MY STORY SINCE MUSIC

Yo, en 2021

Hello, my name is David P. Castillo, I am 43 years old, I am a musician and guitarist. I was born in Cumaná on November 18, 1978 in a very varied family, and I grew up among my brothers and friends. From a young age I was interested in music, my immediate influence being the music of the 80s.

Reggaercito en Araya (abril de 2022)

Despite seeing lessons from Cuatro (Venezuelan) classes since I was little (8 years old), I didn't take it seriously until something incredible happened in 1989: my older brother (who would be my most direct influence) joined a local band. called Renacimiento. Soon Yuri Castillo (as he was called) would be something like what we would call a "public figure", since he became an excellent and virtuoso guitarist, well known in the field of Cumaná rock. All this would make me interested in the guitar and from time to time I could play, when my brother lent me his (sometimes not, lol). Always passionate about The Beatles, I tried to learn the songs that I liked the most, and also some other little thing out there. In 1996, one of the saddest episodes of my life would happen when, a victim of cancer, Yuri would die at the age of 21. This plunged me into a difficult stage where the only thing that would serve as an escape route would be music.

That same year I enrolled in piano classes with Professor Rafael Sequera at the José M. Gómez Cardiel music school where I spent approximately two years; at the same time I was studying guitar at home, mixing with the knowledge acquired in my piano classes. In 1998 I would have my first experience with a quite interesting band -La Base-, since it was a mixture of rock and Latin rhythms, very much in the vein of the Fabulous Cadillacs. There I left my rock "comfort zone" and began to listen to other genres, such as fusion, jazz, blues, among others. With La Base I participated in the famous Festival Nuevas Bandas Sucre chapter in its second edition, to win and go to the eastern region, in Maturín, Monagas state. Months later I would join the ranks of Ilúvatar to venture into a quite different genre from what I had already been doing with La Base: Melodic Death Metal. Puerto La Cruz, Barcelona, ​​El Tigre, Anaco, Puerto Ordaz and Ciudad Bolívar, would be the places where Ilúvatar would rub shoulders with bands of the stature of Metempsicosis, Morbus, Scythe, Penumbra, Psicosis, Cronos, among others. But already in 2004, after many ups and downs, the band would finally break up.

La Base (1998)	Ilúvatar (2003)

In September of that same year I enrolled in the Tecnológico de Musica de Valencia, where I obtained a degree in guitar (2005) under the tutelage of professors such as Victor Di Lorenzo (Franco de Vita, among others), Luis Viera, Yazer Núñez (Olga Tañón ) and Tony Velazquez (Kiara). After graduating from this prestigious institution, I began to teach at different music academies in Cumaná.

Already in 2008 I began another academic stage, enrolling in what was then the IUDEM (Instituto Universitario de Estudios Musicales) in Caracas, Venezuela, which would later become, together with other institutions, the Universidad Nacional Experimental de las Artes (UNEARTE), where he would study for a Bachelor of Music with a mention in Jazz Guitar. In this house of studies I had the opportunity to see classes with great musicians such as Álvaro Falcón, Carlos Sanoja, Rodolfo Reyes, Manuel Barrios, Willie Díaz and Edwing Arellano. The latter would be my Jazz Guitar teacher and tutor.

Taller de Improvisación con Bruce Gertz en el IUDEM (2009)

While I was studying music, I started working in the National System of Orchestras, Núcleo La Rinconada, since 2009, which would be quite an experience for me in terms of learning pedagogy and music teaching, supervised by different teachers and musical educators such as Josbel Puche and Eugenio Carreño, among others, until 2017 when, due to the harsh situation in the country, I was forced to request a change to the Cumaná nucleus, where I continue my work as a teacher. I've been working for the system for almost 14 years, I'm still surprised and I'm still learning things through the boys and girls I teach.

Dirigiendo la Orquesta Alma Llanera del Núcleo La Rinconada en la sala Fedora Alemán del CNASPM (2017)

In the last 10 years I have been active in different musical projects as a guitarist, producer and arranger. From tributes, to groups and different artists who make life in the city: Edu and Los Uveros de San Luis, Gran Torino Band, Reggaercito, Edward Tobias & La Nave No Vino, Transistor de Germanio (producer), Artefacto Estudio, Tributo a Franco De Vita (Artefactos Estudio), Tributo a Maná, Kumaná Blues Band, Sio Salmar and other projects in gestation.

For me, joining a community like Hive means being able to share my experience and knowledge as a musician and educator hoping to have the support of my colleagues and followers. I feel motivated and expectant about the projects that can arise through this platform. I send you a big greeting and I hope to see you soon, here. Health and good day!

Thanks to @guiltyparties and @edwardstobia for the support and trust placed in me. Cheers!