Nicolas Aguirre Flores: High school Student by Day, Metal and Rock Drummer by Night

Nicolas Aguirre Flores shares his experience on how his love for music started and how he expresses it in his daily life at Redwood High School.

By: Owen Wallace

Ever since he was young, Nicolas Aguirre Flores, ’28, has had a passion for music, deciding to pick up the drums. He plays not only in Redwood High School’s marching band but also in his rock metal band in his free time.

His dreams were fulfilled when he finally got into a band with the stage name “Guardrail.” He got into this band because one of his sister’s coworkers, who works at Guitar Center, messaged Aguirre Flores and mentioned him joining a band. This band consists of Colten, the guitarist and vocalist, Heather, who plays the bass, and Aguirre Flores, who plays drums for the band.

He instantly hit it off with Heather and Colten. Aguirre Flores said, “Heather, who’s the bassist, she’s pretty cool, and Colten tries his very best to contact people and try to get gigs for us.”

While he is a part of this band, he isn’t the one who runs the show.

Aguirre Flores said, “Colten is like the front man, I guess you could say, and he works out a lot of our stuff, like reaching out to people.”

A typical day in his life during the weekdays is relatively normal, with him going to school and getting his work done, with marching band practice a couple of days a week.

Aguirre Flores said, “Waking up early, getting to school, and doing school stuff like going to class and going home, and depending on the day, I have practice, I’ll quickly go home, eat, and then immediately come back to Redwood for practice. Getting home at around 9:30.”

He is very passionate about the rock and metal genre of music. He fell in love with it because of constantly being around it, with both of his parents introducing him to that genre of music.

Aguirre Flores says, “My mom would blast that kind of music when I was in the car, and that got me started with what I do and what I love, which is a lot of music, and I love playing it.”

A ton of his inspiration came from his parents, who were always telling him to follow his dream of being a part of a band. Aguirre Flores says, “My parents, my mother and father, a lot. They inspired me a lot, they persuaded me to follow my dreams and whatnot, such as music.”

His journey with music was truly set in stone during band camp this summer, when he finally got the position he wanted for 2 years.

Aguirre Flores says, “This early year I finally got the position for the drum set, and I’ve been wanting it for roughly 2 years, and finally I got the spot. That’s when I knew I was on the right track because that’s something I’ve been really wanting to do.”

Aguirre Flores has some advice for someone who would like to follow a similar path to his.

Aguirre Flores says, “Don’t really listen to what other people have to say, just do your own thing like there’s haters and whatnot, regardless of what you’re going to do, there’s always going to be somebody that likes it and somebody that hates it. Just do what you want to do.”

He plans to stay on his journey as a musician and hopes to one day make it big and prove that it is, in fact, possible as long as you never give up.

Aguirre Flores says, “Whatever you do, don’t ever give up on your dreams.”

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