At about 9:30 a.m. on a Friday morning, the day was already well underway for Professor Juan Carreon. Sitting behind a mixing console in a Los Medanos College studio, he was nearly an hour into a recording session for one of his jazz bands from the local high school Heritage High. Professor Carreon, but all of his students address him as Juan, lives and breathes all types of music on a daily basis. Along with being a recording arts professor for LMC, Carreon is a jazz band, percussion and drumline instructor at local high schools such as Brentwood’s Liberty High School. 

Not to mention, Carreon is an audio engineer and a professional musician who has played hundreds of gigs throughout his successful career. 

Carreon credits most of his success and multifacetedness to two things: luck and his astonishing work ethic that developed when he was young and which he has applied in many different aspects of his life. Since he was a child, Carreon was deeply interested in both music and sports, but above all, it was imperative that he was the best at whatever he was doing. 

“I knew how to get good at things whenever I wanted to, whenever I needed to, and part of it’s just my natural obsessive personality,” he said. 

While he does value the experiences he has as a teacher and instructor, Carreon notes that playing music professionally is his priority, a necessity in such a cutthroat industry. 

“The only way you are going to get to play those really nice gigs is going to be to make your performance and your musical skills and musical abilities a priority,” Carreon said. “My fifth-grade band teacher said that when you guys get older if you really wanna be a professional musician, just know that every time you’re going to sleep somebody is staying up and practicing.” 

Carreon was born in a family in which music was celebrated. His parents, Mexican immigrants who were not musicians themselves, valued and encouraged Carreon’s musical interest early. Carreon is an East Bay native, who grew up in Brentwood and graduated from Liberty High School.  He was originally a computer science major before he decided to take time off to pursue professional wakeboarding, which he got into with his older brother, and applied himself to as he always does, eventually getting the opportunity to go pro. Carreon’s interest in sports did not start there, however. As a child, he often competed in junior Olympic competitions for soccer. His drive has always been a key factor in his life, and he attributes his selection into the jazz program at the University of Miami, where he transferred from LMC to being a perfectionist. An ‘uber-competitive’ school to get into, the University of Miami had more than 700 drummers try out the year Carreon applied and he was one of only five selected. His desire to learn has always been insatiable and led to success in many different areas as he discords his varied interests. 

“One thing I’ve always been a big proponent of is learning how to learn,” Carreon said.

As a student at LMC, when he switched to studying music from computer science, he was a part of a band. Carreon recalled that one day his band wanted to record a demo, so “I did the research and figured out how to do that and I really enjoyed that, and of course, my obsessive personality took over there and that’s how I became an audio engineer.” 

In each of his many endeavors, it is Carreon’s curiosity that has shown him his own limits so he can strive for improvement. 

He began teaching drum lessons when he was a freshman in high school, as part of community service hours. He wanted to do them in something he thoroughly enjoyed so he took up helping out at a middle school marching band teaching the drummers. This opportunity led him to begin providing personal lessons, which he still does today. His teaching continues and he strives to be a helpful instructor and a “blueprint to success” for his students. 

Carreon advises his students three key things before any tryout: be prepared and understand the pieces of music you will be playing inside out. Learn to accept your nerves, so the pressure of the situation propels you into the zone. Lastly, know that the people watching you are hoping for your success. 

“When you’re going into an audition, you are probably auditioning for a position that somebody has open,” said Carreon. “They wanna see you do good, because the better you are the better you are going to make [the position].”

 Positioning his students for success, learning to always learn, and prioritizing excellence in every facet of his life, Carreon is a testament to how going the extra mile will reward you in life.