Del Castillo is a Latin rock band, based in Austin, Texas.
History
Del Castillo began as a Latin music style project between two brothers, Rick and Mark del Castillo in the fall of 2000. The brothers, who had always played electric guitar in many different rock bands, had never played together and for the first time ever they began collaborating on songs on nylon string, acoustic guitars. So Rick and Mark decided to record some music together that their family could enjoy and culturally relate to. Their musical friend, Alex Ruiz, began adding lyrics to the brothers' instrumentals, and soon after, the other band members joined them. Rick recruited his friend Albert Besteiro, Jr., on bass and friend Cecilio Ruiz III on percussion and vocals, and Mark invited drummer Mike Zeoli, from their other joint project, Milhouse. After receiving very positive and most encouraging responses from everyone who heard the music they created, the project naturally began to evolve into a real band. They began playing regularly around the Austin area. The intensity of the band's live performance centers around the two brothers playing guitar. Although not traditionally trained flamenco players, the two have rivaled the Gipsy Kings, Strunz and Farah, and Santana in speed and accuracy, backed by a strong and swift rhythm section.
With the original line-up complete, Del Castillo began writing material, fusing styles and influences, while retaining a solid Latin element. The band released their debut CD Brothers of the Castle in 2001, which met with rave reviews from critics and music fans alike.
As the once "project band" solidified into a family of musicians, the band crafted their follow-up release, Vida, which took the band to the next level. And recognition, if not fame, came calling in the form of an invitation to appear on the soundtrack of director Robert Rodríguez's Once Upon a Time in Mexico and the honor of winning "Best Austin Band of the Year" along with six other major awards at the 2002-2003 Austin Music Awards.
The Del Castillo Live DVD, filmed and edited by Robert Rodríguez, was released in early 2004. Filmed at the famous Steamboat on 6th Street in Austin, it captured the fire and intensity of their live performances. Also that year, Quentin Tarantino used a Del Castillo song in Kill Bill Vol. 2, performed by Chingon, Robert Rodríguez's musical collective of some of his closest musical compadres, including members of Del Castillo. Del Castillo, with Robert, performed as Chingon at the premier of the film in Los Angeles.
In the Spring of 2006, Del Castillo released their third CD, Brotherhood, which was immediately acclaimed by the media across the board.
In late 2006, Rick Holeman retired from the band, and the group found a new percussionist, Carmelo Torres from Austin. Carmelo was eventually replaced by Jason Murdy in 2010. Jason has toured extensively with Del Castillo and is now contributing new music for the band.
Del Castillo collaborated with the Grammy award-winning lead vocalist Danny Ortiz from Grupo Mazz in 2004, who performed live with Del Castillo. Del Castillo were featured on the ABC crime/drama show Killer Women with their instrumental single, "Las Seis Cuerdas de Tony Montuno".
Members
Rick del Castillo – Guitar and vocals "Ever since I can remember, music has filled my heart and soul. From my humble beginnings of banging on trash cans at the age of six to touring across the country all through my twenties, music was my one constant companion. I've delved in many genres but playing Spanish/ flamenco music on a nylon guitar with my brother and four other dear friends seems to fuel my muse to infinite measures. All I've learned through my 24 years of playing, touring, producing and engineering has led me to this point." – Rick del Castillo Mark del Castillo – Guitar and vocals Mark del Castillo grew up in the Rio Grande Valley city of Brownsville, Texas, surrounded by the many musical influences of his family. Inspired by the talent and success of his older brother Rick del Castillo, he began to immerse himself in the study of guitar at age 14. Mark was a self-taught guitarist until he became a Music Major at the University of Texas at Brownsville in 1990. At that time he studied Music Theory, Ear Training, and Applied Guitar as well as joining the University Latin/Jazz band. In 1991, at the age of 19, he joined a cover band called Kickstart and began to build a reputation for himself as a guitarist. After playing with Kickstart for over three years, Mark moved away to pursue further education in Biomedical Science at Texas A&M University. While a student there, he and some friends formed a cover band called Vivid. After graduating in 1996, Mark and Vivid relocated to Austin, Texas and began to play regularly on the 6th Street Circuit, various other cities in Texas, and in Europe. While playing in Vivid, he joined his first original rock band called Milhouse. This was his first collaboration with Mike Zeoli (Del Castillo's drummer). On the first Milhouse CD, which his brother Rick recorded and produced, Mark recorded an instrumental Latin track entitled “Para Mija Linda” showcasing his Spanish style guitar playing. This song became a huge inspiration for him to return to his roots and write more Spanish guitar music. After composing several instrumentals, Mark began working to add lyrics to some of the songs. Mark presented these songs to his brother Rick, who, realizing that they had never worked together, suggested that the Del Castillo brothers combine their creative forces and talents. Mark realized that this is the music that is true to his heart, in his soul, and will always live within him. Danny Ortiz – Lead vocals and percussion Albert Besteiro – Bass and vocals Born in the barrio, "raised on Budweiser and Blues!" Mike Zeoli – Drums, percussion and vocals. As a child, Zeoli was fascinated by the entrancing power of rhythm. He was known to entertain his neighborhood friends with daily performances full of dancing and drumming. Every night before falling asleep, he would lie in his bed and dream of playing thunderous, polyrhythmic beats that traveled on magic sound waves into outer space and into heaven. "The beats and rhythms I play are like my prayers and gifts to the multi (uni)verse." - he once mentioned. Mike has a diverse background in music and rhythm. He has performed with Ahmad Aladeen, Bobby Shoe, Clark Terry and Louis Bellson. He studied music at S.M.S.U. in Springfield, Missouri and also studied privately with John Cushon (Oleta Adams) and Gary Chaffee (independent). Jason Murdy – Percussion and vocals (joined the band in 2010) Frequent visits to Mexico as a child helped to inspire his rhythmic interests to explore more of a worldly perspective. He latched on to the Latin sound, for its ability to be easily applied to popular music.
Discography
Albums
Brothers of the Castle (2001) 01 Mi Cariño 02 Spanish Castle Tango 03 Dias de Los Angeles 04 Song For Jordan 05 29/11 06 La Luz a Mi Paso 07 Mexican Lounge Lizard 08 Barrio Blues 09 Suenos de Ti 10 El Camino menos Transitado
Vida (2002) 01 Don Nicolás 02 Vida 03 Sueños Madrigales 04 Para mi Sobrina 05 Mi Gitana 06 Los Caballos 07 Dame un Momento 08 Yiddish March 09 ¿Por Qué? 10 Back From the Grave + *Barrio Blues (live) [Bonus Hidden Track]
Brotherhood (2006) 01 Arena Al Viento 02 Brotherhood 03 Este Amor 04 Ganate El Mundo 05 Quiereme 06 Rios Misticos 07 Maria 08 Talkin' To Ya 09 Perdoname 10 I Never Cared For You [feat. Willie Nelson] 11 Vida Latina 12 Que Dolor 13 Si, Mi Amor 14 El Corrido de Don Lulai
Del Castillo (self-titled) 2009 01 Boricua del Cielo 02 Everlasting 03 Castles 04 Noche Brava 05 Cafe Sin Leche 06 Amor Dolor 07 Anybody Wanna? 08 Entre Flores y La Luna 09 Little Angel 10 Corazon Loco 11 Light 12 Home 13 Anybody Wanna? (Radio Edit)
Infinitas Rapsodias 2012 (CD & Live DVD) 01 Lumbres de Babylon (Live) 02 Fuego Egipcio (feat. Monte Montgomery) 03 Mujer Angel 04 Canta de Alma 05 Brotherhood (feat. Malford Milligan & Leeann Atherton) 06 Rios Misticos (Dance Mix) 07 Para Mi Sobrina (feat. Carl Thiel) 08 Vida (feat. Phoebe Hunt) 09 Maria (Italian Version) 10 Perdóname (feat. Carl Thiel & Erik Hokkanen) 11 Mi Cariño (2012 Version) 12 Porque (feat. Erik Hokkanen) 13 Amor Venme a Buscar (Duet with Anna Maria Kaufmann) 14 Listen to the Music (Live) 15 What a Wonderful World (Live) 16 While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Live)
Miscellaneous & Unreleased Songs Silent Night (briefly available on the official Del Castillo website) Something Pure (an English version of their song “Qué Dolor”) The Chuco Went Down To Texas (briefly featured on the official Del Castillo Myspace page) The Chant (officially untitled song, beginning with the words "No eres el cuerpo, Eres todo..." that was playing on the official Del Castillo website's home page until Apr 7 2009) Consumido (available on iTunes) El Gran Fandango
Chingon Mexican Spaghetti Western (2004) 01 Se Me Paró 02 Malaguena Salerosa [La Malaguena] 03 Fideo Del Oeste [Mexican Spaghetti Western] 04 Severina 05 Alacran y Pistolero 06 Bajo Sexto [Six Below] 07 Cielito Lindo 08 Mexican Sausage Link 09 Siente Mi Amor [featuring Salma Hayek] 10 Cuka Rocka [Extended]
Compilations "Voices of a Grateful Nation, Vol 1 - Texas Rock, Blues & Folk" CD (2008) Volume 1 of the series features the Del Castillo songs "Letter Home" and "La Letra".
Soundtracks The Cry - La Llorona (2007) “La Llorona” with Patricia Vonne (opening and end credits). “Talkin’ To Ya” (from Brotherhood CD), “Don Nicolas” and “Sueños Madrigales” (from Vida CD) This film was never released. It's rumored that it went straight to video.
Kill Bill Vol. 2 Soundtrack (2004) “Malaguena Salerosa [La Malaguena]” (Rick and Mark del Castillo/guitar, Alex Ruiz/vocals, Rick Holeman/percussion) Mexico and Mariachis (2004) “Alacran y Pistolero” (Rick and Mark del Castillo/guitar, Alex Ruiz/backing vocals, Rick Holeman/percussion) “Severina” (Rick and Mark del Castillo/guitar) “Theme from El Mariachi” (Rick del Castillo/guitar, Rick Holeman/percussion) “Back To The House That Love Built” (Acoustic) (Rick del Castillo/guitar, Rick Holeman/percussion) “Spanish Castle Tango” (Written, Performed, and Produced by Del Castillo) The track on this soundtrack is a slightly different edit of the track from their album Brothers of the Castle. “Once Upon A Time in Mexico” (Main Titles) (Rick and Mark del Castillo/guitar, Rick Holeman/percussion) Once Upon a Time in Mexico Soundtrack (2003) “Eye Patch” (Rick del Castillo/guitar, percussion; Alex Ruiz/vocals) “Guitar Town” (Rick del Castillo/guitar) “Church Shootout” (Rick del Castillo/guitar, drums) “Dias de los Angeles” (written, performed, produced by Del Castillo). The track on this soundtrack is a slightly different edit of the track from their Live DVD. “Mariachi vs. Marquez” (Rick del Castillo/guitar) “Coup De Etat” (Rick del Castillo/guitar) “El Mariachi” (Rick del Castillo/guitar) “Siente Mi Amor” (Rick del Castillo/guitar) “Cuka Rocka” (Rick and Mark del Castillo/guitar) Spy Kids 3D: Game Over (2003) “Game Over” (Rick del Castillo/guitar) “Isle Of Dreams” (Rick del Castillo/guitar)
DVD Del Castillo Live DVD (2004) 01 Dias de los Angeles 02 Sueños Madrigales 03 El Camino Menos Transitado 04 Vida 05 Mi Cariño 06 Para mi Sobrina
Videography Maria Perdoname Produced by Martina Amende with her company Sapo de Oro in New Mexico. Martina and her videographer Carl Thiel filmed Del Castillo in Geneva, Switzerland for Cartier in 2006.
Awards Killing Snakes - A short film show in Cannes - 2007, Co-written with very dear and special friend Martina Amende, won a Gold award for best score at Park City, Utah 2008.
Album of the Year –“BROTHERHOOD” – Austin Music Awards/South By Southwest (2007)