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Ignacio Peña
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Ignacio Peña
Ignacio Peña Vidal (born 21 April 1973) is a Puerto Rican rock singer/songwriter, musician, producer, video director and editor, and multimedia creator.
After graduating from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Peña rose to fame in the Latin market with the release of his debut album "El Mundo al Revés" in 2000 and the subsequent tour which saw him perform festivals in Argentina, Venezuela, Panama and the United States. His albums have garnered critical acclaim and are considered by many to be some of the best rock music to come out in Spanish. In 2010, Peña debuted his most ambitious project to date. An educational multimedia concert designed for schools entitled "The Great Planet Earth Debate". Peña has been invited to speak at educational conferences and universities in the United States and his native Puerto Rico and was awarded an honorary degree from the Sistema Universitario Ana G. Méndez in Puerto Rico for his contribution to education. From 2015 through 2017, he has been nominated for five NATAS Suncoast Chapter Emmy Awards, winning two for the WIPR-TV Short Subject documentaries "Por Qué Conmemoramos" (Why We Commemorate) and "Soy De Una Raza Pura" (I Am From A Pure Race) respectively.
Ignacio Peña was born in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, to Ignacio Peña Feliciano and Miriam Vidal Otani. His father was a salesman and his mother a secretary. His mother is of Japanese descent. His grandfather was a soldier in the US Army during the Second World War stationed in Okinawa. There he met Eiko Otani whom he would marry and bring stateside to begin a family. Ignacio and his two younger sisters grew up in different parts of San Juan, PR. He attended and graduated from Wesleyan Academy in Guaynabo, PR. After his parents' divorce at the age of 14 Peña got his first guitar and spent the rest of his youth between school and weekends with his bandmates, writing songs and rehearsing where he began to hone his craft as a songwriter. After completing his bachelor's degree in music production and engineering at Boston's Berklee College of Music, he began writing, singing and producing jingles until the opportunity to make his first record arrived. During this time, he kept writing and recording new songs while pitching them to labels and other music business outlets. After many attempts to land a recording deal, Ignacio met his would-be manager in Criteria Studios in Miami Florida. Now with management, Ignacio went into the studio with producer Pablo Manavello to record a three-song demo. The demo for "75% de Agua" was picked up by local rock radio station Alfa Rock 105.7 FM and the song generated an unprecedented number of requests. This resulted in a recording contract with Universal Music Latino and the subsequent production of his first album.
(The World Upside Down)
Produced by Pablo Manavello, El Mundo Al Revés was recorded in Miami and Nashville and released by Universal Music Latino on 10 October 2000. The production was also overseen by music engineer, Iker Gastaminza (Ricardo Montaner, Témpano) and mixing engineer, Bob St. John (Collective Soul, Extreme, Duran Duran). El Mundo al Revés has 11 songs with lyrics based on personal experiences and reflections. The songs are mostly related to common people getting into different habits, starting with "En Español", a funny story about the use of that reference to promote products oriented to the Latin market in the U.S. A romantic "75% de Agua," is followed by 1960s-style ballad, "Un Retrato de la Luna" and "Puertos," written by Peña while waiting for a departure flight from the Miami International Airport. Inspired by fortune tellers promoting their "gift" on TV, "El Fongo Estelar" anticipates "El Mundo Al Revés" main title track. After love related "Melissa" and "Por Si Acaso", the album comes to an end with the intimate and relaxed "Duérmete".
The album received favorable reviews.
"Singer/songwriter Ignacio Peña's first outing, on Universal, is a lovely collection of pop tracks that evoke everything from Eric Clapton to Oasis. Thanks to thoughtful, well-written lyrics that never fall into triteness, this manages to be an album without a single throwaway track." Billboard Magazine
"Mr. Peña crafts sly pop-rock tunes brimming with meaty hooks, guitar riffs and clever lyrics. " The Dallas Morning News
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Ignacio Peña
Ignacio Peña Vidal (born 21 April 1973) is a Puerto Rican rock singer/songwriter, musician, producer, video director and editor, and multimedia creator.
After graduating from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Peña rose to fame in the Latin market with the release of his debut album "El Mundo al Revés" in 2000 and the subsequent tour which saw him perform festivals in Argentina, Venezuela, Panama and the United States. His albums have garnered critical acclaim and are considered by many to be some of the best rock music to come out in Spanish. In 2010, Peña debuted his most ambitious project to date. An educational multimedia concert designed for schools entitled "The Great Planet Earth Debate". Peña has been invited to speak at educational conferences and universities in the United States and his native Puerto Rico and was awarded an honorary degree from the Sistema Universitario Ana G. Méndez in Puerto Rico for his contribution to education. From 2015 through 2017, he has been nominated for five NATAS Suncoast Chapter Emmy Awards, winning two for the WIPR-TV Short Subject documentaries "Por Qué Conmemoramos" (Why We Commemorate) and "Soy De Una Raza Pura" (I Am From A Pure Race) respectively.
Ignacio Peña was born in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, to Ignacio Peña Feliciano and Miriam Vidal Otani. His father was a salesman and his mother a secretary. His mother is of Japanese descent. His grandfather was a soldier in the US Army during the Second World War stationed in Okinawa. There he met Eiko Otani whom he would marry and bring stateside to begin a family. Ignacio and his two younger sisters grew up in different parts of San Juan, PR. He attended and graduated from Wesleyan Academy in Guaynabo, PR. After his parents' divorce at the age of 14 Peña got his first guitar and spent the rest of his youth between school and weekends with his bandmates, writing songs and rehearsing where he began to hone his craft as a songwriter. After completing his bachelor's degree in music production and engineering at Boston's Berklee College of Music, he began writing, singing and producing jingles until the opportunity to make his first record arrived. During this time, he kept writing and recording new songs while pitching them to labels and other music business outlets. After many attempts to land a recording deal, Ignacio met his would-be manager in Criteria Studios in Miami Florida. Now with management, Ignacio went into the studio with producer Pablo Manavello to record a three-song demo. The demo for "75% de Agua" was picked up by local rock radio station Alfa Rock 105.7 FM and the song generated an unprecedented number of requests. This resulted in a recording contract with Universal Music Latino and the subsequent production of his first album.
(The World Upside Down)
Produced by Pablo Manavello, El Mundo Al Revés was recorded in Miami and Nashville and released by Universal Music Latino on 10 October 2000. The production was also overseen by music engineer, Iker Gastaminza (Ricardo Montaner, Témpano) and mixing engineer, Bob St. John (Collective Soul, Extreme, Duran Duran). El Mundo al Revés has 11 songs with lyrics based on personal experiences and reflections. The songs are mostly related to common people getting into different habits, starting with "En Español", a funny story about the use of that reference to promote products oriented to the Latin market in the U.S. A romantic "75% de Agua," is followed by 1960s-style ballad, "Un Retrato de la Luna" and "Puertos," written by Peña while waiting for a departure flight from the Miami International Airport. Inspired by fortune tellers promoting their "gift" on TV, "El Fongo Estelar" anticipates "El Mundo Al Revés" main title track. After love related "Melissa" and "Por Si Acaso", the album comes to an end with the intimate and relaxed "Duérmete".
The album received favorable reviews.
"Singer/songwriter Ignacio Peña's first outing, on Universal, is a lovely collection of pop tracks that evoke everything from Eric Clapton to Oasis. Thanks to thoughtful, well-written lyrics that never fall into triteness, this manages to be an album without a single throwaway track." Billboard Magazine
"Mr. Peña crafts sly pop-rock tunes brimming with meaty hooks, guitar riffs and clever lyrics. " The Dallas Morning News
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