IMSTA FESTA Miami 2025 - Verses & Bridges: Making a Song From The Hook - Ana Paz

3 PM | Verses & Bridges: Making a Song From The Hook - Ana Paz

Overview: You've got the chorus. Now what? Verses & Bridges: Making a Song from the Chorus is a songwriting masterclass focused on expanding a strong hook into a complete and emotionally satisfying song. Many writers start with the big idea — the chorus — but get stuck building the story, structure, and pacing around it. This session offers strategies to reverse-engineer your song, giving depth and development to the verses and bridges that lead to — and away from — your most powerful section.

Speaker: Ana Paz is an alt-pop musician known for her angelic voice and harmonies, looping arrangements, and polyrhythms. From Miami, Florida, Ana Paz was born into a musical family and has developed an array of skills throughout her lifetime. She began to hone in on her craft professionally as a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist in 2021.

With influences ranging from Radiohead to Esperanza Spalding and Moses Sumney, Ana Paz's music borrows from a multitude of genres, including jazz, pop, and Afro-Latin music. She draws inspiration from her fascination with the human experience as well as the wisdom of the natural world.

In her short career, Ana Paz has already performed as a supporting musician with notable acts, including Cuban jazz-pianist Alfredo Rodriguez and Brazilian jazz-bassist Munir Hossn. She is a recipient of the 2024 and 2025 Miami Individual Artist Grant that is supporting the release of her first EP, surrender. She released her first featured collaboration and music video, Despiadado Corazón, with Miami-based artist CES in December 2023. She was also part of Munir Hossn’s live album recording session of Munir Hossn & Elas at the Blackroom Sessions in 2023.

She is debuting her solo project with the release of her first EP, surrender. It is a 3-song reflection on her intimate process with grief, exploring the complexities of longing for the past. The EP is characterized by her use of loops, vocal harmonies, and catchy melodies that reel you into an ethereal soundscape.

Ana Paz’s solo act is enthralling to watch, as she builds up unique arrangements of her songs with live-recorded loops. She stacks up layers of catchy melodies and polyrhythms with her voice, keys, guitar, and percussion. Whether it’s through her own music or in her collaborations, Ana Paz captivates an audience effortlessly with her mesmerizing voice, rhythmic playing, and unique arranging style.