Austin Arbelaez is a quiet, 11-year-old boy... until he gets behind his drum kit.
"It makes me feel amazing," Arbelaez said smiling.
Arbelaez recently signed a deal with Mapex Drum Company. The youngest drummer ever to be endorsed by the brand.
"Their number one thing is to kinda protect his image," Austin's dad David Arbelaez said. "To kinda guide him, which is helpful for us since we are not musicians."
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The Arbelaez family recently moved to Aledo. The first thing they did, before putting pictures on the walls, was soundproof a drum room for Austin.
"He'll come out here and he'll be like, 'what song did I just play?'," Austin's mom Mindy Arbelaez said. "And I'm like, 'that was Freak on a Leash by Korn'!"
Korn is among many well-known bands to 'like' and share Arbelaez's Instagram posts showcasing his drumming. He's racked up tens of thousands of likes and shares on Instagram. That helped get the attention of Mapex Drum Company.
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"We were shocked," Arbelaez's parents said. "It's his love. It's his talent. It's a God-given talent, and he's amazing at it," Mindy Arbelaez said.
Arbelaez was playing drums before he could talk.
"We got him his first drum set for Christmas when he was one," David Arbelaez said. "He did football when he was a kid, he did baseball, he did soccer, he did swimming, and he just never could get away from music and drums."
Arbelaez fell in love with drumming when he was 7-years-old and attended the School of Rock. Now is a student at the Texas School of the Arts in Fort Worth.
"I'm always focusing on playing the song and listening to it," Arbelaez said. He has plans. "I'm hoping to be in a big band, and playing shows with them, and touring, and that kind of stuff."
