Quick Note from Robb:
Howdy folks! We normally run testimonials on Mondays and today is no exception, but the format is a bit different. My good friend and former client of NorCal Strength & Conditioning is celebrating the release of her album, so this is at once both a testimonial and a bit of “getting the word out” about her album. Nesta was one of our earliest clients and she has a number of remarkable stories of both overcoming health issues AND being a top tier athlete. She discovered she was gluten intolerant even before attending the gym, so the Paleo approach was not hard for her to adapt to. Properly fueled, Nesta quickly became one of our best performers male or female. She was critical in our 3rd place Affiliate Cup finish several years ago at the CrossFit Games and has literally been a spark plug in the gym for years. Juxtaposed against her achievements in athletics and music, Nesta had a near brush with death a few years ago…it was a very near thing. When you see what she is doing today and consider where she was it’s truly remarkable.
Check out the links, download the music, and keep in mind there is much more behind the athleticism, pretty face and great voice. Nesta is a fighter and I’m incredibly blessed to have her as a friend, and I’m very excited to see where her music career goes.
Robb
Prepare to be captivated by Nesta. Winner of the 2012 Malibu Music Award for Best Pop Song, the Northern Californian native will pull you in with her breathy vocals and hooky lyrics. A natural singer songwriter, Nesta’s transition to electronic dance music was sparked by a friend who recognized her unique vocal style and flare for energetic performances. “I thrive in a high energy environment and somehow it actually helps me connect better with my audience. I think this is one of the reasons why I love EDM so much. It is a culmination of the most high energy people and songs all in one event. I love that people come ready to celebrate, dance, and lose themselves in the music.”
Raised in a small town in Northern California, Nesta began singing before she could talk. Growing up in a home where reggae, rock, and folk music was the soundtrack of her youth, her sound was inspired by many of the musical legends. Nesta creates a style that can be called a marriage of the meaningful emotional lyrics of artists like Bob Marley, the Beatles, Dylan, combined with the fierce high energy of artists like Madonna and Joplin.
A trained athlete, Nesta has made sport, nutrition, and exercise a big part of her life. She grew up in a family of boys and as a result became a fierce competitor. She spent much of her formative years training such disciplines as gymnastics, soccer, and swimming. At age 19 she embarked on an almost year long journey throughout Mexico and Central America with one goal in mind, to learn to surf. She was a natural water woman and after her year abroad, she soon moved to Maui to become one of the first surf female surf instructors on the island for Time Sherer of Goofyfoot Surf School. Nesta gravitated towards the heavy breaks and became a powerful surfer. She has spent much of her life traveling all over the world to feed her surfing addiction. She has also trained at the competitive level in Crossfit and was part of Robb Wolf’s Norcal Strength and Conditioning team that took 3rd place in 2009. Nesta states, ” I would consider myself an athlete and a musician. Both things define me as a person and I would never be happy without both sports and music in my life. Don’t be fooled into thinking she is a tomboy though, one look at her collection of shoes and you realize she is a true fashionista and a girly girl all the way.
An avid Paleo and Primal subscriber, Nesta spends much of her time educating folks on the benefits of living a Primal existence. You can find her coaching for Primal Blueprint founder Mark Sisson at his annual PrimalCon events and Malibu immersion retreats. Nesta relays, “Living a Primal lifestyle helps me balance it all. I don’t think I would have the energy or mental fortitude that I have if it wasn’t for my chosen lifestyle. I just want to give back to others if I can to help them find a way to live a healthier existence.”
Nesta’s debut album “Fly Free” was written in 2010 while living in Nashville, Tennessee. She describes the songwriting process that compiled that album as a time of “letting go of the past and looking toward the future. It was a time of regeneration and new beginnings.” After a successful collaboration with Indaba music, Nesta began to explore the EDM genre and community with passion. “It made me completely rethink my approach to music and recognize the future and potential of the EDM genre as one that I want to be part of. It is a movement, not just a style. There is an entire culture around it and an amazing community that instantly made sense to me. Maybe it is from the many festivals I attended in my youth. I look out into the crowd and immediately recognize the love and spirit that is the true essence of what drew me to music. It feels like home to me.”
Currently living in LA, she is working with Freddy Emmit, a producer out of Sweden to provide an electro-pop sound for her forthcoming album which will release in the summer of 2013. Her experience working with Freddy Emmit has been energizing. Nesta relays, “The music industry is in such a unique situation right now. You can literally work with artists all around the world and never step foot into the same room. It makes collaborations and opportunities limitless. ”
Considering the ups and downs of the music industry, when asked why she chose music as a career, Nesta says: “I admire anyone who has the guts to make music their career. It is a path riddled with rejection and setback. It is also a path where there is no real formula for success. You could work your entire life in the industry and never actually be successful in the traditional sense. People who choose music as a career really have no other choice. It is as if you have a pre-determined destiny. You cannot help but just do it. You wouldn’t know how to quit even if you tried. You are constantly driven to move forward, to create, and reject the notion that this is not meant to be. I honestly believe some people are just born with music in the blood. I don’t ever recall making a choice, just knowing that I would do it from a very young age.” It seems no mere coincidence that “Nesta” a nickname for her birth name Vanessa, was also Bob Marley’s middle name. We think it is a sign that music is her right career path.
In thanks of the support of the Paleo community Nesta is giving away some awesome Paleo Goods! Enter the contest here:
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