The A-Side Sessions Presents: Griffen Castillo

Griffen Castillo is a singer/songwriter/rapper based in the East Bay. Last fall, the A-Side Sessions producer, Joe, overhead them singing on the UC Berkeley Memorial Glade. The two struck up a conversation about music, art, songwriting, and more. Joe knew immediately that they had to be featured on an upcoming A-Side Session. Griffen released a nine-track album entitled “Love!” In 2019 and has since released several singles including “Sunshine” (2021), “Language” (2022), “Faded” (2022), and “Delirious”(2022).

Sunny

Hey guys, welcome back to A-Side Sessions, I’m here with Griffen Castillo who just did an amazing set for us. Griffin, this is your first time performing live, is that right?

Griffen

Yeah, pretty much I’ve shared virtually for conferences and such, but this is my first time performing live

Sunny

How did it feel? The butterflies, the performance itself?

Griffen

Scary as shit. I was really nervous — and still honestly am — but getting used to it. Super excited and thankful to be here

Sunny

The first thing I want to talk about is your beats. They were super eccentric, with lots of diversity and lots of layers to them. I want to ask you what software you use to make them and what inspiration do you get to make them?

Griffen

Definitely, I use Logic. I think inspiration-wise it comes from so many different places. I grew up listening to 90s R&B, [grew] up in Oakland, so that kind of music. So I make beats and stuff. But then I also play guitar and there’s some alternative music too. So inspiration in terms of the music comes from whatever I’m feeling

Sunny

Do you have any music artists that are like inspirations to you specifically? Anyone that helps you build your artistry?

Griffen

That is a difficult question to answer. I have no idea. I could probably just list off a bunch but it feels almost wrong to not name hella people. Do you know what I mean?

Sunny

If there is an artist that you could collaborate with, who would it be?

Griffen

Feel like Daniel Cesar would be really cool to work with, or Pharrell.

Sunny

Another thing that we note about your music is that the lyrics are super powerful, super strong. Do you want to talk about your writing experience — have you always been a writer? Has the music helped you write?

Griffen

Yeah. I haven’t been making music that long. The first time I ever touched an instrument was in second grade. It was a guitar, and I fucking hated it. I was super stressed out all the time. Felt like it wasn’t good enough. Still do… I forgot the question. What was the question?

Sunny

What got you into writing these well-written lyrics for yourself?

Griffen

The big story of my life. I think everything that shaped me, to get deeper into it. I’m from Oakland but I grew up in the hills, which is hugely lucky to be able to have. But I went to Oakland public schools all my life and grew up in an environment and situations where shit gets iffy and you don’t see friends as much anymore. Shit happens. And the more you’re in that community, the more and more you see — like everybody knows somebody who’s lost somebody or losing somebody and shit like that — I think for these, like, I read a lot of different moves. But for the music that I shared here, it’s really like, honoring that story in that struggle of like, what does it mean to heal? And what does it mean to like, actually acknowledge the shit that we’re dealing with rather than just push it to the side? So that’s what I try to do through music and where that comes from.

Sunny

Like personal experiences?

Griffen

Absolutely.

Sunny

Do you want to share a story about any of the songs that you performed today? What inspired you to write it or the background of the song?

Griffen

Yeah, for sure. Um, what song should I do? I’ll do “Language” because the story of the name is funny. So the beat was the same for the longest time. The reason it’s called “Languages” is because my dad came here from the Philippines when he was four. When he came here his parents stopped speaking Tagalog in the house, trying to Americanize him as much as they could. So that journey of me reclaiming my identity through language — that’s what the song [is] about. That spirit still definitely lives there. But it’s different now. And now it’s about growth, learning.

Sunny

That’s beautiful. So you said you just recently got into music. You were mentioning earlier, that you played the guitar when you were younger, but didn’t like it. But you still play the guitar now, do you want to talk a bit more about that?

Griffen

Yeah. I’ve been playing like — I did a lot of drugs in high school and didn’t go to school at all. So I got caught. I got in a lot of trouble once at school and they put me in a program for kids that are in a lot of trouble, and I met a mentor of mine. I forgot the question again…

Sunny

Your pathway into music and your guitar?

Griffen

I think drugs took up so much of what my life was and what I was doing. As I stepped away from those spaces I just had a lot of free time. So I picked up a guitar randomly and just started playing. That was probably five years ago at this point. But seriously wanting to record and make music? Probably a couple of years.

Sunny

So, why music? Why’d you choose music? What drove you to it?

Griffen

The love. It happened to be music. I actually just quit my other jobs working in the school district. It’s where I landed at this moment. [It’s] a space for me to express who I am, genuinely. So I’m here.

Sunny

So you play the guitar, you write… What are some other artistic ventures that you’d like to explore?

Griffen

I like drawing and making beats. Think that’s it?

Sunny

About your beats: Do you do any samples? Have there been any artists that you’ve sampled in your beats that you are really, really proud of?

Griffen

Not any of the beats that I played, but there are some new ones that I’ve been working on with a friend of mine where we sampled a bunch of random shit. It’s really cool. I really like them

Sunny

What are your goals with music going forward? What do you want to accomplish? What type of audience do you want to create?

Griffen

Yeah, kick it, you know what I mean? I mean, in terms of goals, staying genuine. Being in the music spaces for as long as you have, you see friends that you’re close to or adjacent with that are blowing up. You think about what that could look like and what that means to success, but then what does it mean for me as an artist? Because my journey to music is really about my journey of living my life as an artist and expressing myself. It’s not just through my music that I express myself. It’s how I address all these different pieces of who I am.

Sunny

How do you navigate that? Seeing your friends go into this artistry and then going through your own sort of path?

Griffen

Honestly, it’s really inspiring. I’ve been so lucky to find so many different people in my life [whom] I can really just connect to. We will relate deeply to each other through music, but it doesn’t have to be music. So I think one way that I’ve been handling that the most is cheering them on and not even waiting for my turn. Just not even really worried about it. You know what I mean? Just making music for the sake of making music.

Sunny

Do you make music with your friends a lot? Do you guys collaborate?

Griffen

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Shout out to this person back there. Lucas Soto helped me figure out the setlist for today. Carlo is like my brother, my Filipino twinnem. Yeah, soft tops.

Sunny

What should people look out for you going forward? Anything coming out? Any projects? Any big things?

Griffen

Yes, definitely. I’m in the process of trying to record a bunch of different stuff. But there’s a tape that I’ve been sitting on for a while, fully produced just gotta get the vocals and everything. I’m gonna drop that and then maybe just random singles here and there. Excited.

Sunny

As we wrap up here, I want to ask: Do you have any advice for smaller artists or people doing music that want to be where you are?

Griffen

I’m not really anywhere, first off. Two, just trust it. Trust your vision, because there’s gonna be spaces that aren’t necessarily for it. I was hesitant about sharing this kind of music in this space because I didn’t know y’all. I could have come and played guitar or something like that. I think finding spaces that aren’t necessarily meant for you is part of finding where you belong. So keep trusting that vision that you have as an artist and what brought you there in the first place. Don’t worry about the numbers or trying to quantify it. Just be happy and be grateful that you’re here.

Sunny

I love that. Do you want to say anything else before we go? Any cons about your music or set today? Things you just want to put out on the universe?

Griffen

Thank you to everybody in this room that helped with the set and gave the vibes. Cheers to you all, big help with that. Thank you to the world and everybody for bringing music to places.

Sunny

Thank you so much Griffen. Where can people find your music? Do you want to plug your socials real quick?

Griffen

You can find me on Instagram at @tugboat.griff. That shit was from middle school and I don’t really care enough to change it. If you just look up my name Griffin Castillo my musical will pop up. I have some stuff out but not the stuff that you heard in this video.

Sunny

Thank you so much. Thank you for blessing our set with your A-Side Session songs. We truly appreciate it so much and we hope the best for you.