From the ashes of Disco Las Palmeras! arises Castro, a new project by Diego Castro, who was the vocalist and composer of the long-awaited Galician group. His first reference came to us at the end of last year in the form of an EP, “First Steps” (Sound Boy, 22).
We will be able to see him live tomorrow in Madrid (April 23, Teatro Eslava) as a special guest of The New Raemon on the fifteenth anniversary tour of “About Garfunkel” from The New Raemon with Leia Destroys.
Why did you decide to end Disco Las Palmeras! to go on to publish solo under the name of Castro?
The decision was up to everyone. The logistics of the group had become very complicated: Julián in Coruña, Martiño in Santiago and I in Madrid… When Martiño went to live in Bilbao we tried for a while, but when we had to face a new album we found it almost impossible. , so we had no choice but to leave it.
Is there a mistake you made at Disco Las Palmeras! that you have learned from and that you have no intention of committing again in this project?
I guess I’ll try not to have parts of me living in another city [risas]. Let’s see, surely we made a thousand mistakes, but I also don’t have any in mind that I see as especially important. I guess I’ll see it over time.
And a little in the opposite direction. What remains of Disco Las Palmeras! in Castro? What do you bring from the group to this solo project?
Well, a lot of experience. And I’m still looking forward to it, perhaps more aware of how a project works on the inside. I also think that I have calmed down and I am not in a hurry that used to create anxiety for me. I live it in a more serene way.
“When the end comes, I want to look back and be happy with what I’ve done”
Why have you decided to debut with an EP? Is “Primeros Pasitos” a kind of touchstone for what will come next?
Actually, the project was in my head since Disco Las Palmeras! finished, but I was very busy with my work as a sound technician. Working with several bands at the same time leaves you little time for other projects, especially when those bands play as much as Cala Vento, Los Punsetes, Triángulo de Amor Bizarro, Cariño and Ginebras… The moment I decided to start was during the confinement : I had plenty of time to create and I lived with Lois, who had a studio at home, so ideal. But she didn’t have that many finished songs either. Then everything started and I was very busy again, so four songs seemed like a reasonable number for a first release.
Although we will now discuss each song independently. Where would you say that, in global terms, the inspiration to compose this four-track EP has come from? Have you noticed a specific reference?
I wanted it to be very varied, so there are many references. I wanted it to reflect the moment I’m in, and at the moment I’m not obsessed with a specific sound: I have quite a few things on my mind that I wanted to try.
Would you say that the song “My best moment” is an optimistic or pessimistic song? Or maybe it will be better to say nostalgic? The fact is that the composition seems to make (meritorious) balances between both states of mind.
I think he is optimistic with a point of fear. It is a state of happiness for the present moment of the song, but with fear that it will not be repeated or improved.
For its part, “Nos volverá a pasará” has a pop appearance, but on a base that at times points to exoticism and at times to shoegaze. What is the origin and meaning of this song?
At first I wanted to do a more bossa nova song, as you can sense at the beginning of the song, although I didn’t want something very purist either and I was thinking of something like Stererolab or what Beck did in “Mutations” (98), which is an updated bossa. But then a pop chorus suited me very well, which reminded me a bit of things like The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and that’s the shoegaze part I guess. Also the collaboration with the guitars of Paola (Rivero) de Cariño and Adriana, who love shoegaze (like me) did the rest.
Actually, I’d say there’s a certain 90s flavor floating around the whole EP.
It may be, it is a time that marked my life a lot. Sometimes I try to run away from her, but one way or another she always ends up somewhere.
“Reencuentro” is a hopeless piece. What can you tell me about this song?
I really like certain singer-songwriters (although I don’t know if that’s the word to define them), like Sufjan Stevens, José González or Dominique A, and I was looking for something in that vein in terms of sound. Then I looked for lyrics that matched the feeling that the music provoked in me, which was quite a sad feeling, so I imagined a finished relationship without a future in which remains the residue of memory and a certain resignation.
“I have calmed down and I am not in a hurry that used to create anxiety for me”
“Autodeceit” works very well as a closing, with that slow and evocative rhythm that personally reminds me of Los Planetas, including that surprising final denouement.
There may be something to that, but it was not intended at all. It was more when putting in electric guitars that I saw that similarity, but I liked it and I didn’t want to run away from it. In general I do not want to have prejudices of that type. I have had them in the past and they were not good. I’m going to do whatever I want, I’m not trying to convince anyone anymore. I just want that when the end comes, I can look back and be happy with what I’ve done.
What collaborations are there on the EP? Who else has played in “Primeros Pasitos”?
My main collaborators are Jorge Fuertes, Meta, Adriana Moscoso and Lois, although Lois will not usually come live. Cariño also collaborated in “Nos vera a pasar” with the voices of María (Talaverano) and Alicia (Ros) and with the guitar and synths of Paola (Rivero).
“Primeros Pasitos” appears on the Sonido Muchacho label. How did the fact of signing with this new adventure by a record company that, today, is imposed as essential within the national independent scene?
Disc the Palms! We were already in Sonido Muchacho and Luis and I are very close friends. He likes to say that with us the label became professional. I guess at that time yes. Then he has grown a lot and has had many steps, surely more important. But as he told you it has been very easy and natural. Apart from being very close friends, I already worked as a technician with Luis at Juventud Juché and at Los Punsetes. I even gave him a hand for a while working on the label. I simply recorded a couple of songs with my mobile playing the guitar and singing and I sent them to Luis, who replied “They’re great, we have to record them well and we’ll get them out”. The rest has been just moving on from there.
Where or how do you think Castro’s proposal fits into this new scene? Is there any band within our borders with which you see parallels or similarities?
I guess I’m not the best person to say it. I don’t feel too close to anyone in particular as a project and I do like many bands that I feel an affinity with on specific songs. But it is also difficult to see yourself similar to someone in general, let’s say that they are specific moments. I like many bands from the label. Carolina Durante, with whom I have also worked and continue to do so sporadically (and who are also great friends), obviously Cariño and Los Punsetes. I love Cupid and many others… I think the difference is that they all have very strong musical personalities, and I want to play many different styles. That’s why I think I’m not too similar to anyone from the label.
