John Angeles has played several roles throughout his lifetime. Actor. Performer. Musician. Drummer. Artist. The only role he never planned on playing was a firefighter. Yet he just finished his second year with the Southlake Fire Department.
Growing up in a family of musicians, John says most of his childhood revolved around music. He grew up listening to the sounds of Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters on old cassette tapes, and when he turned 8 he started playing on the drums.
“The drums just always kind of spoke to me,” John says. “Hearing the rhythm, the beat, it always felt very natural to me. Everyone was fine with me just playing all day long, so that was basically all I ever did.”
In sixth grade, John saw a production of STOMP, a percussion group whose cast members drum on various objects such as garbage cans, brooms, pots, pans and matchboxes.
John says he was instantly hooked and knew he wanted to be a part of it.
“When I first saw STOMP, I thought it was amazing because they were making all of the music I like to play, but they weren’t playing on instruments,” John says. “I was obsessed with it. I had to be in that show.”
Throughout high school and college, John kept practicing as much as he could to continuously improve his skills. In high school, John played drums for the marching band, jazz band and the wind symphony. He also played the snare for Drum Corps International, and his band was even named world champions in 2001.
After graduating from Texas Christian University with a music degree in 2005, John ventured off to New York for his first audition with STOMP. While he was disappointed that he did not get a callback, he didn’t stop performing. Instead, he joined a Florida percussion group called Six Of One and started touring with them, performing shows in countries such as South Africa and Taiwan.
He later got a second chance to audition for STOMP during a local call in 2007, and John wasn’t going to waste it.
“There are eight people that are part of the cast,” John says. “Out of a thousand auditions, five of us were going to be selected. I was so nervous that I actually asked my sister to audition with me to ease my nerves.”
After several rounds of rehearsals and auditions, John was eventually one of the finalists selected and formally joined the STOMP crew.
Steve McNicholas
“It was very much a dream come true for me,” John says. “To be one of the guys that were a part of that, I still think about that to this day.”
The cast members' rehearsals were intense. Not only did they rehearse every single day, but the whole cast also did a full company rehearsal once every week. The shows themselves were even more demanding, with STOMP regularly hosting around 3,000-5,000 people a night. But all of it was worth it to John.
“About 70% of the show is scripted and choreographed,” John says. “The other 30% is you making it up, interacting with the audience and improvising your solos as you go. I really got to make my character my own.”
After playing a supporting character for two years, the creators eventually approached John and asked him to take the lead role as Sarge, who handled most of the audience interactions and solos during the show. John ended up playing Sarge for the last five years he was a part of STOMP.
“When I was the lead, I knew that show backwards and forwards,” John says. “I knew my crew so well that I knew what they were going to do before they did it, whether it was regarding their music or their character. I always gave my 100% in everything I did.”
After performing with STOMP for 10 years, John decided it was time to move on and look for a new career path. That was when one of his friends suggested he look into firefighting.
“He said it was kind of similar to what you do onstage,” John explains. “You work, live and train with a crew of your closest teammates, and you rely on each other to get through anything that comes your way. It’s tough, physically demanding and it pushes you to the limit, only this time it wouldn’t be to put on a show — it would be to make a difference.”
After moving back to Texas and graduating from the EMT and fire academy, John was looking for a department to call his own. That was when he discovered the Southlake Fire Department.
“Southlake was the first fire department that I visited,” John says. “I walked in and I immediately knew I wanted to be there. Their mindset, their leadership and collaboration, how they represented the community — it was almost like when I was a kid and I saw STOMP for the first time. I knew this was the team I wanted to be a part of.”
It didn’t take long for John to leave his mark. Besides responding to emergency calls, putting out fires and transporting patients to the hospital, John also helps out with Southlake DPS’ social media once in a while. Whether he’s drumming on car seats and plastic containers, parodying the Beatles or taking viewers through a video tour of the fire station, John never misses out on the chance to educate and entertain viewers at the same time.
John says he’s grateful to be part of a department that allows him to bring his showmanship to public service in a unique way that only he can.
“Even though the two jobs are so different, being able to communicate and interact with people transitioned so well,” John says. “STOMP will always mean the world to me, but my new crew lies in Southlake. Southlake is where I belong.”