Iya Terra

Listen, breathe. The kick drum is thumping in an offset rhythm to your beating heart and the bass is thundering vibrations through your entire body, tuning you into the stage and every other person standing in the crowd. Lightning strikes in your mind as dueling guitar riffs peel away the fog and a keyboard bubble floats loftily like clouds over it all. Then come the lyrics, messages of connection and grace. Ease flows through the entire scene and you’re awoken by the tingle of resonance on your skin. Do you feel it? This is Iya Terra.From roots that reach down to a magma-hot core of metal heavy grooves, up to branches that reach into a pink sky of conscious soundwaves - Iya Terra is constantly climbing. Iya Terra means higher ground, which they seem to find everywhere, whether it be the top of the latest charts or next year’s festival billing.

Iya Terra brings a modern-conscious approach to songwriting in their ever evolving soundscapes: with messages crafted in love & respect. Currently based out of LA, and with members hailing from the west coast, SLC, and Vegas, their powerful rhythm section provides the heartbeat over which scintillating guitar riffs and soothing vocals float melodies of universal resonance.

Iya Terra released their first EP in 2014, then a debut album “Full Circle” in 2015. Then came the album that aligned the stars, “Sacred Sound” debuted at #1 on the reggae charts and the band’s following has swelled ever since. Their third full length release and second reggae chart topping album “Coming to Light” followed in 2019.

Iya Terra has been cultivating a unique sound and following for years, and their upcoming release, “Ease & Grace,” will drop with the band hitting full stride in 2021. The new tunes are produced by EN Young and feature reggae hard-hitters Tribal Seeds, Trevor Hall, Mike Love, Bobby Lee of SOJA, Alborosie, and the legendary David Hinds of Steel Pulse.

But if Iya Terra wants you to know anything, it would be this: just breathe, set your mind at ease, you got your whole life to live. One step at a time, right here, right now, that’s exactly where you want to be. The rest of your life starts today, so come along. Every single word you say, let it be peaceful, meaningful. Speak from your heart, it’s yearning to be.

E.N Young née Ian Allan Young, has been a frontline soldier of Roots Reggae music from an early age, with authenticity being the key determinate. Branching from piano at age five to drums at age 12 as part of physical therapy for a broken arm, E.N began meandering his own musical path as a result of encouraging friends and family. By his teenage years, E.N Young developed an even greater passion for Jamaican Culture and Roots music, being inspired with his two brothers, Manuel and Mike 'Strictly Roots' Marquez.

 

At age 17, E.N Young earned himself an internship at a recording studio; it was there where he recognized his true talent for production. By 2002, E.N joined the San Diego-based world music band Stranger, taking part in four studio albums with the ensemble while touring the West Coast, Hawaii and Guam. E.N Young’s dedicated efforts in the group garnered him a San Diego Music Award in 2009 and subsequent recognition throughout the San Diego music scene, enough to produce his own solo album a year later entitled Luck & Chance No More under his own Roots Musician Records. As the first artist under the label, E.N grew his brand by touring solo and promoting his new sound, eventually being approached by Roots Reggae band Tribal Seeds to produce their Soundwaves EP in 2011. This production partnership led to a proposition for E.N to be brought out on the road in his first national tour, from Hawaii to New York, as opening act for Tribal Seeds. It wasn’t until a year later that E.N. Young was initiated into Tribal full-time, playing keyboard and his signature melodica.

 

Over the years with Tribal Seeds, E.N Young escalated in his production enterprises, opening the doors of his own Imperial Sound Recording Studio in January of 2013. Standing as the most southwest recording studio in the country, just due north of the United States/Mexico Border, Imperial Sound has welcomed artists from around the globe -- most of Roots Reggae orientation. It was there that E.N produced Tribal Seeds’ most successful album to date, Representing, which amassed him a second San Diego Music Award before he cordially parted from the band in 2016. 

 

Now backed with substantial accreditation, E.N Young has produced, mixed or mastered over 800 songs out of his studio (and growing!), including his own albums – the latest being Forest Wilderness in May 2018. Segueing from his traditional rootsy past to Reggae incorporating modern EDM elements, E.N’s Forest Wilderness EP exemplifies his ability to manufacture novel sound in a relatively niche genre. As for production credits, E.N Young has worked with current headlining acts, like Pepper, Rebelution, Stick Figure, Slightly Stoopid, Trevor Hall, Million Stylez, Alborosie, Sizzla, Lutan Fyah, Don Carlos, Mykal Rose, KBong, Iya Terra and beyond. E.N’s most recent accomplishments include culminating over 2.6 million plays for “Ease Your Mind”, a single he produced and featured on for Philadelphia band Kings and Comrades, as well as solidifying an inclusion on Spotify’s ‘Reggae Party’ editorial playlist for his latest solo single, “Queendom”. With much on the horizon, E.N Young continues to scout for collaborative talent whilst progressing in his own musical ventures.

 

Written by: Kristy Rose (Top Shelf Music)

HaleAmanO plays Island Reggae, R&B and Roots style music. Our group HaleAmano has been together for several years now. We are based out of Las Vegas, NV and have played at many venues, events and festivals in Nevada, California, Arizona, Utah, Texas, Florida and Hawaii. Our music is a fusion of Island Reggae, Roots Reggae, Pop, Rock, Soul and R&B. We offer acoustic sets as well as full-band sets. We have many of our own originals and we are constantly writing more.