In the beginning.
"My journey with drums begins with the project Toca Rufar, in Portugal, back in 1997. For some unknown reason I just sign in for the project and soon after my life turns on to a different beat. Much faster. Much stronger. I learned how to play. I joined the ranks. It became a passion. It became a life style. A couple of years into the project and I found my true path. I started conducting the Toca rufar Orchestra. I composed. I taught. I choreographed. I had found my true calling. I had found myself. It was in front of 300 people playing drums that I felt more alive. For years I shared hopes, dreams and a vision for the future with the founder and director Rui Junior. My mentor, my adoptive father. We jump start the drum tradition in Portugal and we gave it power. 13 years passed. Rui Junior’s vision for the project changed. I changed. And so our paths diverged."
Orquestra 7
"Not long after I left Toca Rufar the O7 Drum Project was born. I had no job, no money, no drums and no place to rehearse and still the O7 found its way to existence. Up and downs. Resilience. Bright ideas. A group of passionate people. Friends. People who believed in me. And that’s all that I needed to make things work. The O7 Project it’s still growing. I’m still growing. Still fighting to make it as big as I imagine it. Still dreaming. One step at the time. Always going forward."
Orquestra 7
These photos document the early days of the O7 Drum Project in Portugal, back then known as Orquestra 7. They show the first versions of the drums as well as the first people who joined the journey. You can also see how the group’s visual identity began to take shape, from basic uniforms to the early energy that defined our performances. It was all about making it work with what we had, building something from scratch, and growing together one step at a time.
O7 Drum Project
When I moved to the UK, I tried to keep the project alive in Portugal, but distance made it difficult. Eventually, the group dissolved, but many of my former students went on to join other projects and raise the level wherever they went. I’m extremely proud of every one of them.
In the UK, I restarted the journey in Luton with support from the University of Bedfordshire. The project took on a new name, "Loud & Proud", and brought together a new group of wonderful, passionate people. With them, the identity of the project evolved once again, and it officially became the O7 Drum Project.
What now?
The project stayed quiet during and after the pandemic. I didn’t have the strength or motivation to bring it back. Maybe I was scared. Maybe I had nothing left to give.
Then, one day at the company where I was working as a graphic designer, I was asked to give a drumming workshop for the staff. Something clicked. That familiar spark came back, the rhythm, the energy, the connection.
The bug was alive again.
That moment reignited everything. Now, I’m ready to re-start. Ready for the next stage of the O7 Drum Project, with new energy, new people, and the same deep purpose that started it all.