We had the good fortune of connecting with Willy Calderon and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Willy, other than deciding to work for yourself, what was the single most important decision you made that contributed to your success?
The real turning point in my career happened when I started to market myself as a more exclusive artist. This meant saying “NO” to many gigs, shows, and offers that were not up to my standards, didn’t want to pay a decent rate, or were just not that interesting to me. This also meant a low point for me, because if my rate was “this” much, there was always someone that would happily take the gig from me for “that” much- if you catch my drift. But soon enough, the right offers started to come my way, and I found myself in a much more prestigious environment. I went from being a musician to an artist and a brand.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’ve been creating music since I was a baby. I’ve been on stages since I was 2 years old thanks to my mom and grandma taking me to family friends’ shows and concert. Most of our family friends are musicians, artists, and producers, so I’ve always been around music. I taught myself how to play piano, bass, drums, percussion, how to produce, and everything else involving music. My mentors helped and are still helping me polish those sets of skills. It’s only now that I’m learning to ask for help, which has been a huge lesson for me. I don’t think you can ask everyone for help, but you can ask people that you look up to or really share a connection with. Successful people are always the one’s to lend a hand.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Little Tokyo is always a place I can go to eat, shop or relax. It’s usually safe and people stay to themselves, but random conversation is fun when it happens. The Taiyaki, crepes, and ramen always reminds me of my late night snacking and wandering in Japan. There are also great vintage clothing shops I like to find cool styles at.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I thank God, my late mother, Jeanine, and my wonderful grandmother, Blanca, for supporting my dreams to travel the world playing music. I thank my mentors, Neil Benitez, Alex Acuña, and Luisito Quintero, who all in some way have been like the father I never had, in music and in life.

source: Shoutout LA
shoutoutla.com/meet-willy-calderon-award-winning-musician-record-producer-and-recording-artist/

A red carpet celebration was held for the release of Project Neon: The Birth Of City Pop Salsa, Willy Calderon's third studio album. The gala was graced by the attendance of some of the Los Angeles music scene's most recognizable faces, musicians, and executives from industry giants like Sony Music Latin, Gon Bops Percussion, Alma Del Barrio, Amazon Music, Native Tongue Percussion, and Atlantic Records.

The red carpet kicked off with speeches of thanks, music video premieres, and excited upcoming news. The night included a special performance by Grammy Award-Winning singer, Stephanie Amaro, who sang her songs Bay City and I'm In Love, featured on the album. Japanese artist, Aico Simon, sang her hits from the Project Neon album, Stay With Me, Plastic Love, and Midnight Pretenders. The legendary Colombian singer, Macondo Chaverra, graced the gala with a performance of songs he recorded with La Sonora Dinamita and The Latin Brothers. Popular Latin singers Yeoman The King, Diomar Murillo, Delfo Ballestas, Jaime Andres Salazar, Edgar Cruz, and Elder Martinez also gave live performances to entertain the lounge full of special guests. Willy Calderon and friends closed the event with a live improvisation on percussion that left the crowd wanting more.

Project Neon: The Birth Of City Pop Salsa is available everywhere now.

Tres años después de haber presentado su exitoso debut discográfico Willy Calderon & The L.A. Impromptu Orchestra, regresa el percusionista, pianista, arreglista y productor musical Willy Calderon con su segundo álbum Project Neon: The Birth Of City Pop Salsa

Calderón, radicado en Los Angeles, California, logra crear a traves de Project Neon: The Birth Of City Pop Salsa puentes musicales entre las urbes de Tokyo y Los Angeles. 8 piezas populares de la música japonesa son habilmente arreglados pos Calderon en tiempo de Salsa.

El álbum abre con Plastic Love, un tema de 1984 de Mariya Takeuchi que en esta ocasión adquiere sonoridades latinas con la participación de la cantante japonesa Aico Simon. El tema original de Junko Yagami Bay City destaca la presencia de Stephanie Amaro y de John Egizi en el solo de trombón. El sabroso Midnight Jokes-popularizado por Takako Mamiya-presenta la cantante, Karol Posadas. Aico Simon afronta en la parte vocal el exito del álbum, Stay With Me de Miki Matsubara. Originalmente grabado por el duo, Bread and Butter, Japanese Woman es versionado en salsa con la participacion de JP Castillo, mientras que la efervescente I'm In Love (Tomoko Aran) hace lo propio con Stephanie Amaro. La cantante Tomoko Aran también inspiro a Calderon para el siguinete corte, Midnight Pretenders, el cual presenta a una inspirada Aico Simon. Love Was Really Gone, la pieza que cierra el álbum, pone de relieve al cantante Ricky Luis.

por DJ Chino:
https://www.solarlatinclub.com/willy-calderon-project-neon-the-birth-of-city-pop-salsa/
https://beacons.ai/willycalderon

Plastic Love


Stay With Me

by Carlos Moreno Jr.

A heartfelt congratulations to all the talented artists running in this year's EMMYS FYC event – it's shaping up to be an unforgettable journey! And I'm thrilled to announce that I'm once again in the running for Outstanding Performer In A Short Form Comedy or Drama Series!

A massive thank you to my incredible family and friends for their unwavering support. And of course, immense gratitude to the amazing cast, crew, and especially the producers and musicians who make magic happen behind the scenes. Not forgetting a huge shoutout to the crowdfunding platform, 'Support our Story,' and our 185 donors who have supported this story; we are running together in this FYC season. Mil Gracias to all who have been part of this incredible journey! The producers would like to give a big shout out to Vishal Singh, Carlos Piñeiro, Trevor Lapaglia, our entire cast and crew, and Willy Calderon for the music on many of the episodes!

A massive thank you to the Television Academy, Guild members, and to everyone who showed us some love last Friday!

Don't miss the fun— watch our hilarious episodes and join the party: https://www.youtube.com/@PepitosAmerica

Willy Calderon IMDB Credits on Pepito's America
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14780535/

Today we’d like to introduce you to Willy Calderon.
voyagela.com/interview/life-work-with-willy-calderon-of-los-angeles/

Hi Willy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself. 
I have a very musical family and upbringing. I was raised with music playing in my house 24/7. My mom was a musician. My dad was a singer. My Godfather is Fruko, a prominent figure in Colombian salsa and cumbia music. Family friends were all professional musicians. 
I was on music stages at 2 years old, mimicking the singers and the dancers. My whole life was about learning instruments and making music. A family friend recommended me to do my first professional gig when I was 13 years old. The word got around that I somewhat knew what I was doing and got on the city’s “call list.” 
I then went on to do really great gigs with really huge artists, appear on some really popular records, and do lots of touring all over the world. I built my contacts and relationships throughout the years and started doing my own projects and producing my own artists. 
I signed endorsement deals with all of my favorite music gear companies, received a few awards and nominations, and am about to release my 3rd record, Project Neon: The Birth Of City Pop Salsa, which they’re really loving in Japan and Europe. 
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The only real struggles have been personal. Music has always been good to me. We’re not all born into royalty or with a silver spoon. So, the road to the top is longer and more narrow. But the experience of it all will make a great book someday. 
Introspective battles are present at times. You question yourself. You fail to understand why things don’t work in your favor. But then, your side blinders come on, and you focus on just yourself and your vision, and then everything makes sense. Things you once cared about seem small. That gig you wanted really wasn’t that great. You were destined for something way bigger. I laugh at my old self sometimes. 
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a record producer, a musician, and I specialize in percussion. I really do take for granted how much I do. Someone once explained to me from their point of view, and it made sense that we creators, producers, and multi-instrumentalists are not normal! 
I can take your lyric and built a castle around it. I can take your song and sprinkle it with the magic you didn’t know it needed. I can see the final product in my head from just the first couple of seconds of an idea and see it through. 
It’s easy to me because I play all types of instruments, understand all types of musical genres, and have a pretty good sense of what sells and what doesn’t. Like all artists, however, my business chops can use some work. 
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Network and connect. Show your face at gatherings. Be easy to like, hard to forget, and as real as possible. Talent really plays second fiddle nowadays. But if you have the whole “image” thing working from you early on, talent is what will set you apart. Also, get a mentor. 
Contact Info:

• Website: www.willycalderon.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/willycalderonofficial
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/willycalderonjr
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@willycalderonofficial
• Other: https://beacons.ai/willycalderon

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https://voyagela.com

  Photo Courtesy: Getty Images
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/willy-calderon-attends-kash-hovey-and-friends-at-film-fest-news-photo/1244943149?adppopup=true