Adam Pastel, an up-and-coming artist from the Bay Area, has gotten attention on social platforms for his new song, “Petaluma”.

Pastel has become very popular on social platforms and known within Petaluma’s youth ever since his song about the city has come out. Adam Gokcebay, born and raised in Petaluma, has been singing and loving music since kindergarten at Liberty Elementary school. He started his early career in a singing group there and continued his love of singing until his junior year at Saint Vincent’s High School when he finally started producing to music to streaming platforms.

When starting to produce with music production manager, Cal-A, he wanted to make sure Pastel had a brand like no other. The duo thought that Gokcebay was too hard to say and spell, so they decided to think of something new that would fit the brand and be easy to remember. This is where the name Adam Pastel originated from. 

Pastel has come out with multiple songs, such as “OVERTHINKING” and “REWIND”  from his album Mistaken Memories, produced in 2022. Songs on the album have gained about 10,000 to 130,0000 listens in total. 

His inspirations are the people and listeners of his music. He wants to make people happy. “If I can just make a song that will take someone’s mind off something, you know, [it’s] just huge” Pastel stated. 

When producing the song “Petaluma”, Pastel actively posted on social media to raise attention. He started getting tons of views, with one video in particular, getting 24,800 views. However, numerous people left hate towards the song, with comments ranging from ”should’ve left this in Petaluma” and “the crowd goes mild”, to “this makes me want to leave Petaluma”. 

When asked about this, he replied that he thought it was funny. He said, “It’s more about them hating Petaluma”. 

Pastel first produced this song when he was away from home at college and missing his family. When COVID-19 forced him to come home from his college, George Washington University, he spent a lot of time in Petaluma and realized that he had missed the nostalgia. The song is a way for him to connect with the town where he grew up. 

Adam Pastel is an inspiration to the future generations who want to become rappers and songwriters because he was in their shoes just a few years ago. He tells them,“Just follow your heart and make the stuff you want to make; don’t listen to what other people say because those people won’t be around forever, they won’t be the people who are following your music. Or maybe they will, which ends up being the funny thing.”

Big things are happening right now for Pastel. He opened for local artist Skizzy Mars at the Black Cat in Washington, D.C. earlier this month. Pastel has more planned for the coming months with new songs and collaborations. It’ll be exciting to see where this local artist goes next!