Igor Arzuaga

Igor Arzuaga Gumuzio was born in 1976 in Laudio (Llodio), in the province of Álava in the Basque Country, and grew up in the Areta area of the town. His mother was a music teacher, and he said that as a child he had grown up hearing her play the piano at home. He was told he had a remarkable ear, able to match any sound he heard to a note.

He began writing his own songs at the age of 13 and as a teenager played the trikitixa with a local group. He later went to Bilbao, where he played in the street for money, and from there to Gernika. With his brother Julen and two friends he formed the band Une Latzak. For a time he lived in New York, where he again played the trikitixa on the street and, by his own account, knew both good moments and hardship.

At the age of 18, while playing trikitixa in the streets of Gernika, Arzuaga was recruited by the members of the band Exkixu. When that chapter ended he joined the group of the singer songwriter Mikel Urdangarin and played on his early records. He remembered those years as fairly anarchic: he usually played piano, but if the bass player or the guitarist was missing at a concert, he took their place.

He then chose a solo career and released his first album, Argi izpi bat, on the Gaztelupeko Hotsak label in 2002, aged 25. A long discography followed: Smog (2004), El perro corredor (2007), Lagun eroa (2008), Unibertsoa gu (2008), Una cabra en la escalera (2009), Encima del caballo (2009), Mara mara with the musician Luis Vil (2011), Experience (2013), Llegará with the singer Nieves Arilla (2013), Nire begiak (2017), a spare record of piano and voice, Menditik jaitsi ginen (2020), Ekaitza ostean (2021) and Eider laukotea (2025), recorded with the Eider string quartet, which he called the best album he had ever released. In 2018 he also revived the Larrepetit project.

Arzuaga was known for his instrumental range, appearing on his records as a pianist, bass player, guitarist, harmonica player, accordionist and keyboard player, and for crossing styles from rock, pop, punk, funk and folk to classical music. He created a stage persona, Mara, originally a comic book character, who sang his songs, danced, looked the audience in the eye and offered absurd explanations of the songs, and he released two albums under that name. He performed with Ruper Ordorika, Mikel Urdangarin, Josu Zabala and Hasier Oleaga.

Arzuaga lived in a farmhouse and for many years worked during the day in a bookshop, keeping the hours after midnight for composing, when he could play the piano without disturbing anyone. He wrote poetry, publishing two collections in Spanish, made drawings and took part in theatre. He described music as a means of communication and said that creating was his great way of feeling alive. His brother Julen was a bandmate in Une Latzak.

Igor Arzuaga died on 20 October 2026, aged 50. The news was first reported by Aiaraldea, the local outlet for the Aiara valley, and was carried the same evening by Berria, Naiz and El Diario Vasco. No cause of death was made public, and funeral arrangements had not been reported at the time of the first coverage. El Diario Vasco closed its report with the Basque farewell Goian bego, may he rest in peace.

Arzuaga left more than a dozen albums made over two decades, largely in Basque, together with poetry, drawings and stage work. Obituaries described him as a creator who worked outside convention and was deeply respected by critics and by fellow musicians. He was often described as an outsider of the Basque music scene, and he said he accepted the label only in the sense that he was never one of its commercial winners, while feeling loved among his many friends in music.