Pigeon Spins Featuring an Interview with ESTRADA Music Project

ESTRADA Music Project - I don’t need to hide anymore

An empowering and deeply personal anthem celebrating authenticity and self-acceptance. Alejandro Estrada, a musician who also works as a doctor, channels his experience of feeling pressure to hide his true self (tattoos, personal style) into this track. The song is a musical declaration that he is now free to integrate both professions, proving that passion and love for what you do are the only things that matter. It delivers a powerful, universal message of living genuinely through the organic, heartfelt sound characteristic of Estrada Music Project.

He lives in beautiful Scotland. He work in a hospital from 9 to 5, and in the evenings from 7 to 11, He writes songs...I He's surrounded by the love and support of an extraordinary woman and two amazing children. God has filled his life with so much love, and he can't help but let it flow through the music he writes. This is who he is: a man, a son, a husband, a father, a friend and a doctor.

This is his life. I don’t need to hide anymore is about true, sincere love.

Interview with ESTRADA Music Project

(•)> What inspired you to turn your personal experiences of self-acceptance into a musical anthem?

The fact that I’m in a fantastic country (Scotland) that opens its doors for me and my family and the interesting thing that the people here grow listening to the music I always have listened to which is mainly based on British pop/rock. My patients, colleagues and friends don’t judge me and respect me as a person, doctor and musician. So, no more filters.

(•)> How has balancing your life as both a doctor and musician shaped your creative process?

Nowadays I write about those things. During the day I work in the hospital and at home I try to transform my daily experiences in music. Love is the engine of my life and drives me through both things.

(•)> What message do you hope listeners take away from this song about authenticity and love?

You don’t need to pretend to fit in a place. People should be authentic and passionate, whatever they do in life. Always do whatever makes you happy and not to make others happy, which is a real problem with many artists trying to please everyone for fame, power and money.

(•)> How do your experiences in medicine influence the emotions and stories you express through music?

People who work in hospitals experience deep human feelings from life to death. We are isolated dealing with different things that others may experience working in offices, companies, shops etc. I want to share part of the things we are daily exposed and try to improve the way we do just for the benefit of the patients.

(•)> Can you share what it felt like to finally embrace your true self, tattoos, style, and all, without fear?

Well, I’m so happy to be myself and don’t need to hide my tattoos for example. I love to connect with everyone and it is very nice to break ice with some patients asking them for the meaning of their tattoos, and at the end we finish the consultation talking about very interesting non-related topics. I work with doctors, nurses and health professionals who have piercing, colourful hairs and more tattoos than me and we respect each other for what we do and no interest for how we look.

(•)> How does living in Scotland inspire or influence your songwriting and artistic outlook?

Again, the people here are different. Even the elderly population don’t have prejudices (at least don’t share it in public) and are respectful with others. I’m not doing anything different as a doctor or musician but now here I got a massive canvas to express myself at maximum with no filters. It’s quite hard to explain. Maybe in other countries where I worked I couldn’t post a video of me singing or dancing without being afraid to be condemned by my superiors or colleagues.

(•)> What role does your family play in motivating and grounding you through both careers?

Very supportive. All of them have been involved since the beginning. I met my wife at a gig 20 years ago and my children grew up listening to so much rock and roll. Many times my wife helped me to remove my makeup after a night gig before starting my surgical shift. It wasn't hard for them.

(•)> How do you find the energy and balance between hospital shifts and late-night songwriting sessions?

The energy? Well, in the hospital I drink coffee and in the studio whiskey :) I guess I use the same energy and motivation to try to do the best possible in each role. However I need inspiration to create music.

(•)> Why was it important for you to show that passion and love matter more than labels or professions?

Because with love you can heal. Listening, understanding, and being really interested in patients' problems make a huge impact on them. That’s the most important thing. Humility creates a nice and strong engagement with people instead of believing that you're superior just because you have a degree or whatever. We are all the same.

(•)> What does “true, sincere love” mean to you, both in life and in your music?

Can be explained in one sentence: Thinking with your heart. Giving the best of you with no other intentions apart from love for the people you meet, the work you do and all the things you create. I believe in God who is the true and most sincere love. I owe everything to him. That’s the way I can pay my debt to him.

(•)> That's all, Folks! Check out ESTRADA Music Project on the Pigeon Spins Playlist