An Interview with Albert Besteiro of Del Castillo

Thanks to the generosity of George Kaiser Family Foundation, downtown Tulsa has a new, beautiful park, Guthrie Greeen. Tulsa Roots Music recently kicked off an 8 week music series on the Green with a show from The Wailers. On tap this Sunday, September 16 are performances from two Austin, Texas based bands, Del Castillo and Saints of Valory.

Del Castillo takes the stage at 4 p.m. Sunday with their potent, danceable blend of flamenco, rock, Latin, blues and world music. Founding members, brothers Mark and Rick Del Castillo, grew up in the Rio Grande Valley city of Brownsville, Texas. Fellow Brownsville native and the band’s bassist, Albert Besteiro, told me in a recent interview that the band began as a project for the brothers’ parents. “It was mostly a recording project for their parents because Rick and Mark had played and they were rock and roll and heavy rock and roll guitar playing, and their parents would come and see them, but they never really identified with the music,” Basteiro explained. “So they decided to do this CD, maybe with kind of a Spanish flare, and that’s how this project started.”

All members of the band are bilingual, and songs are written in both English and Spanish. According to Besteiro, lead singer Alex Ruiz “is the most bilingual, and it trickles down…Growing up in the Valley, you go between English and Spanish without missing a beat, and whatever inspires him, well he’d write in Spanish and sometimes he’d write in English, whatever he was feeling when he heard the music.”

Del Castillo takes their cue from a myriad of musical styles. Besteiro himself is a big fan of Los Lobos and Wilco, among others. “My music collection is pretty varied,” he said. “I like Americana; I like rhythm and blues; I’m a reggae fan, so that’s kind of the element that I bring.” Each of the musicians brings his own musical preferences and tastes into the mix. “I like to equate it with a soup, and everybody puts in their little spice,” Besteiro said. “You let the soup simmer, and the simmering is the practice and working up the song, and then,” he paused and laughed, “Okay! It’s ready!” 

Basteiro believes Del Castillo’s music offers something for everyone. “It’s a high energy show. Everybody plays with a lot of passion. It’s Latin instrumentation with nylon strings, but I’m thinking if you like rock and roll, if you like Americana, if you like rhythm and blues, reggae, jazz, there’s an element there that you’ll identify with. It may not be completely familiar, but there’s something that people latch on to…I think most music fans can find something they can grab on to.”

That passion and that energy are contagious and continue to win the band an ever expanding following. “Of all the jobs I’ve had, it’s by far my favorite,” Besteiro commented. “And I think it’s pretty evident that it’s everybody else’s favorite, as well…I mean, I thought that’s why everybody started playing music because they love it and because they have fun.” For more information on the series, visit Tulsa Roots Music.

-With thanks to La Semana del Sur