Eloi Pascual is a Spanish drummer and composer based in Amsterdam, NL. Active as a live and studio performer since age 16, Eloi has collaborated with a wide variety of artists pursuing very diverse musical interests, from metal/hard rock to classical music and ultimately jazz. This led him to develop a very open minded and personal approach to drums and music. He graduated at the Conservatory of Amsterdam in 2021 and has remained active in the Dutch jazz scene ever since.
Biography
Eloi (Vigo, 1994) started his journey with the drums at age 3 playing along to Queen and AC/DC on a toy drumset. Three years later he started getting classical training at the conservatory, learning the basics of the instrument as well as marimba, vibraphone and timpani.
After obtaining his first drumset as a teenager his attention diverted from the conservatory to the metal scene in Galicia, starting a career as a metal drummer and composer that lasted 10 years, recording and touring extensively in Spain. In 2014 he co-wrote and recorded the album Dysnomia (Suspiria Records) by the death metal band with the same name, which got highly praised internationally.
By the time he finished his classical studies at age 20 he was developing an interest in jazz, so he begun taking drum lessons with Iago Fernández and combo lessons with Paco Charlín and Abe Rábade at SPJ (Pontevedra, Spain), all of it causing a big impact on his ideas and restructuring his musical foundation.
Three years later he got admitted at the jazz department of the Conservatory of Amsterdam, starting a new musical phase in the Netherlands where he took lessons from Martijn Vink, Marcel Serierse, Yoran Vroom and Lucas van Merwijk amongst many other Dutch and international jazz giants.
As soon as Eloi set a foot in the Netherlands he got involved in the Dutch jazz scene. In fact, at his very first week in Amsterdam he met and joined the quintet of US pianist Jake Victor, recording his debut album Twisted Heads three months later, which got awarded by Downbeat Magazine with Best Small Student Ensemble in 2018.
After the sudden success of the band, the quintet toured in the USA in two occasions, performing mainly in New York and Midwest area.
During his time in Amsterdam Eloi has been the choice for numerous musicians established in the Dutch scene such as Ella Zirina, Oene van Geel, Martí Mitjavila, Fabien Vuattoux, Chaerin Im, Teemu Kekkonen, etc.
Since 2020 he leads his own trio Amarea alongside pianist Chaerin Im and bassist Matteo Mazzù. This trio is focused on Eloi's compositions and arrangements, which aim to bring together his broad musical interests and sensibilities into his current aesthetic pursue.
Select discography
"AMAREA"
Eloi Pascual
(2024, ZenneZ/Berthold records)
"TWISTED HEADS"
Jake Victor 5tet
(2018)
"INTERTWINED"
Ella Zīriņa
(2023, Bimhuis records)
"DYSNOMIA"
Dysnomia
(2014, Suspiria Records)