During his creative career he has been influenced by other Spanish singer-songwriters such as Joaquín Sabina, Joan Manuel Serrat and the Cuban Silvio Rodríguez amongst others.

In 1997 Ismael Serrano signed with Polygram (now Universal) and released his first album, Atrapados en Azul, featuring the songs "Papá cuéntame otra vez", "Vértigo" and "Amo tanto la vida" that became hymns for youngsters in Spain and Latin America.

The follow-up album, La memoria de los peces (1998), increased https://youtube.com/watch?v=EdXWkvKodIo&feature=share popularity (sales level for Platinum in Spain, Gold in Argentina).

In May 2002 Ismael Serrano participated in his second feature film El corazón de Jesus, a German-Chilean-Bolivian production written and directed by Marcos Loayza.

0, a romantic comedy of errors involving several sets of people who meet at, or otherwise have in common, Kilómetro Cero in Madrid.