Hailing from Jamaica Queens, New York, Ernesto and Luis (p.k.a. Santana Twins) started their journey into the music arena at the young age of 14. Two Fisher Electronics turntables and a mixer is all it took for the twins to realize their passion for music. Once this first step was taken, they immersed themselves in other areas of the arts, such as Break Dancing, Grafitti and Lofting. Little did they know that the name of the break dancing crew they were a part of, the Freestyle Fresh Kids, would become the catalyst for things to come.
In their teen years, the twins would go to many house parties that played Freestyle music. It was here that they met their good friend Juan "Kato" Lemus, who would eventually mentor and guide them further on their musical voyage. While in the breakdance crew, they would meet the soon to be famous Omar Santana (producer / editor for Sa-Fire, Lissete Melendez and Debbie Harry) who provided their crew with music for their dance battles. In the building where they would practice they also met Albie Nieves, who spoke to them about the art of editing. This further cemented their love for music and pushed them to acquire a drum machine and reel to reel. They continued to DJ, and eventually started to play in area clubs and college functions, but they felt the need to take their music ideas to the next level. They started to dabble with drum loops and Acapella tracks found on many 12" vinyl records. The urge to make their mixes unique pushed them to learn music production. During this time they experimented with keyboards, drum machines and samplers. They also started to write and produce original songs. They caught a break when one of their hip hop groups was presented to Jam Master Jay from Run DMC. He was instantly impressed by the quality of their music and offered them a job on the spot, as his personal engineers for his label, JMJ records. In the spring of 1997, a singer from Buffalo New York, by the name of Susan Santiago, was looking to record her first freestyle album. She was put in contact with the Twins by a mutual friend. They eventually met with Susan and committed to producing and recording her album. Around this time, Juan Kato introduced the twins to producer / remixer Eddie Frente (credits include Anything But The Girl, R&B artist Brandy and Freestyle artist Raiana Paige), and agreed to assist in the making of the album. It was during this project that Eddie became their mentor and friend, and shared his vast knowledge of music. Knowledge which helped the twins gain a better grasp of song writing and music production. On a chance visit with Juan Kato to freestyle legend Carlos Berrios' recording studio, they met producer Wilson Yepez. He agreed to assist in the recording and producing of 2 more songs for Susan's album. It was after the completion of Susan's album that they decided to produce and record an album under the name Freestyle Fresh Kids. With further mentoring and assistance from their friends Juan and Eddie, they realized their dream and introduced their sound to the Freestyle Arena. The album was well received by the fans and helped them get a foot in the music industry. After the CD's were released, they continued to expand their skills in music by experimenting with many different genres such as House, Edm, Hip Hop and Reggaeton. Soon they realized their passion for freestyle was still vibrant and they were asked by many fans and DJ's to return to the Freestyle scene.
In 2014, they approached Aldo Marin, Co-Owner/VP of legendary dance label Cutting Records. Several conversations and months later, Cutting Records signed TST to the label to showcase all the songs that they had hidden away in their vault. With the support and backing of Cutting Records, the Santana Twins (TST) hope to provide the fans with quality music that made them forever fans of Freestyle.
Santana Twins Music on: iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Spotify,Juno,
BeatPort, Traxsource
and all your favorite digital music platforms
To see releases for the CUTTING/TST label imprint go to:
Santana Twins song links: Albert Cabrera Remix
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