Quit your jobs, grow marihuana, slack off and enjoy the David Castillo world.

USA, the land of slackers. Slackers are like a modern Buddha: ruled by their own rules they face daily metropolis life and, no matter what they are going through, they get away with it. And also, of course, they crash at your house and stay for a couple of days sleeping on your couch, driving your car, eating your food, smoking your weed. Slackers lay all day on the grass while they sunbathe and write poetry. They write their own no-one-is-gonna-read-it memories or the new anti-hit cosy lyric.

When it comes in terms of iconic beings, all musicians, poets, painters and artists, where and are first grade slackers. I can’t wait for the day the slackers lead the world. Just imagine the world under the dominion of a slacker: he is not going to inflict stupid morals or useless laws or evil religions, he is not going to impose nothing because he will be at a park enjoying the weather, and so we will be ruled by our own laws, just like in the beginning when every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

So here I am once again slacking in my living room drinking non-sugared black coffee and listening to Suicidal Tendencies, scrolling down through my Facebook in search of someone to talk to.

For the people that don’t know you; Who or what is David Castillo?
David Castillo is a boy that was born on April 18, 1987 in Orange, California at 12:10am
Yes, he is that, and he is also a Californian boy having fun under the USA sun. A DIY romantico kid who writes songs with the language of love. He is always learning the new: how to record his own music, how to make his own films. He faces the new and he gets away with it. He is a maker building his own road. The pizza boy? The medialuna tween? The burger kid? He is this and that and nothing at the same time.
What is Burger Records for you? Do you consider yourself as a Burger Kid?
Burger Records are the homies 4 life. I would consider them my friends & family. I have a lot of respect for them not only cuz I admire their taste and style (or cuz they put out my music) but because they are good people, they are dreamers but they are hard workers, they know how to take care of business and I believe in what they stand for. I wouldn’t call myself a “burger kid” or a “burger band” because I don’t like labeling myself or others cuz I think labels are for lazy people, people that don’t wanna take the time to actually come up with a real opinion.
 
And talking about the record label behind El Castillo, 2016 is a year full of releases including LP, CS and CD.
2/5 PIZZA TIME “Todo” (Burger Records)
2/12 Panaderia “Buena Onda” (Burger Records)
4/20 David & Company “I Just Figured She Was A Raging Alcoholic” (Gnar Tapes).
 
  
First things first: PIZZA TIME. The band that helped El Castillo to crash into what for non USA citizens looks like the nowadays coolest scene.
Does anybody in the crowd ever throw you a slice of pizza? Like the way people used to throw mentos to dave grohl.
People have thrown pizza. I have thrown pizza too. Fuck Dave Grohl.
 
When you started with Pizza Time you never imagined things going crazy, like people referring to you as the pizza guy. are you afraid of things going the same direction with Panaderia and so people start calling you the pan dulce boy and so you end up pissed off with everything? what would be next?
Pan dulce is never gonna be cool. No has been actor/actress is gonna start a pan dulce themed cover band. I have a few projects I am currently working on besides Panaderia. My country band David & Company has 2 albums coming out in 2016. There’s my hardcore band, CHUFFED, also releasing an album in 2016. I also have a synth/soundtrack project called Swooshh (think John Carpenter movie soundtracks) that I will be using for the short films I’m currently working on as well.
 
Do you think you ended with Pizza Time when the band was in his peak or you feel more like Pizza Time reached enlightenment?
PIZZA TIME was just a starting point. A stepping stone. It opened a lot of doors for me. It helped get me to places I never thought I would be. It achieved the only goal I ever hoped to achieve with music and that was to make a vinyl record (“Todo” comes out on February 5, 2016) I still have a lot of ideas and things I hope to accomplish.
 
And second things second.
The recording process of TODO was different to the way you used to record, how was it? Is this your new recording process with Panaderia?
I normally do all the recording, but, I was freaking out about “Todo” cuz it was the vinyl record and I wanted it to be fucking perfect. I recorded the 8 songs on the B-side myself and the 8 songs on the A-side with my friend Ben Donehower. Kyle Handley recorded the song “PIZZA TIME”. I gave Ben a lot of liberty with the process because I love and respect Ben both as a musician and as a person. I was putting a lot of pressure on myself with all these imaginary forces until it got to the point where I had no confidence in myself until I started working with Ben and he helped me get it back. I found that the only way I could feel peace with the process was to just let go of this desire to control everything and (as cheesy as it sounds, pun intended) just have fun. Ben recorded “Todo” on his 8-track and played: drum machine, bass, guitar, tambourine, keyboards & helped me write the harmonies. The only parts I played were rhythm guitar and vocals. The whole experience had a profound impact on me. It was strange when Ben and I finished recording the last song for the album “Ya Se Fue” I looked at Ben and said, “that’s the last PIZZA TIME recording.” It was weird I hadn’t thought about it or mentioned it before but it came out so matter-of-fact we both kinda chuckled but I knew then that it was the end of PIZZA TIME and that it was the right move. My first concern was that Burger wouldn’t wanna put the record out if I was gonna end the band so I immediately emailed Sean and expected the worst. I told him in that email that I had planned to continue making music just under a different name, Panaderia. Sean was extremely supportive and informed me that not only were they still gonna put out the vinyl but that they would put out my Panaderia stuff too. I recorded the Panaderia album “Buena Onda” myself with my homie Nat Grandbois on the bass. Nat’s the only other member in Panaderia. For shows and tours we have had other friends play/fill in, but, Panaderia is just the two of us.
Recording with AJ Davilla was like the ultimate maximum ultimate Pizza Time move. What do you think can be the masterpiece move of panaderia?
If a television network picked up the show. 
 
What’s the difference in working solo and with people? At the time of making and recording music, do you feel more confortable doing it alone or with people?
Personally working solo is my preferred method. I don’t like telling people what to do because I expect them to give a fuck enough to be aware of the direction/ideas of the band. I try not to be a dick and I try to make the best decisions for everyone involved, but, this is a big reason why Nat is the only other member of Panaderia. Nat and I are almost always on the same page both musically and as people. I have played with people that had their own agendas and that was the fucking worst. I have played with people that were far better musicians than I could ever hope to be but they fucking ruined my songs because they over played. My band is not democratic. I try to be very open to ideas and suggestions but at the end of the day I am in charge.
With Panaderia you are doing what you described a video-fan-zine, animated episodes which includes the premier of a new song. Have you though of doing a short film or even a movie with your pan dulce characters?
I haven’t thought about short films/movie with Panaderia, not yet anyway. The way it all came about I was really just making it up week after week until I had 13 episodes/13 songs and I called it season 1/first album. But for the next season I’m hoping to develop the whole concept a little more! (season 2 uploads 2/14/16)
 
If you put David Pizza and Orejas into a boxing ring, who do you think is going to win and why?
David Pizza would kick the shit out of Orejas. David Pizza is a greasy booze-drinking-drug fiend and Orejas is an over-baked pile of bread crumbs barely held together by sugar.
David is not just a cute face and a DIY chico.
What is rhinoceropolis and what does it mean for you?
Rhinoceropolis is a DIY venue/art space in Denver, Colorado. Rhinoceropolis changed my life like many people’s before me. It’s been officially called “Rhinoceropolis” for 10 years and has gone through many transformations and will continue after the building is no longer there. But for the last 10 years it’s been a dirty warehouse filled with magic, energy & home-made shanty town rooms inhabited by the freak artists that are drawn there. I can’t even really describe what it means to me or it’s significance because it’s still affecting me even though I don’t live there anymore. I still book shows there, though not as often, and I stay in contact with my friends that still live there because they are like family to me. Rhino gave me the community that I was dying for. It inspired me to step back and be apart of something. Instead of trying to “do it yourself” it showed me that doing it together has more impact and is more fulfilling. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about that place and my friends there.
 
Scrolling down on his Facebook profile I found he was talking about something called Bummeroo Festival, which is not the conventional festival but an Online Festival. Yes, I want to know more about just like you.
What is Bummeroo? how do you see the future of live music?
Bummeroo is an “online festival” I started last year because I realised I hated festivals. I hate being outside without the option of going inside. I hate standing without the option to sit down. I hate paying $10 (or more) for carnival food. I hate paying $10 for a drink (alcoholic or not). I hate missing bands I wanna see because of scheduling. I hate expensive tickets. I hate traffic. I hate paying for parking. Big crowds of people make me anxious. So… Bummeroo is FREE and you can watch it anywhere/anytime. Artists submit “live video sets” that I upload to a youtube playlist. I realise this also has it’s limitations but that’s where I see the future of live music going. Artists and fans alike are sick of everything. We all just wanna experience beauty one way or another and we are willing to change our own definitions and preconceptions.
 
But DC is not just online gigs. He plays live gigs and tours and, even better, he got to share stage with his childhood heroes Weezer.
In Burgerama 4 you shared stage with the almighty Weezer. Did you have the chance to have a chat with them and to tell them how important they are in you musical career?
I didn’t get to talk them but when we arrived there this security guard gave us a ride on his golf cart to the artist check-in and we looked at the back and he had all the Weezer pedal boards. At Beach Goth I was standing in the artist area and I turned and Brian Bell was standing right next to me for like 30 seconds. I couldn’t breath. If I had seen Rivers I probably would have cried and told him how they changed my life in 7th grade because 5 minutes after I saw Brian Bell I saw Cindy Lauper and actually cried.
 
Through the past years he went through all kind of exiting things, but as we can read, it seems life is just about to get better and better.
What do you expect from 2016 and what’s your biggest new year desire? 
We are about to finish the second Panaderia album so I hope we can release it late Summer/early Fall. I’m working on a second David & Company album that I hope to release with Gnar Tapes in the Fall. I have half of the CHUFFED album finished just writing/recording the second half and I’m talking to my friend Ben Katzman about possibly releasing that on his east coast label, BUFU. For non-music-projects I still have Panaderia season 2 to make. The first episode uploads 2/14/2016 and I’m going to try to do 1 a week like I did with the first season. But, my biggest desire is the make a VHS collection of all the video projects I did in 2015. All together I have over 4 hours of projects that include: Panaderia Season 1, a PIZZA TIME documentary called “Rest In Pizza”, a documentary called “Do Anything U Wanna Do” about the tour I played bass with AJ Davila y Terror Amor & a short film I made called “Always On Vacation”. If this happens it will be the David Castillo “Criterion Collection”.
 
Once I read someone describing David Castillo as a slacker. One of his newest lyric goes something like ‘I don’t wanna do anything / watch tv in bed / smoke weed until I… / don’t wanna try / don’t wanna talk / don’t wanna listen / don’t wanna drink / don’t wanna eat / don’t wanna know / don’t wanna begin again’. You can read in some of his Facebook post things like ‘I just saw the sun. I haven’t seen the sun in 2 weeks.’ or something like ‘Holy shit we are gonna leave the apartment’, or ‘I spent the last couple or years sleeping in someone’s couch’
If being a slacker means doing all this I rather be sleeping!
Go everywhere without moving, do everything without moving just like the Lao Tse.
 
By Nico Wussy (search me on facebook, instagram and inside your heart).