bletzung

Artist Information

Biography

‘There is nothing conceptually better than rock ‘n’
roll,’ John Lennon.

The Story
In 2001 Ignacio Peña, Bletzung’s front man, released his solo debut album, “El Mundo Al Revés” (The World Upside Down) on Universal Latino which earned him rave reviews from the critics.

“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

“A debut record that sets precedence “En Español” – track that opens the CD – and evokes the days past of Argentinean Rock and English Pop.”
People En Español

Anormal, Peña’s sophomore album, is a pure rock n roll set which feeds on classic rock influences but with a clear grasp on melody. The songs are an evolution in Pena’s songwriting in many ways: a harder edge, songs written in BOTH Spanish an English (5 songs in Spanish, 5 songs in English), and recorded with his touring band. With a soft release in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, several tracks from the album have remained on the Radio & Records Magazine’s Latin Format Rock/Alt. play lists consecutively for 11 months.

Radio Airplay
WMVA 105.3 FM (Clear Channel), Atlanta, GA
KDLD 103.1 FM, The Red Zone, Los Angeles, CA
WRTO 98.3 FM (Univision), Fuego Rock, Miami, FL
WRTE 90.5 FM, Radio Arte, Chicago, IL
KSCR 1560 AM, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
KTFH AM, Rock Radical, Seattle, WA
KSJ 90.5 FM, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
WLJS 91.9 FM, Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, AL
WMSC 90.3 FM, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ
KSJV 91.5 FM, Radio Blingue, Fresno, CA

Internet Radio Airplay
Pulso Rock Radio
Batanga
Puro Rock
Yahoo Music
Radio Wazee

Video Airplay
Mas Musica Teve Network
MTV-S
LATV
Latin Eyes TV
Mun2
Video Max (Puerto Rico)

In March 2005, Bletzung’s first single “Only End up Lonely” won the Itunes Jukebox Jury which was held at the South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas.

“Austin’s annual South by Southwest Music and Media Conference is one of the largest showcases of live music anywhere in the world. Itunes and South by Southwest collected music industry professionals, conference attendees and a large box of demos in one room for the jukebox jury. The audience and the experts voted electronically using MS Interactive’s Perception Analyzer and San Juan, Puerto Rico’s Ignacio Peña garnered the highest score…” -itunes Music Store

After touring throughout Latin America and the U.S., sharing festival stages with the likes of Oasis, Eric Clapton, and Roger Waters among others, the band relocated to Austin and within a few months played in an excess of 50 shows at the most important and respected clubs and festivals including Antones (Austin), Key Club (Los Angeles) and an appearance with Bryan Adams in their native Puerto Rico. At the same time, the video for “Lonely” garnered constant rotation on Austin’s own music channel ME TV. Other TV appearances in FOX News and LATV followed and later that year, the song “Let Go” was included in Disc Makers’ “Independent Music World Series” compilation which showcases the top 15 acts from the Midwest as selected by Billboard Magazine and Taxi (the website) and is distributed to 10,000 industry insiders and professionals.

Now, Bleztung is ready to release their self-titled debut album. A conceptual proposal that entwines 12 songs featuring British influenced songwriting with an American approach to recording and making records. With an unrelenting philosophy that melody is king, Bletzung’s songs are a powerful marriage of melodically driven strong hooks and memorable guitar riffs which exists in a cinematic world created by the bands “impending danger” musical textures and connotations.

More info can be obtained at www.bletzung.com.

Instrumentation

Ignacio Peña - guitar and lead vocals
Bermudo - bass

Discography

Self-titled debut album out now availbale at CDbaby.com and Itunes

Audio

Lyrics

• Don't Turn Away
• You Told Me(It's Only Love)

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• bletzung #1 in Battle of the Bands for Houston [+ Show ]
  

  Boot Camp Voting Never before have fans had the power to promote the band of their choice. This bat...Boot Camp Voting
  Never before have fans had the power to promote the band of their choice. This battle can’t be won with out you. Indie bands across America need your online votes to gain access to this competition. Tour the site, find your favorites and vote the best sound into the next round. Take command of what’s traveling the airways. Vote now!
  
  Bletzung Rock Austin, TX Earn Your Stripes
  Monkeysoop Rock San Antonio, TX Earn Your Stripes
  Dead Truth Hardcore Brooklyn, NY Earn Your Stripes
  Hardin Store Road Alternative Houston, TX Earn Your Stripes
  Death be not Proud Metal San Antonio, TX Earn Your Stripes
  Otenki Rock Houston, TX Earn Your Stripes
  Since The Burden Hardcore Houston, TX Earn Your Stripes
  Pat McGurn Rap Austin, TX Earn Your Stripes
  Truck Alternative Houston, TX Earn Your Stripes
  Acanthus Rock Clovis, NM Earn Your Stripes
  Jumping Monks Rock Seabrook, TX Earn Your Stripes
  Johnny Clutch Rap Houston, TX Earn Your Stripes
  Royal Lush Pop Houston, TX Earn Your Stripes
  UNSUNG Rock Houston, TX Earn Your Stripes
  Backslider Rock Austin, TX Earn Your Stripes
  Secession Rock San Antonio, TX Earn Your Stripes
  th' madness Alternative Austin, TX Earn Your Stripes
  Deafening Rock Houston, TX Earn Your Stripes
  SouthSiders Hip Hop Houston, TX Earn Your Stripes
  Brotherhood Metal San Antonio, TX Earn Your Stripes
  
  
  © 2006 BodogMusic(TM), All rights reserved.BODOG is a registered trademark of Bodog Entertainment Group S.A. Bodog.com Sports Casino Poker Music

• Sonido BoomBox on ME TV - Most Played Videos for January [+ Show ]
  

  “Sonido BoomBox” Most Played Videos for the Month of Jan. 2006 TITLE ARTIST 1. Only End up L...“Sonido BoomBox”
  Most Played Videos for the Month of Jan. 2006
  
  TITLE ARTIST
  
  1. Only End up Lonely - bletzung
  
  2. Hoy - Edo
  
  3. Utility Rock - Grupo Fantasma
  
  4. Sin Lado Izquierdo - Marco Antonio Solis
  
  5. Grindin - MVP and Illego Alienz
  
  6. Cuidadano (ME Live) - Maneja Beto
  
  7. Cumbia Urbana - Crooked Stilo
  
  8. Kiko and the Lavendar Moon - Los Lobos
  
  9. Compay Gato - Ruben Ramos
  
  10. Cuidala - Abusivo

• bletzung on KLBJ's Local Licks [+ Show ]
  

  bletzung has made their debut on Austin radio tonight! The guys stopped by the KLBJ studios to play...bletzung has made their debut on Austin radio tonight! The guys stopped by the KLBJ studios to play a couple of acoustic songs & answer some questions for the classic rock station’s “Local Licks” show. Check out the write up on the station’s web site below or go to http://www.klbjfm.com/LocalLicks/index.aspx
  
  ON LOCAL LICKS 1/31:
  
  Next Tuesday, January 31st on Local Licks, Loris welcomes the band Bletzung to the KLBJ studios. This band recently re-located to Austin from Puerto Rico. They've opened for Oasis, Eric Clapton, and Roger Waters while touring through the U.S. and Latin America. And at last year’s SXSW, one of their songs was won the "Jukebox Jury" competition.
  
  
  
  Be sure to listen in for Bletzung on Local Licks Tuesday! They’ll be playing a couple of songs acoustically and getting ready for a show this week at the Chuggin' Monkey. Loris says, "Remember the name Bletzung! You WILL be hearing a lot more about this band in 2006!"
  
  ABOUT BLETZUNG:
  
  Under the auspice of Ignacio Pena, Bletzung showcased at the 2005 South by Southwest music festival in Austin, where the song ‘Only End Up Lonely’ won the first-ever Jukebox Jury competition and was featured on Apple's iTunes. The song and the album (Anormal) charted on iTunes' Latin charts' top downloads.
  
  After touring throughout Latin America and the U.S., sharing festival stages with the likes of Oasis, Eric Clapton, and Roger Waters among others, the natural evolution of Pena's musical direction, LIVE PERFORMANCES and TOURING experiences have taken him to the next logical evolutionary step Bletzung, a melodically driven modern rock band that's conceived as a multimedia experience in the vein of Pink Floyd and the Beatles.
  
  Bletzung's self-titled debut album is a conceptual proposal that entwines 12 songs that narrate a process of existential conflicts and which originated in times of worldwide terrorism, war and fear. Produced by Pena, Iker Gastaminza and Tony Rijos, the record features British influenced songwriting with an American approach to recording and making records. Bletzung's songs are a powerful marriage of melodically driven strong hooks and memorable guitar riffs which speak about alienation, disappointment, angst and other pressing issues.
  
  LINKS:
  Bletzung Official Site
  
  Here's a selection of some of Loris' fave local rockers, all of whom have been featured on past shows. We'll be posting some MP3s here for you as we get 'em -- for now, click the names to visit their official sites:
  
  Austin, TX
  
  Copyright© 2004 Emmis Interactive/Austin. All Rights Reserved.
  
  

• Ignacio Peña Fronts Rock Band bletzung [+ Show ]
  

  http://www.lamusica.com/bletzung.shtml Rocker Ignacio Peña has left behind his solo career to tak...http://www.lamusica.com/bletzung.shtml
  
  Rocker Ignacio Peña has left behind his solo career to take on a new endeavor, the creation of rock band bletzung.
  
  The band has taken up residence in Austin to continue building its fan base and concentrate its efforts on live performances throughout the Southwestern region of the U.S. Peña states, “It was always our goal to hit the Anglo market as it is where our interests lie.” The change is a natural evolution in Peña’s career in which the band will perform in English.
  
  He continues, “We value the ability to do both Spanish and English and we felt it was time to explore that aspect of our career. Besides, the Latin market has clearly shown other kinds of inclinations in the last years which are clearly not in accordance with where we see ourselves in the future.”
  
  bletzung plans to showcase at the 2006 South by Southwest Music Festival, the same international gathering where Peña garnered media attention for his win of SXSW’s first-ever Apple iTunes’ Jukebox Jury competition as a co-writer of the band’s first single, “Only End Up Lonely.”
  
  bletzung’s self-titled debut album, featuring “Lonely,” is due in the spring and will consist of all English lyrics. Several tracks can be heard at www.myspace.com/bletzung. The video for the single is expected to debut on Austin’s own ME Television next week.
  
  The band is one of three finalists in the RockStar Taste of Chaos contest to open the San Antonio leg of the U.S. concert tour. In addition, bletzung is competing in the Emergenza festival at Momo’s in Austin on January 6.
  
  bletzung is made up of four seasoned musicians including Peña on guitar and lead vocals, Jean Diaz on guitar and keyboards, Bermudo on bass guitar and Ruben Martinez on drums.
  
  Check out them out Online
  www.bletzung.com

• Jukebox Jury Renders Judgment [+ Show ]
  

  www.playlistmag.com By Christopher Breen South By Southwest’s Jukebox Jury is over and the winne...www.playlistmag.com
  By Christopher Breen
  
  South By Southwest’s Jukebox Jury is over and the winner chosen. As previously reported, a panel comprised of five industry insiders—Alex Luke (Apple’s iTunes), Dan Dalton (artist management), Aaron Axelsen (program director for San Francisco’s Live 105 radio station), Michael Howe (A&R for Virgin records), and Jef Price (co-owner of SpinArts Records)—listened to two minute cuts of 10 records. Five of the recordings were the winners of as many demos listening sessions and five were chosen at random from the demos submitted to those sessions.
  
  Alternating between a random track and a winning track, members of the panel and each audience member was allowed to rate each song with a Perception Analyzer—a small gray box featuring a red dial that tuned from 0 to 100. Audience members were told to choose a rating for each song they heard. Ratings were weighted evenly between the panel and the audience.
  
  At the conclusion of each track, the panelists dialed in a rating and uploaded those rating to a central computer where the ratings were tabulated. The panelists then commented on each track. Audience ratings weren’t revealed until the end of the session.
  
  When the last track was played, the four top songs were separated by only a point. When the audience ratings were figured into the final tally, the band listed fourth by the panel rocketed to the top of the charts. The song, "Only End Up Lonely" by Puerto Rican group ignaciopena, is a catchy pop-anthem that will be featured on iTunes’ home page on Tuesday.

• Pop/rocker Peña looks beyond earthly values [+ Show ]
  

  By Ramiro Burr Web Posted: 08/01/2004 12:00 AM CDT Love is the answer to the social and polit...By Ramiro Burr
  
  Web Posted: 08/01/2004 12:00 AM CDT
  
  Love is the answer to the social and political conflicts around the world, says Puerto Rican pop/rock guitarist Ignacio Peña.
  
  "The world's problems seem like a big mountain of misplaced opportunities and values, which through the ages get worse and worse. Each new mistake is built on top of another one that has been handed down and given to us," Peña said.
  
  "Unless we drastically change the way we deal with and value concepts like country, God, race, politics, family, religion, power, we will surely keep augmenting the problem and we'll leave our children with a greater mess. It takes a lot of faith to believe that humanity will be able to resolve these problems."
  
  Peña's new CD is titled "Anormal," and on it he tackles war, personal relationships and the need for individual action.
  
  "The final conclusion of this story (album songs) is that love is the answer," he said.
  
  Peña's guitar-driven, pop-perky rock recalls elements of La Ley, Al Stewart and Bryan Adams. And his music is as much about the message as the groove.
  
  The first track, "A Dios," starts with the famous 1961 inaugural address by President John F. Kennedy before launching into extended guitar and keyboard jams reminiscent of the prog-rock workouts by early Genesis.
  
  "Donde Estabas?" cranks along with more traditional rock undercurrents as Peña sings about seeking a higher answer to earthly problems.
  
  "'A Dios' is about when something does not work effectively, you contact the manufacturer and complain to them," Peña said. "So 'A Dios' is a customer service call to the manufacturer.
  
  "'Donde Estabas?' is also directed at the manufacturer. Sometimes it feels like it's too late and too complicated for anything to be fixed at this moment. History is a log of every missed opportunity we've had to coexist effectively."
  
  "Anormal," recorded last year, is a step beyond Peña's 2001 "Mundo Al Reves" for several reasons.
  
  "'Al Reves' is a singer-songwriter album while 'Anormal' is a rock band trying to make sense of a lot of negative things all at once," Peña said. "Becoming a public figure has made me realize how twisted our perception of things is. I've always known it, but it's not the same when you're in the middle of it. Through what people say and talk about me publicly and the difference between that and reality, I've come to understand better what is not working when it comes to perceptions."
  
  And while "Al Reves" was all in Spanish, "Anormal" includes five songs in English, which are being targeted to the mainstream radio market.
  
  Also providing fuel for Peña's creativity were the events surrounding 9-11.
  
  "I was halfway into writing the songs for the record when 9-11 happened. I was locked in my house recording demos and writing," he said. "I've never been a TV person and have actually gone years without watching any.
  
  "After 9-11, I was glued to every news channel there is. I became a news junkie. The emotional shock of it all changed everything I was writing after the attacks. I started writing songs watching two wars, corporate and religious scandals, worldwide terrorism and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict."
  
  The latter provided inspiration for "Only End Up Lonely," an intense tune with distorted guitars, erratic time-changes and odd news snippets. The lyrics describe a search for "something to believe in."
  
  "Normally we end up searching in the wrong places, confusing God with religion and church, civic responsibility with politics, and loyalty to the place we're born with some sort of twisted form of 'patriotism,'" Peña said. "On top of that, it seems we are also willing to argue, die and justify all sorts of killing and destruction on behalf of these ideas."
  
  Not all the CD is loud guitars and loud messages. Peña lowers the sonic intensity on the ballad "You Told Me (It's Only Love)."
  
  "We put a lot of emphasis on emotions when we deal with love. I think emotions are just the tip of the iceberg," he said. "The real deal is commitment. Commitment will give you discipline. Discipline will help you be better at anything. Including love."
  
  Pena is performing at the fifth annual Latin Alternative Music Conference Aug. 11-14 in Los Angeles. Also performing will be Andrea Echeverri, Ely Guerra, Los Lobos, Los Amigos Invisibles, Nortec Collective and Volumen Cero. As for Peña, a short U.S. tour is in the works with possible Texas dates.

Setlist

Basic Requirements

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