If you have been to Ginger Garden in Amherst, there’s a pretty good chance you have had Nick Rivera as your waiter.
The 24-year-old spends his days waiting tables to support his 2-year-old daughter. When he’s not bringing customers plates of sushi or refilling waters, Rivera is making music.
But as a young parent with a passion project, Rivera understands the struggle of the balance of life.
“I’m just trying to make it work out,” he said in an interview with MassLive in October. “I just try to put different priorities first and music’s happened to take a little step back for the last year or so.”
Nick Rivera, who performs under the stage name “Porsh Bet$,” with his daughter.Courtesy photo
Rivera, who was born and raised in New York City, attended boarding school in Massachusetts during his middle school and high school years.
Rivera later attended college in Western Massachusetts before dropping out after two months to pursue music fully. After a year, he moved to Los Angeles, California to work on his craft.
Despite not having a desire to make music as a kid, Rivera discovered music was for him when he realized he could express himself without actually having conversations.
“I feel too much for a lot of people. I feel like that’s why I make music in the first place because I just feel everything around me,” he said. “Music’s become a way to express myself.”
Amherst musician Porsh Bet$ during a recording session.Courtesy photo
Since late 2020, the Amherst resident and singer/songwriter has been putting out music under the stage name Porsh Bet$.
In three short years, Rivera has garnered acclaim from Billboard, MTV and Complex, among others. He has even been featured on Elton John’s “Rocket Hour” radio show on Apple Music.
The artist released his third project, “Porsh Bet$ Demo Tape,” on Oct. 25, which he considers to be his best yet. Rivera said the project practically “manifested” itself after gathering sound bytes and recording tracks for about a year.
“I didn’t have any intention of putting out a whole project,” Rivera said, who released one of the project’s songs, “My Demise,” back in 2022.
Amherst musician Porsh Bet$ during a recording session.Courtesy photo
Capitalizing off the success of “My Demise,” Rivera released song after song until he realized he had enough to put an EP together.
“I stepped back a little bit over the summer and put together the project and made a little plan and here we are,” Rivera continued. “It wasn’t thought out, but it was also very organic.”
The project contains 15 track and runs about 30 minutes. Some of the songs are unfinished, unpolished or were even made in a day, according to Rivera. The artist said he wanted to capture the rawness of his ideas while taking fans on a journey through a turbulent relationship.
“I wanted something with a little more intention and not caring about what the state of the world is,” he said.
Nick Rivera, who performs under the stage name “Porsh Bet$,” with his daughter.Courtesy photo
Some of the tracks on the EP relate to Rivera’s excitement, struggles and fears of being a father, which happened in 2022. While fatherhood often makes it challenging for him to focus on music, Rivera said he would not trade it for anything.
“If I had to stop making music tomorrow, I’d be very crushed and upset,” he explained, “but also I’d still get to live a beautiful and happy life.”
At the end of the day, the artist just wants to be around for his daughter, whether it involves taking orders or taking center stage.
People can keep up with Rivera and his music by following his social media accounts or going to his website.
