With 50,000 views on his You-Tube page, freshman Jonah Santiago is having more success than most students at Penn State Beaver. Santiago not only sings but plays various instruments and is believed to be the first musician on campus to get his song onto iTunes.

Santiago said his love for music started as a family thing: Both of his parents and older siblings are musicians. His father, Reinzi Santiago, is a pastor for His Disciples Christian Outreach Ministry, where the younger Santiago began singing in church at an early age.

“Jonah began singing songs as early as 4 years old. He would sing along with an accompaniment track and was in tune,” his father said. “His first official musical involvement was when he was 7, when he played drums along with young musicians.”

Santiago has performed in several shows, without pay, and also plays four instruments. Santiago said it is difficult being a full-time student and musician. “Recently, it has become harder because now that I have had some success with my music, it has given me some momentum, and I don’t want to stop making music,” he said. “But with school I have to split my time between the two.”

The success Santiago referred to was the Oct. 7 release of his first original single, titled “Up in Heaven.” Santiago released the song on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play and some other music sites. He has also done well with self promotion through the Penn State Beaver Facebook page and on his YouTube page titled “jsant033,” which has led to a student fan base on campus.

“It feels fantastic to know that Jonah may make it big someday.” – Kaif Aailim-Johnson (Freshman)

One of Santiago’s friends, freshman Kaif Aailim-Johnson, said, “It feels fantastic to know that Jonah may make it big someday.” He also said that he treats Santiago no differently since he bought his friend’s single.

Sophomore DaAndre Wagner said, “It’s really cool that he took the time out to produce a song that was good enough to sell, and he really has a voice that is made for radio.”

Several students who have heard a clip of the song have said they would buy it through one of the websites, and all have agreed that Santiago has a very smooth and sensual voice.

Santiago’s parents are really supportive, he said, but they usually don’t know much about his music. For instance, he said his mother, Marilou Santiago, didn’t know he had a single out on iTunes until his cousins from the Philippines told her.

Santiago, of Hopewell Township, doesn’t make a big deal about what he is doing musically because he feels like his parents wouldn’t want him to make a fuss. “We initially heard him sing in our basement, where his studio now is. At the time we couldn’t believe it because we never saw that Jonah had any desire for public performance,” Reinzi Santiago said. He added that his parents honestly had no clue what iTunes was, but he is glad that his son’s music is now reaching people everywhere.

Santiago had a bit of advice for musicians like himself: “Work with what you have,” he said. “If you only have a phone to shoot a video, use that. Or if you can’t afford music software, find free ones. Money doesn’t make a musician.” Santiago’s own promo for the single was shot using only an iPhone and is now on YouTube.

He said that with the great reception of his first single, he is already working on writing a second song which will be released in the upcoming months. Until his next release, Santiago also has a wide array of cover songs and videos on YouTube to access, along with contact information.