This week our featured artist is Pablo Rodriquez, a Basque native whose diversity of music is unmatched. Let's hear about his journey im his own words.

"I am Pablo and this is my introduction of myself and in particular a background of the influences which brought me to where I am today. I am considered an emerging artist on the U. S. music scene even though I have done music in Asia for the past 12 years. My music includes many genres from dance to ballad, and in many languages including Basque, Filipino, Spanish and several Asian languages. My first song originated from my frequent visits to the KTV lounge in which I heard and attempted to sing Chinese pop songs. I sometimes did the bertso style of singing at a moments notice to a tune which in this case was some Cantonese song which I had no idea how to read it. So I got up and sang in Samoan realising that most of the crowd were from Hong Kong with only a few native Samoans to understand. To my suprise some overseas workers from the Philippines were also there and could somewhat understand what I was singing (Samoan and Filipino being in same language family). 

Even the Chinese were enjoying my total randomness of the whole thing, I would one day suprise them and sing in Cantonese. One of the listeners of my first song was a radio broadcaster from Manila who was greatly impressed by my voice and thought surely I was Asian. He encouraged me to write the words to the song that I had sang and so I did, this became one of first songs "'O Le To'atasi" You Are The One. It must be noted that when I sang this song there was a girl in the crowd who caught my attention for her smile yet beneath it she seemed in pain and this touched me and influenced the words of the song. We would later develope a deep friendship which influenced my music greatly and would indeed send me to the Philippines. In the meantime my family was very displeased that I had chosen do go KTV every night, my mom especially, so I took it easy for a while, my dad was often in Hong Kong, Argentina, Brasil or Miami; so I felt bad for my mom worry over me.   

Then in 1993 I was invited for go to the Philippines by the girl which I mentioned earlier. We developed a close relationship and I learned the language quickly and translated that first song into Tagalog and sang it again at a Karaoke lounge in Makati. It was an instant hit, everyone begging me for sing the song everytime I went there to the lounge. I also in this time as missing my family a bit and I wrote many things about my feelings and such like which would later become songs. After legal issues were taken care, this original song would be my first official song "Ikaw Pa Rin" I spent time in the studio and along with several other songs which used my own tunes would become my first album "Heart Of Asia" which was signed by PARI a group of independent Filipino artist. By 1996 I was getting radio airplay in the Philippines on several stations, and even several times in Hong Kong on a station for Filipino and Malaysian overseas workers. I would later make songs in Malay as well. 

During all of this time I had developed a strong emotion and desire for love and affection which would be evident in most of all the songs which I would write. Even if it was a fast dance song, there was always a deeper meaning for the lyrics, I wanted to love, dance and be happy, even though in the later parts of the 90's I was not feeling happy or loved many times. These feelings would lead to such songs as "My Song To You" (1998)  and "Sabi Ng Puso Ko" (Touch My Heart) this was written for this one Filipina girl which I mentioned earlier, I did not want for leave her but I moved to Miami and she could not come. To this day I regret to following my father to Miami even though I know all things happen for a purpose. In Miami I would continue writing many songs and get noticed by the Asian community there including the Filipinos and Vietnamese. Despite my Basque Spanish ancestory, up until this time I never once wrote any thing in either language.  

Due to worsening relations with my dad, I decided for move to California in 2000, but again leaving someone who cared for behind, which in this case was my mother. Through all of my life she was the one person who I could confide in every situation. In California I would meet the Hmong people in Fresno and write several songs in that language, most noteable being "Kuv Hlub Koj" (I Love You) and "Ua Cas Thiaj Tau Koj". Of unique interest during this time would be my song "Love, Day After Tomorrow" written on September 10th of 2001. This song was for a dear friend who was flying home to San Diego by way of New York on the 11th and I felt worried about it very strongly and wrote this song. And we all know the events which happened in New Work on that date. This song would become a hit by the mere coincidence which surrounded it. For all the songs I did until this time, I never signed with any major recording company, despite some interest by Warner Music in Kowloon. 

Between 2001 and 2003 was a time of no major even in my music except for the somewhat rave song "Lo'u Fetua'o" My Morning Star which was well liked by the Samoan community of Los Angeles. This was a time in my life in which I would party all night and sleep all day, missing my family and seeking a direction in my life. Also making friends with people who I should not have been, this left no time for my writing and many feelings simply accumulating in my head with no place for go. I decided for get away and went to Hawaii for a few months which greatly helped and get me away from the bad influences that I had encountered. I wrote some songs again and since was no recording studio on Molokai, I returned to Miami. There I did two very successful songs "Alofa Faifaipea" Love Is The Answer and "Fa'amaoni Le Alofa" Eternal Love both songs in Samoan. By 2004 after feeling very alienated from my own culture I decided for write some songs in Spanish and Basque language.

Most noteable were "Amor, Familia Y Respeto" Love, Family And Respect, this song had an influence of how things had been in my family and how I felt because many things had happened in the past and I felt very badly for my mom because of what my dad did; but this was written as a love song more or less showing my future wife that I would always love and respect even though it had not been that way in my family. Also in Basque language I wrote "Ez Esan Maite" Don't Say My Love" a song in which I expressed many the questions of my life that I did not understand for which I wished a companion or soulmate would. Both of these songs did well in Miami, Argentina and Spain. After those two songs my father started taking notice, something which he had never done before, but it was more for personal gain and not so much a true concern for me. He had friends in the music business in Spain and hoped for make a deal with them. I declined and this made him very angry.

By 2006 I had done various radio shows in Miami and was trying for make a true introduction into the U. S. music scene, I did a live show in Boise in November which was a great success. I had very strange dreams during this time and which would inspire me on several other songs which I would later write in 2008. During 2007 I did the song "Maeva Ongi Etorri" Welcome in both Basque and Tahitian, this song combined styles from Basque and Polynesian music with a touch of Asian. This song did very well in the Basque Country of Spain and France which also made it a success in French Polynesia, the overseas territory for which Tahiti is a part of. During this time I decided for make my own producition company RCI Producitions and take care of all of the distribution of my music, which in many cases was to make it free for download on internet. This concept is now shared by many Basque artist who signed a Creative Commons license for their music. 

By this agreement any one can listen our music as long as is not modified, sold by 3rd party or used in any way for profit by anyone other than the original artist. Now to 2008, after enduring yet more problems with my father, I moved for Atlanta. Here I encountered a most wonderful person by way of internet rather accidently, but she seemed a fulfillment of the previous dreams. I again worked on the two previously mentioned songs which I had began writing in 2006, these songs would become "Eskutitza" The Letter and "Gehiago Naiz Maitemintzen" Always Loving You More. A blog post would later become the song "My Wish For You" one of my few attempts at an English song. So here we are in the present time, hoping that indeed my most recent inspiration will be the begining of great things in my music. I have great plans for many future projects and songs. Most importantly, I wish for promote love, peace and harmony through my music for many generations to enjoy.