by Howard Campbell
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Before she found international fame in 2013 as winner of The Voice, Tessanne Chin rocked Jamaica’s airwaves with a reggae-rock song titled Hideaway. It was co-produced by Paul Kastick, one of the country’s top drummers.
Released in 2006, Hideway was one of that year’s biggest hits in Jamaica and remains Kastick’s greatest success as a producer. Due to hectic touring with Big Mountain, Shaggy and Diana King, he has been unable to dedicate much time to production, but is determined to change that with the re-launch of his GrooveGalore Production label.
In May, Kastick released Say I, a collaboration between Maxi Priest, Danglin and Kenyan reggae singer Chiluba. It is a follow-up to Let Me Love U, a duet by Chin and South Florida deejay/rapper Honorebel, which was released last year.
“The focus of GrooveGalore Production is to facilitate top-class music productions for any artist interested and to also take on new artists that I may find interesting and worthy of my personal investment as a producer,” Kastick explained.
Much of his time in the last five years has been on the road or recording with Big Mountain, the Southern California band best known for the 1994 pop-reggae hit, Baby I Love Your Way.
Kastick has also produced several of the band’s albums, as well as songs by Danglin, a former lead singer of The Wailers, Sizzla and Canadian singer Belinda Brady. The latter is one of the acts he is currently working with.
From Montego Bay, Kastick started his career in his hometown’s tourism circuit, playing in hotels. He got his break in the late 1980s with the 809 Band which included stalwarts like saxophonist Dean Frasier, trombonist Nambo Robinson and guitarist Winston ‘Bo Pee’ Bowen.
His biggest influences, however, are rock musicians like Alex and Eddie Van Halen, Tommy Lee of Motley Cue and Metallica’s Lars Ulrich.
Those edgy influences played out on Hideaway which was co-produced by American guitarist Rudy Valentino. Kastick insists music from GrooveGalore Production will have a similar direction.
“I felt very good about what we did on that record. To this day, sometimes I wonder what the hell was going through our heads but Rudy and I are always trying to change things up and go against the grain,” he said. “It’s just what I’ve done all my life really, try to be little different and not follow the same lanes.”
