Damon Castillo: Band Origins and Plans in 2009

Frontman Talks Past and Future in Exclusive Interview

Jan 19, 2009

Suite 101 talks vices, roots and world domination with the articulate and talented Damon Castillo, lead vocalist and driving force behind the Damon Castillo Band.

Damon Castillo and his eponymous band are a group that constantly defy style and genre to define their own sound. With jazz undertones, soulful energy and gentle chilled out melodies blended with a little bit of rock, this is a group with poise and purpose in spades.

Their new album Laurel Lane is a real journey of a record; love, life and music effortlessly blend into this polished and carefully crafted collection which is named after the studio where it was born. And what is more, the record is relevant, vulnerable and full of the trademark integrity that informs Damon’s songwriting and marks the band as one of the most honest in the Californian independent music scene.

Suite 101 caught up with the delightful Damon to find out more about the boys from California and their growing reputation for a storming live show.

Christmas Coal and New Year’s Vices

Suite 101: Hi Damon! Let’s talk about the important stuff first. Did you have a good Christmas? Was Santa good to you?

Damon: Christmas came and went quietly. Santa gave me a couple lumps of coal, so I’m pretty pleased as that’s one more than last year.

Suite 101: How did you spend New Years Eve and what are your New Year’s resolutions this year?

Damon: I rang in the New Year with my girl, my twin brother Dominic, and his bandmate, Kelly Masigat. They drove down from Portland and made it just in time to finish up the last few hours of the year with us. It was a mellow affair. As far as resolutions go, I plan on gaining some weight, and picking up a few more vices.

Origins of the Band, San Luis Obispo

Suite 101: Sounds good! Introduce us to the band – how did you all meet and come together?

Damon: The band met at jam sessions in the cafes of San Luis Obispo, California. Linnaea’s Café in particular was a home for us. For a little college town on the Central Coast, SLO, (which aptly describes the pace of life here) has a lot of music going on. I was in the area playing in a jazz quartet with Matt Taylor, our founding bassist, after returning from Boston where I studied music at Berklee. J.J. (Jennings Jacobsen) our drummer grew up in the area and was busy playing in a lot of different local bands. He’s played clubs and bars since he was 15. Larry Kim, our saxophonist, came from L.A. and was attending Cal Poly, the local university. He was a business major, but wound up taking more music classes. We all wanted a keyboardist for our band, so Larry brought in a schoolmate of his, Kristian Ducharme, who hails from San Jose, California. He was studying computers there, so he’s always been in front of one kind of keyboard or another.

Frontman and Primary Musician

Suite 101: The Damon Castillo Band, as its name suggests, really is your band isn’t it? I mean, is it true that you write all the different parts to a track, from guitars and vocals through to percussion and brass?

Damon: I can be a bit of a control freak, but I’ve learned that sometimes it’s best to try and let things happen. I’m really lucky to have super talented bandmates, so it’s fun to bring in just a skeleton of a chart and see how people will interpret it. See what their impulses say. But some songs ask me to arrange everything, and in those cases I do.

Live Shows: a Living Thing

Suite 101: You’re quite well known for putting on a great live performance. What is it about the live environment that is special for you? And what is it about your band that allows you to give that little extra something that loads of other bands lack?

Damon: Playing live is so different than writing or recording because it’s a living thing! In our shows, there is quite a bit of improvisation. All the guys can blow, so in that way the show is different every night. It’s all about that connection between the audience, the band and me. I need to feel that communication. Not every show can be the best night of your life, but I still make that attempt.

National Tour, International Domination in 2009

Suite 101: You have quite a dedicated following in your hometown of San Luis Obispo, California, and along the West Coast, and you’re crossing the country to New York for Laurel Lane, but do you have any plans for introducing the band further afield? Can we expect world domination?!

Damon: I’m really looking forward to touring overseas. I haven’t yet performed outside of the States, but yes, I plan on dominating every continent except for Antarctica.

Damon: A lot of shows! And then some more shows. Also, I plan on cutting a live album with more of an acoustic flavor, an album that reinterprets some of the tunes on Laurel Lane with some unreleased songs as well.