April 3, 1943, the world went through a catastrophe with Spain devastated by a civil war, which plunged the country into a frank and lasting dictatorship. In this devastating scenario, the boy Antônio Rozas Sanchez is born under the sign of Aries. Born in Vigo, province of Pontevedra, whose capital is Santiago de Compostella, in the Galicia region. At the age of 5, he was already playing drums in the orchestra that his father led, performing at seasonal festivals, which were very common in that region.
He told us that he played standing up and one day his pants came loose, making it difficult to hold them up with one hand, while the other attacked his instrument! Finally, Galicia is known for its ancestral magic and was inhabited by the fabulous Celtic people, as their countrymen say: “yo no creo em brujas, pero que las hay, las hay!”.

This is how the boy Antônio grew up in the countryside, jumping between potato fields, together with his three sisters; Maria, Sperancita and Margarida. His father Marcelino worked in the city as a shoemaker, a profession he always practiced with mastery. The son, still small, would take his lunch and then go to the music conservatory to study and improve his divine gift.
As life was very difficult under those circumstances and influenced by friends who went to earn a living in another country, Marcelino decided to take his son and board a ship for Brazil.
As soon as possible he would take his wife and three daughters, but at that moment the most prudent thing was for them to remain in Spain, with other family members.
On the ship, they traveled in the most economical class available and Mr. Marcelino organized concerts for the boy to play on deck and thus raised good money for their arrival in the new country. In this way, that “chick” became the goose that laid the golden eggs, until they disembarked at the port of Santos. It was a super impactful moment, always remembered by the child prodigy.
They arrived in the middle of Carnival, and all that space and time was invaded by the enormous roar of the rhythmic beats of a Samba School. The boy went crazy! He was enchanted by that strong, engaging drumming that resonated in his childish soul. That year, he would turn 9 years old and was living with his father in one of the numerous boarding houses in São Paulo that housed recently arrived immigrants.
His father left early for work and left his son locked in his room studying the accordion and with a can to meet his physiological needs.