Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Castillo.
Hi Matt, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Born Country… Country Music has always been a part of my life since I was a kid. My mom was a huge influence on why I love country music so much. I grew up on 90’s country music and must be the best time and era of solid country gold in my opinion.
I picked up my first guitar when I was a sophomore in High School. My mom bought my first guitar one Christmas. I didn’t have a clue where to begin to be honest. One of My uncles had a guitar book with pictures of chord shapes in his pile of magazines and books. I started flipping through pages, learning guitar chords on my own. I was able to learn a few chords to my favorite Garth Brooks song (Much Too Young to Feel This Damn Old). After calling my mom on the phone and playing that song, I was hooked. I thought to myself, “What else can I learn on guitar?” And that began the start of my journey into my music.
Fast forward, I enrolled in college at The University of Texas – Pan American in Edinburg Texas. In between classes I would meet up with my friends at the union and a buddy of mine always had a guitar on him. I’d play country songs with while getting some attention here and there. Never took it further than that.
College slowly took a backseat; my classes weren’t headed in the right direction, and I was going to be a straight A student. The university broke the news that I couldn’t return to class unless I picked up my GPA. I couldn’t break my mom’s heart to tell her I was getting kicked out. I told a little white lie which she eventually found out the truth. A couple of weeks later, I started a new chapter at Austin Community College to straighten up and get back on track. One evening I was driving around Austin, flipping through the local radio stations, and came across Texas country. Now, what is “Texas Country”? Texas Country is “do it your own way, write whatever you want to write, let it have grit, truth, and let it not be so polished.” I really loved that about the genre. I found a band called The Randy Rogers Band. I wore out that CD “Live At Billy Bobs” for months and months. I learned every song, every word, everything from start to finish. The only thing that I listened to was 90’s country music and Texas Country Music for months.
Being a broke college student, I needed a job to fix my itch for live music on the weekends. I found a job working at Barton Creek Mall where I was introduced to a buddy who became part of my musical career, Jordan Daugherty. He is so talented on guitar and amazing vocals. We ended up getting together and trying our luck at open mic nights at the Nutty Brown Cafe in Austin, writing songs, and becoming close friends. He really gave me the stage confidence and built up the courage putting pen to paper writing songs.
I finally got my grades back on track, and made the move back to Edinburg, Texas. Started my new internship being a student trainer where I found Ali Davila. She was the muse that helped me find my first band. I started writing more songs, introduced them to my band, and found a local recording studio to cut my first album “Small Town Stories”. WE sold as many BBQ tickets as possible to help pay for our first record. Our families didn’t have much to give so we went out and found a way. A few months into my first album being out, I had my “Welcome to the big stage rookie…” We had our first big show with the Randy Rogers Band in Pharr Texas in front of 3,000 people. I thought we had made it!
Our first album took outside our hometown and started playing weekends in Austin, Corpus Christi, and San Antonio. It was a great foot in the door to start for a traveling band out on the road. While I was out on the road, I started writing for my second album shortly after called “Still Sane”. A few members in my band and I wrote enough songs to get back into the studio and release a new album. I had a few songs go out to radio and brought some attention to the Texas charts and a few nominations for the band. It was a proud moment for the team.
It was time to start my third album… I met a guy named Drew Fish, the next guy to keep the fire burning. He invited me out to his songwriting retreat where I met Roger Brown who is my producer on My new album “How The River Flows”. My band and I eventually split as I continued down my path of making the album I always wanted. My team and I wanted to aim high and have this new album be my first national released album. I’m really proud of it. It’s been getting a lot of attention and I’m excited to start touring this album nationally.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
One of the early challenges was losing a few members in the band early on. Then the location being so isolated in the region we were in. South Texas wasn’t much of a country scene. We had a few bars in each city but nothing like Austin, Ft. Worth, or Houston. The valley is known to be heavy on Tejano, Norteno, cover bands, and a few original bands. One of the other challenges was being independent, I was my own booking agent, manager and wore a stack of hats. It was hard to book shows and when we did, some of the bandmates realized it wasn’t for them anymore. The road can be exhausting traveling 5-8hrs every single weekend. I personally genuinely loved every minute of it.
2020 came knocking on my door and put a hard pause on my music and career like it did for so many other artists, business and musicians. It was the hardest challenge of them all. Was I going to survive this as a business? The bills never stopped coming in and there weren’t any shows to be played. I had a new band, new team, rolling into covid and was very confident we were going to come out on top. It really says something about being an independent band and pulling together when it counts. I’m proud of my team.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a country artist first and foremost. I love what I do. I love writing songs, co-writing songs and working to make a great song.
I’m proud that I stuck it out through the rough parts of my music career. It really showed who I was. The worst thing you can do is give up. I knew that this life wasn’t always going to be pretty or be the life you see on TV. It’s a real struggle.
Over the years, we’ve released my songs to country radio and have seen much success with 4 top 20 singles in Texas, being nominated for New Male Vocalist of the Year, New band of the Year multiple times.
This new album “How The River Flows’ is my best work yet. I spent two and half years writing and co-writing with some amazing songwriters who have had hits back in the 90’s with well-known artists you still hear on the radio today. My producer Roger Brown has been a great mentor to me and I’m very blessed to have him come into my career when he did. We have had long conversations on the phone talking about the artist I can be and how to separate myself from what everyone else is doing. We accomplished that on my new album. It highlights the sound from South Texas, my infectious country sound with my baritone vocals that deliver a neo-traditional style that has drawn attention around the music scene.
Any big plans?
I have a new tour in place and my team is excited to get back out on the road and showcase our new music. I’ll be headed back to Nashville soon to start writing for my new project and make a record to be proud of. God Bless Country Music!
Contact Info:
- Email: booking@mattcastillomusic.com
- Website: www.mattcastillomusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattcastillomusic/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MattCastilloMusic
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/themattcastillo
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwtKEULSUhnZaq3MxEiiImA
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4SVPijyKlyN2YyEF8TbjGL?si=PRLKWlVXRX6bVGsk8woTqw
Image Credits
1st photo – Twinty Photography Album cover – 613Media
