Antonio Peluso

Antonio Peluso is a drummer and percussionist from the Bay Area, California, now based in Washington, DC, where he teaches and freelances. He is a core member of the group Oddbodi and has performed live with local acts including Bottled Up, Reed Appleseed, You and Me and You, Tuff Lover, Swataa, The Morelias, and more.

Early in his musical journey, Antonio set out with the ambition of becoming an ethnomusicologist, fascinated by the ways music and culture intersect. Over time, this curiosity evolved into dual paths: one as a professional drummer performing across genres, and the other as a cultural anthropologist exploring Indigenous cultures and ways of life in the remote regions of the Brazilian Amazon, where he conducted ethnographic fieldwork. During his time living in Salvador, Bahia, he also worked with an after-school drum program for at-risk youth, sharing his love of percussion.

His experience spans drumlines, marching bands, jazz ensembles, big bands, punk bands, surf-rock bands, and beyond. In California, he trained as a classical percussionist, studying theory, musicianship, ethnomusicology, performance, and audio engineering before focusing on jazz. He studied jazz drum set, vibraphone, composition, and theory under saxophonist Bennett Friedman at Santa Rosa Junior College, performing in small ensembles and the award-winning college big band. He continued his studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, performing under Paul Contos, Stan Poplin, and Karlton Hester, and received intensive drum set training from George Marsh in Northern California and Ken Dalluge in Santa Cruz.

Antonio has taught privately at the Art & Soul School of Creative & Performing Arts and brings a broad, genre-spanning approach to instruction, with particular passion for indie rock, surf-rock, Brazilian percussion, and jazz. He draws from his extensive performance experience to help students develop technique, creativity, and a personal connection to music.