Nov 22, 2014 11:43 AM EST
Latin Music Artist News 2014: Chilean Drummer Val Sepulveda Talks Career, Rise to Top of Male-Dominated Music Scene (Exclusive)
By Melissa Castellanos

“I have always felt a special connection with the drums. Even as a little girl I would pick out the drum lines in popular music and keep the beat with my fingers until they would go numb.”

…Val Sepulveda…gaining…international recognition in the evolving world of drumming….

Sepulveda, who began playing drums at age 15 (prior to studying piano for seven years), is the Grand Prize winner of the 2013 “Hit Like a Girl Contest” — the only international competition for female drummers organized by Drum! Magazine, Tom Tom Magazine and TRX cymbals, where she competed against thousands of entrants from 35 different countries.

Recently, Sepulveda was a part of the judging panel for the 2014 “Hit Like a Girl Contest,” along with renown female drummers, including Blackman, Sheila E., Hannah Ford and Jess Bowen, among others.

“Oh, course Shelia E. was the mother of all female drummers..,” she said.

“It was…my junior year of high school that my true love affair with the instrument began. …I snuck into a drum class…and began to goof around. [Th]e professor saw my interest and passion for the drums [and] let me stay. I thought to myself, ‘This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.'”

Her family embraced her dream of becoming a professional drummer.

In 2011, Sepulveda graduated from the University of Valparaiso with a bachelor’s degree in music with emphasis in drum performance. In 2013, came her “Hit Like a Girl Contest” win.

Sepulveda is…recording series of drum lessons for Drum Channel and…teaching live lessons for its…website, DrumChannel.com. She is currently working as a TA (teacher’s assistant) at Musicians Institute, Hollywood California.

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