In 2015, Juan Calixto found himself in the Hollywood Hills. The Rochester-born musician had been living in Los Angeles, gigging and doing odd jobs, when he connected with fellow 585er David Schuler, whose new synthesizer-heavy project, The Bad Dreamers, needed a drummer.
“We’re Rochester dudes out in L.A.,” Calixto recalled thinking at the time. “Let’s do something together.”
It took three years, but eventually The Bad Dreamers released an album. Calixto — who also goes by his nickname Jay Cali — played some shows with them out west. After years spent in local heavy bands like A Thousand Shades of Cold, he became immersed in synthwave, a musical genre that evokes the cinematic, digital soundscapes of the 1980s.
That education has served him well. Calixto recently completed a tour with the Dutch synthwave artist Timecop1983 that brought him through cities like Atlanta, New York and Chicago. The tour preceded the debut single from Calixto’s own creative project, DRUMxWAVE, which he plans to release via the indie label RetroSynth Records on April 25.
“I want it to be a synth project but I want it to be a combination of all the things I’ve been able to do,” Calixto said. “Cater to the EDM fans but also to the rock fans and even touch on the goth scene.”
The synthwave community has given Calixto a comfortable home, for which he’s grateful. (He used that word several times in conversation with CITY.) He stays busy both at home — where he plays in local hard rock band All Them Squares — and on tour. He’s happy for work that allows him a chance to shine.
Case in point: the fun drum covers Calixto has posted to social media. After one of them landed on the timeline of Timecop1983 artist Jordy Leenaerts, he asked Calixto to join his band.
“Couldn’t be a better match,” Leenaerts said.
Calixto began playing saxophone in his grade-school band, but he always had his eyes on the drumkit. He convinced his grandparents to get him one at age 11 and took to emulating the music of his youth, Motown and Michael Jackson, though his own tastes evolved toward nu-metal groups like Korn, Disturbed and Orgy.
When Calixto was still a teen, he got a chance to audition for the local group A Thousand Shades of Cold. Naturally, he nailed it. The group released music on Buffalo’s Amherst Records, technically making them labelmates with soul singer Solomon Burke and Johnny Carson’s bandleader Doc Severinsen.
Apart from the notoriety, the experience taught Calixto how to navigate a group, how to tour and, in essence, how to be a drummer. In fact, when that band wound down, he was keen to expand his percussion skills even further.
“I wanted to do more of a session player-for-hire kind of thing,” he said. “Being that I had listened to so many different styles of music growing up, I was like, now I can finally apply that.”
Calixto moved to L.A. and made some progress on that front, but he also worked at Home Depot and as a mail carrier to pay the bills. He gigged where he could and found some work with a metal band on “one of those just-scraping-by tours.”
In 2019, he made a decision. It was time to come home to Rochester.
He’s made good on the return as a backline tech for concert production company Audio Images. He also works part-time at the House of Guitars, just down the street from his home, selling guitars and drums with a smile.
“He’s super into music, knows all the instruments and really takes pleasure in being here,” said shop owner Bruce Schaubroeck. “Everybody here loves him.”
Calixto’s years of experience are also helping All Them Squares level up. The group released its first-ever collection, “Vol. 1,” in October 2024. Calixto’s range shines on the tracks. “Fluid” has a bit of swing to it, while “Sleep” features some electronic percussion elements. He has to be nimble for the material given to him by vocalist and songwriter Cece Vile.
Calixto joined the band three years ago on an invitation from guitarist Jordan Foehner. Vile said Calixto — or “Papa Juan,” as they call him — has become an essential collaborator thanks to both his percussion prowess and his winning attitude.
“He’s definitely the most professional one in our band,” Vile said. “He’s extremely fun and a lighthearted dude, but he is so pro at everything he does. Everything got better once he joined.”
DRUMxWAVE, meanwhile, marks Calixto’s first foray as the central creative in a musical project — he writes, produces and, of course, plays drums. The slick first single, “Flames in the Sky,” features vocals from Columbus, Ohio synth group Chroma Cloud.
Calixto feels encouraged by the electronic-friendly music scene in Rochester and believes his new tunes will find a receptive crowd.
That’s largely because, after decades of being a musician, he’s thankful music has become his full-time job. His Timecop1983 tour in March ended, naturally, with a stop at L.A.’s Echoplex — just a few miles south of the Hollywood Hills.
On a long car ride from Massachusetts to Chicago a few weeks before that gig, he reflected on his good fortune.
“It’s a blessing to be able to go and play music and have people show up.” @jaycalidrums
See Juan “Jay Cali” Calixto perform with All Them Squares at 4 p.m. on May 18 at The Lilac Festival in Highland Park.
Patrick Hosken is CITY’s arts reporter. He can be reached at patrick@rochester-citynews.com.
This article appears in Dec 1-31, 2024.
