Ruben Mendoza started beating on a drum at the age of 14 years old at his family’s local nightclub, Acapulco and Mendoza’s Nightclub. He was born in Houston, TX and raised in Jacinto City, TX, which is a small town east of Houston. He is the son of Maria Celia and Joel Mendoza. Ruben is an only child that was brought up with strong family values, not to mention a strong work ethic that was taught to him by his parents at a very young age. Growing up Ruben listened to Michael Jackson, Prince, Guns and Roses, Def Leopard, Van Halen and Ramon Ayala just to name a few. Music has always been a big part of Rubens life and at a young age he knew he wanted to be part of a band and play the drums. Ruben joined his first band at the age of fifteen, Los Bandoleros De Baldo Gomez and played with them for a couple of years. As the years would pass he joined several bands along the way. At the age of 18 years old Ruben got the call to go join Juan P. Moreno and The Renegades, this call would finally help Ruben get out of the local seen, he would tour all over Texas, California, Idaho, Michigan, Florida and all areas of Mexico, this is to name just a few. After being with Juan P. Moreno for 3 years, Moreno decided to break up the band for personal reasons which lead Ruben to then join Grammy award winner Mingo Saldivar Y Su Conjunto Los 4 Espadas, out of San Antonio, TX. Ruben says joining Juan P. Moreno and Mingo Saldivar was a true blessing and a great experience. Ruben began to get a lot of recognition from other great drummers and other well known Tejano and Conjunto bands for being a drummer for both of these well know artist. Mingo Saldivar’s touring began to slow down, not to mention Rubens father began to become ill, so that’s when Ruben made the decision to stop touring and return to the local scene to be by his fathers side. He then started playing with Conjunto Complejo for about a year and a half but due to the sadden loss of his father in March of 2000 he decided to stop playing. However, May of 2000 he got a call that then changed his life. He got offered to be the drummer of his child hood dream band, Jamie y Los Chamacos. 17 years later he is now to be known as one of the best Conjunto/ Tejano drummers who has received multiple awards and has gained a bundle of respect from his piers. Ruben will continue to live his dream and hopes to continue leaving lasting impressions.
Accomplishments:
Jamie y Los Chamacos are a well known Conjunto/Tejano band that has travel all over Texas, California, Washington State, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida and all over Mexico. They play between 120 and 150 shows a year.
