Juan was born in Maracaibo (Venezuela) on the 27th of December, he pursued studies at the University of Zulia for an Electric engineering degree but he finally left them to focus on music. Juan attended Conservatory “Jose Luis Paz” in Maracaibo where he studied Trumpet since 1982 and he was also part of the “Orquesta Sinfonica Juvenil de Maracaibo”, he joined GUACO in 1983 as a trumpet and started arranging for GUACO in 1986 later on in 1990 he became the music director of the band. Juan Carlos Salas is a proficient producer, arranger and recording & mixing engineer.