s what to call himself. “(I’m a) programmer, engineer, mixer, remixer and musician.” It’s still an understatement. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Old San Juan, the humble Gabo fails to lead with the fact that he received a Grammy nomination for production work on Tego Calderon’s “Ni Fu Ni Fa” from the reggaeton star’s 2008 album “El Abayarde Contra-Ataca”. While Lugo may claim that his main axe is actually the computer, those who check out his deft conga playing might think otherwise.

Still in his early 20’s Lugo’s talent, paired with a hunger to learn new things and to innovate, has him poised to fulfill the promise of his musical upbringing. Raised by a father who was both architect and a ballet dancer, and a mother who was a sound engineer, Lugo straddled that line between performance and technology from an early age, when he first discovered headphones at the age of 9 “Music become intimate… i was addicted to sounds from then" While Gabo’s architect and dancer father might have influenced his ability to embrace multiple roles as a musician & producer, clearly his sound engineer mother made a strong impression on his early education, as he spent nearly everyday after school in the studio along the likes of Paoli Mejia, Luis Raul Romero and Tito de Gracia,  as well as many others.

While those formative experiences in Old San Juan might have been schooling enough for some, Gabo’s thirst for knowledge led him to Berklee College of Music, where he got a degree in Sound Design between production gigs and performances such as the prestigious Heineken Jazz Festival and the San Francisco Jazz Festival, rounded out by live and recording work with such Afro-Caribbean luminaries as Papo Vazquez, Plena Libre and Anthony Carrillo. However, despite his solid footing in percussion and folkloric music, it’s clear that Gabo’s clear comfort and fascination with technology is going to guide his journey.

“In the future I want to be more involved in composing and producing records for and with other people and focus on finding new ways to deliver music.