Bushkill recording producer riding crest of young artists' popularity
Nestor Bastidas said he is proud to call the Pocono Mountains home after coming here three years ago and is doing his part to put the area on the map as a record producer.
Born in Quayaquil, Ecuador, his family relocated to Queens, New York when he was 3, and 24 years later, the Bushkill resident has signed two promising artists to his independent record label known as Ness B. Music Group — Jacquelynn Pilcher of Tobyhanna and Colombia native Alfonzo Contreras.
After working first as a club promoter for New York City establishments and then many years as a promoter where he made friends in the music industry, Bastidas learned about music production and promotion while supporting himself as a self-taught graphic artist working for Nickelodeon and other big organizations.
"There's a lot of undiscovered talent here in the Poconos and I hope to be competing with some major labels in the near future. I believe that talk is cheap. Other people dream of success but I work very hard to achieve it," said Bastidas, who moved to Bushkill in 2007 and has worked with multi-platinum Latin Music producer Richy Pena of Boston and one of Manhattan's top music engineers, Chris Griffin.
Recently, he appeared on New York Latin radio station 95.9 to promote both artists.
Pilcher was featured in the Community News on Feb. 20 last year as one of three local artists using their talents as keys to the future. Since then, the tenacious 21-year-old has been busy making her lifelong dream come true of being a professional singer/song writer and self-taught musician.
She was discovered by Bastidas back in January and almost immediately was offered a contract that she signed with Ness B. Music Group. When it comes to her music, it's really hard to pin it into a specific category or genre.
"She is the next big 'it' girl," Bastidas said. She has star power but also the charm and appeal of the "girl next door."
Pilcher was originally born and raised in Hattiesburg, Miss., but was forced to evacuate after Hurricane Katrina hit.
Now living in the area for more than three years, Pilcher is happy to represent the Poconos.
Her first and new single "Fun" has been released for this month and she is shooting the video for it as well. Pilcher and her band will be back in a New York City studio within the next week recording her second single "When We Were Young."
New band members Marc Krokowski and Eddie Castillo are from Long Island, N.Y., and bass guitar player Marc Krokowski, another Long Islander, works as an emergency medical technician for North Shore Health (a.k.a. Long Island Jewish Hospital).
He has also worked as an E.M.T. in the past for Nassau County at Carle Place Volunteer Fire Department.
"Jacquelynn is the whole reason I even started to play guitar," said Krokowski. "She encouraged me when we first became friends years ago. I hope we go as far as possible and I'm just honored to be a part of her music."
Drummer Eddie Castillo has a pretty extensive background in music. From a very young age, he taught himself to play a variety of instruments, including guitar, bass guitar and keyboard/piano. Pilcher said about the new additions, "I'm very excited about what they both have to offer because they are both extremely good friends and very talented musicians. We all come from somewhat different musical backgrounds and experiences, but it makes for an interesting style and flavor in the music."
Pilcher is becoming popular on YouTube, Facebook, MySpace and building a growing fan base. Her main outlook on her career is to just have fun with it and not let it go to her head.
"The most important thing to me about my music is just like the song says, to just have fun with it. I want my music to be that song playing in the background at important times in someone's lives like their first kiss, weddings or an unforgettable summer that they'll never forget. Music is amazing how it can bring you back to let you relive an experience and feel emotions in the lyrics," said Pilcher.
Another one of Ness B. Music Group's top artists is Contreras, a Colombian native awaiting his visa to make his stage debut soon in the United States.
His hit single "La Nina" came out in Colombia in February and in the U.S. in June of this year and has been climbing the chart since. His music video for the song has hit the top 20 Latino charts and continues to make headway at No. 5 in the United Kingdom.
He is accompanied by backup vocalist Gina Castro and guitarist Schey Velequez. Bastidas plans for Pilcher and Contreras to sing as a duet when he arrives.
Visit at Pilcher www.myspace.com/jacquepilcher.
Follow her on twitter.com/jacquepilcher
Be a fan on .facebook.com/jacquepilcher
Watch her on youtube.com/jacquelynnpilcher
To book Jacquelynn for an event e-mail her at bookjacquelynnpilcher@gmail.com.