After years of reconciling family life, work and music,Roxsy now wishes to devote herself entirely to her passion. The singer has a lot of plans for herself and for her island.
Rosanna “Roxsy” Castillo was born in the Dominican Republic but has spent her whole life in St Martin. Passionate about singing since her childhood, she was lulled by music among her siblings, between the church and her home. “We often did singing and dancing competitions at home, with a wooden spoon as a microphone”, she remembers with amusement. “I was the youngest, but I loved it, it was very glamourous”. For her studies, she turned to administration and accountancy, but did not give up on music. At the age of 19, she joined the Youth Waves local band, as a backup singer and toured the Caribbean and the Mainland. After a two-year break in the Netherlands, she returned to St Martin and in 1999 she started performing with different musicians in the island’s hotels and casinos. Between Zouk, Kompa, Reggae, RnB, Soul and Reggaeton, people like the artist for her very varied repertoire in three languages and her warm and powerful voice.
In 2005, the singer became a mother and decided to take a break from music. A few years later, after giving birth to two daughters, Roxsy gradually resumed her way to the stage and the studios while keeping her work as an accountant in parallel. She sang again with Youth Waves, but also other local musicians such as Christian Nara, Dr. Alicia Liverpool, Gissel James or Jervier Honore. In 2015, she was a backup singer for K’Ravan at the Sint Maarten Carnival.
SUCCESSES AND PLANS
Roxsy won two awards with her first Gospel album “Shake It Off” released in 2014: The Rhythm of Gospel Awards in the United States in 2016 and the Caribbean Gospel Music Marlin Awards, in the Bahamas, in 2017. Early 2021, while she was singing on her own, several musicians offered to join her on stage. This is how a few months later the « I Scream Band » - composed of Adrian Scott "Nicko Keys" on the keyboard, Joseph Carty "Dulce de Leche" on the drums and Jeremy Royer "Junior" on the bass guitar - was born, a band she now plays with every Thursday night at Nowhere Special. A weekly evening full of “good energy” during which she conveys all of her love for music. “According to me, music is not something you receive, it’s something you give", she points out. "Some singers are waiting for the audience’s energy to give their best, I don’t. This year I have opened the Carnival in front of 15 people, and I have sung pretending there were one million”.
Roxsy was in the Top 5 of The Opening Act but she missed by next to nothing the finale of this online competition that could have allowed her to do the opening part of very big names in music at the Los Angeles Hollywood Ball next October. A small disappointment that will not prevent her from fulfilling her dreams: dedicate herself entirely to music and share her passion. “I would particularly like to set up an association to create a studio and offer singing and music classes to children whose families cannot afford it.”
Every Thursday night at Nowhere Special (Simpson Bay)
Facebook : @roxsyfanpage
Instagram : @roxsymusicsxm
