When Pastele Pasquelina performs as one of the three headliners at Toledo Pride, it will be her first time in Ohio.
The idea to perform at the festival came from her friend from Cleveland who knew the other headliners, Rye Rye and Eryn Woods. A tour snowballed from there and the three artists are also performing together at Pride in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Pasquelina jumped at the chance to perform for the gay community, who she feels close to after growing up taking dance and art classes. She said she always had gay friends and frequently goes to gay clubs.
“The whole community is so inspiring,” she said. “Everybody should be treated equally and nobody’s different.”
The idea that “nobody’s different” inspired Pasquelina’s song “Psycho,” which celebrates originality. Pasquelina wrote the song after a transgender friend committed suicide.
“He just felt like he didn’t fit in,” Pasquelina said. “It really moved me. That’s the motivation for the song, that it’s OK to be weird and crazy and different. Embrace it.”
The song is a staple for the current tour.
Pasquelina comes from a musical family; her mother was a pianist and Pasquelina learned guitar at an early age.
“My house is like a ‘Glee’ episode,” she said. “One person starts singing, one person starts doing the harmony and it turns into a dance party.”
By the time she was 16, her songs were included in the MTV shows “The Hills,” “The City” and “Jersey Shore,” according to toledopride.com.
Pasquelina calls her style of music “hipster pop,” and blurs the lines of mainstream and indie. Her influences include No Doubt, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bruno Mars.
She began cultivating her style during her days at a fashion institute.
“Going in and out of Brooklyn and the Village [was like] having this whole cultural experience, meeting all these people who weren’t from the U.S.,” she said. “It kind of stemmed in my music a little bit. I was in a development stage, really trying to focus on my sound. I realized how cultured it became.”
Pasquelina said she likes to make uplifting, inspiring music and added there’s a void of that on Top 40 radio right now.
“I think the group MAGIC!, who did the song ‘Rude,’ kind of are touching upon it. Their songs are really positive on their album,” Pasquelina said. “But I think there is still a void in the industry for really positive [music.] People think that to be artistic you have to make it dark but I think you can shine a light on something that’s artsy and fun.”
Pasquelina’s goals for the future are to do just that: Be on the radio, inspire people and make friends.
Pasquelina will perform at 11 p.m. Aug. 23 at Toledo Pride, which is celebrating its fifth year. For more information or the schedule of events, visit toledopride.com.
