Los Alamitos native Nicky Barot is not yet one year from graduating high school, but the 19-year-old is already starting to gain some notice in the music world.
Los Alamitos native Nicky Barot is not yet one year from graduating high school, but the 19-year-old is already starting to gain some notice in the music world.
Barot recently recorded his first EP and the Los Alamitos High graduate has already toured much of the country in starting his music career. Some notable names have taken the young musician under their wings, including producer Michael Binikos, who has worked with LeAnn Rimes and songwriters who have written for Rimes, Eric Clapton and Lady Antebellum.
The past year has been the start of a musical passion that has been growing in Barot since the age of seven. Barot is soaking up all the information and experience he can and is seeing his talents grow quickly under some important guidance.
“I’m just putting everything I have into music,” Barot said.
Barot received his first guitar at the age of seven and learned to play by ear. He was influenced by his father’s musical interests, which included AC/DC, Led Zeppelin and Guns N’ Roses. His quick study on the guitar had many of his early instructors calling him a “prodigy.”
Later he gravitated towards some of his own musical favorites, including Linkin Park and the Foo Fighters as he developed his own pop-rock style. He worked with Binikos and Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx to produce his first demo, entitled “What were you thinking?”
In 2008 Barot won the OC Battle of the Bands and has performed at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, as well as the House of Blues in Anaheim and The Roxy in Hollywood. He has also performed live in New York City, Dallas, Nashville, Orlando and Las Vegas. Barot said live performances have been key in developing his music and his style.
“Being on stage, it’s so important, you kind of have to do it to be good at it,” Barot said.
While touring he found time to begin working on his first EP, recently released on iTunes and entitled “Me.” The title track is also “Me” and Barot said it is probably the song that most reflects him. He worked with veteran producer Mickey Jack
Cones, who has worked with names such as Kelly Clarkson and Jason Aldeen.
“He helped a lot with the whole album,” Barot said of Cones.
Barot attended Rossmoor Elementary, Oak Middle School and graduated from Los Alamitos High in 2012. His mother Ila and father Steve still live in Los Alamitos, with his younger brother Tyler. When he can he enjoys being back in Los Alamitos and going fishing with his bother, a pastime the two have shared for a long time.
“We’re really close,” Barot said of Tyler.
Barot has begun working on his next EP and will soon begin a new tour that will include stops in London. In his writing he tries to draw on life experiences, but admits that at his young age, those experiences are not as diverse as some of the veterans he has worked with. Instead he tries to use his imagination to gain feelings he puts into his music.
“It’s really all about putting yourself into situations,” Barot said.
For more about Barot, or to hear samples of some of his music, visit www.nickybarot.com. He can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.
