SAN ANGELO, Texas — It's been a while since Del Castillo has performed in West Texas. That all changes when the group performs at the San Angelo Performing Arts Center Saturday with special guest Lisa Morales opening the show, as part of the Green Apple Music Series.
Lead singer Alex Ruiz and drummer Mike Zeoli spoke to FOX West Texas about the upcoming show.
We asked Ruiz and Zeoli all about the band that has now been together for 22 years. According to the band's online bio, the Del Castillo brothers, Mark and Rick, started it all with recording an album for family and friends and only planned one performance for that group.
But, there's so much more to the story, as Ruiz and Zeoli told us.
"We have an interesting history together," Zeoli said. "Rick Del Castillo and Albert Besteiro, the bass player, they go back to seventh grade, having their first band when they were in middle school. And then, Mark Del Castillo and myself, we played in the garage when we were kids, rockin' out, and then Mark and Rick, they are 10 years apart - Rick is the older brother and he went full force into music and Mark always admired him and looked up to him. He was always kinda following in his footsteps, so I guess it was a matter of fate that eventually their paths connected and they joined forces creatively."
If there's a way to describe Del Castillo and its unique sound, what is it?
Zeoli said it's not a simple question to answer, because there are "six creative minds in the belly of the beast, so to speak."
He said the band loves so many kinds of music and different styles from folk music to Latin, "like salsa and Reggae, cumbia - it's a wide variety of styles, even rock 'n' roll, and we love the blues as well. So in a nutshell, I would have to describe it as a like a Latin fusion. The lyrics are in English and Spanish, depending upon the song - so, you know, we sing to both sides of the border."
Ruiz said, "I love our sound. As we've been around for 22 years, people have always tried to put us in a little box, like in categories. I've heard nuevo flamenco, I've heard Latin jazz, I've heard the rock 'n' roll Gipsy Kings. I've heard all kinds of fun stuff that does encompass us, but for the most part, I think it's the synergy that all six of us bring to the table that has that sound that's so unique. There's nothing that compares to - there's the rhythm section that's full on and it's always upbeat and it's always got a tasty rhythms that you can dance to, and then, there's the brothers that are always on their guitars just making these beautiful sounds, as well.
He said the band cowrites songs together - "And I think our sound is really encapsulated by us six in particular being together and having an audience to play for and perform to that the energies start to combine and then we all have fun at the end of the night."
That collaboration and energy has led the band to performances across the country, SXSW and Austin music awards and having their music shared with the masses as part of movie soundtracks.
"It still catches me off guard that we've been on all these soundtracks," Ruiz said. "First time, we were playing in New York for the 'Once Upon a Time in Mexico' release. We were all just excited to see the movie at first - when you hear yourself in the movie, we're like 'what'? I mean, it just blew our minds that we were in this together and that's what encapsulated our sound and the music and the band."
"And Robert Rodriguez liked it so much, he said, 'Hey, well now you're my band," Ruiz laughed. "And I want to play with you guys. And so that was kind of like when your big brother takes you and says 'I got your back' and it was the icing on the cake and the cherry on top. It still blows my mind."
Zeoli said he remembers the days, when he was in a rock band with Mark Del Castillo and they were recording with his brother, Rick, at Rick's home recording studio.
"They were writing this music with the intention of releasing a holiday album for family and friends," he said. "Around that time, Mark and Alex had made friends. Ironically, they were playing a - they met at a party at their apartment complex, right - and you guys were playing the 'Cancion del Mariachi' from 'Desperado'. Which is Los Lobos working with Robert Rodriguez and then the total irony of us doing the same song with Robert years down the road and performing it on stage with the movie screen and all that is a very funny story."
And the band can't forget how things came full circle - from the gift album to the stage to the big screen - and continues to evolve through their music.
Zeoli said they (the Del Castillo brothers) were writing that music and he remembers thinking, "Oh, this is great music, I would love to just record drums on it, just to do it, because I was getting a vibe from the music. Mark and I were doing the real loud hard rockin' stuff and so it was a nice change of pace and there were no expectations at all whatsoever, it was just a labor of love. Once the collection of songs was completed and the album was distributed, we had friends and family just starting to demand, 'Like hey! When's the show, when are you guys playing? And we were all playing in other bands, and like I said, there was no intention to really have a band at all."
He said that's when one of Rick's clients, an attorney who was taking music lessons from Rick, was throwing a party for his office at his house - "And so, he hired us to come play and that was our first show and then after that, we started playing out in Austin and the word just caught on. We didn't even have a website," Zeoli said. "It was from the ground up - completely organic. It's a funny story and you know, we were all playing music because that's what we wanted to do, but the project itself had no intention of ever becoming anything and here we are, doing it 22 years later, playing with Robert Rodriguez. It's amazing. We're very blessed to share our brotherhood of music together."
Del Castillo, along with Rodriguez, make up the band, CHINGON. One of the most memorable CHINGON tracks is what Rodriguez describes as a mariachi song that has been "chingonized" - "Malaguena Salerosa".
Ruiz said he grew up in his teenage years listening to artists such as Javier Solis and Jorge Negrete, artists who are stellar and mariachi and bohemios, who he took a liking to. He heard his father singing in a trio and he loved it and "is kind of where it started" for him.
"It's always been in the background in my Rolodex in my head. I love hearing mariachi," he said. "That's funny because Robert, he's like, 'Yeah, I always wanted to say at the end of the night, 'hey, thank you, we're Chingon!'. And we've been working with him for about 15-16 years and so, the next thing you know, we're hanging out with George Lopez."
CHINGON will open for Lopez two nights in a row July 28-29 in San Antonio, but first, Del Castillo is headed to SAPAC with good energy with songs to dance to that bring people together.
"We definitely love the raza, wherever we go," Ruiz said. "We love new fans. We love fans that are young, fans that are old and then fans that have grown up with us. That's something we love to do is after a set, it would be nice to meet people to shake some hands and take some pictures. That's kind of where we're at. We're still part of the movement of keeping us all together and having good times together."
And for those fans - old, new, young and everywhere in between - the band will perform two new singles Saturday at SAPAC - "All Around", written by Mark Del Castillo, was released in February 2023 and the brand-new unreleased single, "El Sombrero", due to drop in September. Both were mixed and mastered by Tim Palmer, who has also worked with Pearl Jam, U2, Ozzy Osborne and Faith Hill.
Here are the show details:
Green Apple Music Series performance
Del Castillo with special guest Lisa Morales
7 p.m. Saturday, July 22
San Angelo Performing Arts Center, 82 Gillis St.
Band info: delcastillomusic.com/home
