Three-time Emmy Award–winning Puerto Rican storyteller and singer-songwriter Ignacio Peña has released his new single, To The Stars. We asked him the BIG questions . . .
Ignacio's work blends music, science, and multimedia and his new song features horn arrangements by Joe Keys, choir vocals performed by the Epoch House Choir in Nigeria, and production alongside Isaac Sakko,
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The lyrics of To The Stars pay tribute to the late, great astronomer and planetary scientist Carl Sagan. "Carl Sagan reminded us that we’re all passengers on the same tiny world," says Ignacio. "To The Stars is my way of sending that message back into the cosmos - this time with a beat."
Tell us three things about yourself . . .
Hmm, let's see, I'm problematic, stubborn, opinionated, but I'm nice.
How would you describe your music?
Melodically centered popular music of all kinds.
Who are your musical inspirations?
The greatest melodists, I would say, António Carlos Jobim from Brazil, The Beatles, Paul Simon, and a lot of British rock.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
The first concert I ever went to was José Feliciano at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum here in Puerto Rico in 1983, I was about 10. I would call it the first rock concert because in the show Feliciano had a 20 minute section where he brought out his electric guitar and rocked out covers of Hendrix and Michael Jackson and all that stuff. And that was the first guitar solo that I also saw, electric guitar, and it was pretty powerful. It kind of changed my life, in that concert I learned the power of song and I learned about the power of rock and roll.
What was the first record you ever bought?
First record I ever bought with my money was a 45" single of Africa by Toto. I saw that video on MTV and I was enthralled by it, I was totally into it, so yeah, that was it.
What’s your favourite song right now?
It would probably be an Oasis song because I just came back from seeing their live tour and it was amazing. Out of those great melodies from Noel, at this point I would probably pick out Little by Little, which I knew it before but seeing it live now kind of brought it back forward. So, "if your God woke up on the wrong side of his bed, it just don't matter now".
Favourite lyric of all time?
It's hard to beat: "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make" – The Beatles. There's a bunch of other ones that I like, but that's a message that is kind of hard to beat.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
That's an interesting question. That would be hell, probably. But I'd probably pick Aguas de Marco by Tom Jobim. It's a happy song. It's a very interesting song. And I don't know anybody that has ever told me that they don't like it once I show it to them.
Where can people find your music/more information?
Well, we're everywhere that you will find music. On the platforms, on YouTube, which is my favourite place to find music. So, check us out. Thank you, RTÉ, Ireland. All the love in the world from Puerto Rico.
Alan Corr
