Rising Stars: Meet Adam / Jerome Bell-Bastien of East English Village

Today we’d like to introduce you to Adam / Jerome Bell-Bastien.

Hi Adam / Jerome, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Our story began in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Jerome was invited to collaborate with a MN-based vocal group that Adam belonged to at the time. The first part of the collaboration was a video shoot for a music video in which Jerome was to portray Adam’s love interest. Needless to say, the chemistry was real and a new relationship formed shortly thereafter! Soon after that, we started singing together in short videos for Instagram which is where we caught the ears of a talent scout for NBC’s The Voice. We were asked to send a filmed audition to the casting agency and, after a bit of back and forth, we were cast on Season 15 and landed on Team Kelly (Clarkson). Though our time on The Voice was not as long-lived as we’d hoped, we were able to gain the attention of fans across the globe and even signed with a booking agent only weeks after our last episode aired. Since then, we have moved to Detroit (where Adam has roots) and found immense amounts of inspiration for creating content, writing songs, and building the life we desire.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Well, the road for independent artists is almost never easy, but we have been so fortunate to be able to take this journey together! The unpredictability of the music industry is nearly impossible to keep up with, but we’ve remained focused on what we know we are supposed to do: create and perform. The pandemic brought with it an entirely new way of pursuing music and we decided early on in 2020 that we would use the time to learn, grow, and embrace every tool and relationship we had to keep creating. We’re still shocked to think that we made more headway with our original music during the pandemic than any other time in our career together, and we’re more determined than ever to keep the momentum going!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We’ve nestled into a genre of music called Nu-Disco which is a modern take on the classic disco sound. We perform with an amazing disco tribute group in NYC called The Disco Nights, and being immersed in that music inspired us to use disco flavor in the songs we write! To date, our proudest moment was hearing our Feb 2021 release, TRN IT UP (StoneBridge & Lil Joey Remix) on SIRIUS XM Radio! The song is rooted in disco and house, and we had never experienced anything like the excitement of hearing it on such a huge platform! It’s hard to truly stand out in the music industry, but we believe that what we have to say and the way we express it is what sets us apart the most.

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
Ah, Detroit. Detroit!! We love this city so much. She has a heart and soul unlike any other city we’ve experienced. We have been so inspired by the DIY vibe of the community – everywhere you look you will find someone creating something beautiful out of very little or nothing at all. There’s space here to get lost in creativity…there’s evidence of perpetual resiliency…there’s room to grow and make things happen, and bright blue water that runs across the southern border. Our least favorite thing about Detroit? February lol

Contact Info:

• Website: www.oneupduo.com
• Instagram: @oneupduo
• Facebook: @oneupduo
• Twitter: @oneupduo
• Other: https://linktr.ee/oneupduo

Image Credits
Bre’ann White(pink background photos) Kevin Barranco