Santiago was born in Caracas Venezuela. He began playing guitar at the age of 11. As a teenager he studied guitar with Jae Valentine. He spent his time in high school wanking away on his guitar in the hallways, and then locking himself in his bedroom till he remembered to eat! At 18 he entered the Berklee School of Music, majoring in composition, film scoring, and guitar. While at Berklee he studied fusion guitar under the guidance of Jon Finn, Mark White, Mashi Hasu, & Bruce Bartlett. Outside of Berklee, he studied guitar with Paul Masvidal (of Death & Cynic), Paul Aldanee and through correspondence with Derek Taylor (Shrapnel recording artist) & Derryl Gabel. He also studied sound engineering at Miami Dade Community College. His influences in music begin with his father Gustavo Dobles a symphonic composer, Steve Vai, Allan Holdsworth, Brett Garsed, Paul Gilbert, Dimebag Darrell, Nuno Bettencourt, Eddie Van Halen, Ron Thal, Greg Howe, CYNIC, PORTAL, TOOL, Jason Becker, Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix, Bjork, Peter Gabriel, Sting, L Shankar, John Mclaughlin, Shakti, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Zakir Hussein, Trilok Gurtu, Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, and Stravinsky. He also finds inspiration from Tibetan & Taoist philosophy & mysticism and practices Qi Gong, Yoga & Pencak Silat (Indonesian Martial arts) Santiago plays guitar for progressive metal band AGHORA. He is currently working on Aghora's second CD "Formless". The band is rehearsing and preparing for the studio. Santiago has plans to record a Solo project in 2005 and to release some educational material for guitar players. He currently teaches guitar in the south Florida area.