Discover ‘Twilight’-Obsessed Pop Idol Alaina Castillo

Born in Houston to a tight-knit religious family, 21-year-old rising pop artist Alaina Castillo was naturally drawn to all things creative at an early age, but kept her true passion for music under wraps due to the parental pressure to focus on her studies. Yet despite her family’s best efforts, she never quit her passion for music — and thank goodness for that. 

Sharpening her writing skills in both English and Spanish, she developed her music skills in secret. Becoming more bold with sharing her talents with the world, she began to build a fanbase by flipping popular English pop songs into Spanish, eventually plucking up the courage to put her own original music online. Since then, her career has skyrocketed and in just a few years, she’s built a cult-like following among Gen Z. 

Now, she pushes her talents further than ever before with the first instalment of her two-part debut LP parallel universe. The seven-track collection of dark R&B ballads and catchy pop-infused anthems sees Alaina take control of her own narrative and relationships, representing her most mature work to date. 

Below, we get to know the rising pop artist as she breaks down her musical background, creative process and the music she’s loving atm.  

Great to meet you! Let’s talk about your beginnings in music: where did this great voice come?

I started in the church choir and then eventually school choir. That showed me that I wanted to go more into the direction of pop. In middle school I discovered R’n’B — artists like Usher, Neyo and Mario — and I became obsessed with it. I would look up these little beats on YouTube, trap beats or something, and that inspired me to go in the direction of making YouTube videos. That’s when it all started. I was like, “Oh I want to put all of these trap beats of me singing on YouTube” but then I was like, “Wait, what if I just do covers?”

Who or what are your main inspirations?

Probably Rihanna, Usher, Jhené Aiko. I remember in middle school I would just either have their songs on repeat and just sing them over and over in my bathroom. Rihanna gave me a lot of attitude that I never really showed until recently. With Jhené, her songs are always so melodic and you can feel pain in it, but also there’s a very sweet side and I think that has carried over into how I sing today.

Talk us through your creative process?

My creative process is really selective. If I don’t feel comfortable in a situation or if it’s not the right vibe then I know to move on very  quickly. But it starts with listening to the song, whatever we’re working on in the studio, or coming in with an idea or with lyrics that I have in my head that I go home with. Based on how it sounds, and if I want it to be sad or happy, I’ll start writing from there. I usually always connect it to something in my life right away, whether it was a breakup or a lesson that I learned. It’s all from things in my life that I’ve lived through and I try to put it into the right words for the song.

What song do you have on repeat at the moment?

“Leave The Door Open” by Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak and Silk Sonic. When I first heard it, I was like, “it’s going to be good” but then you hear the pre-chorus where Bruno Mars comes in and then the chorus. It just takes you to a whole other level. In the morning when I’m getting ready, in the evening when I’m chilling, when I’m cooking, when I want to be nostalgic and have a glass of wine in my hand and be like, “oh shit, I’m classy” — I’ll put that song on. It’s kind of getting annoying to the people around me but it’s ok because I love it. Right now, we’re working on a lot of different R’n’B sounds, so it’s nice to have that on repeat all the time because it puts some inspiration in my head.

Tell us a song that changed your life and why?

“Claire de Lune”. This song, oh man. The first time I watched Pride and Prejudice it was playing and I went and looked it up and added it to my playlist. It’s on the marriage playlist that I’m going to use one day when I get married. It’s changed my life forever because it’s such a timeless song and I love listening to it and it makes me happy when I do.

What’s one thing you want the world to know about you?

I’m still learning, still growing just like [other people] are, just like everybody is. You think that you’re alone in all of these situations, but it’s always nice to hear that somebody’s going through the same thing as you. I want all of my fans, everybody who sees me, meets me or listens to my music to know that I’m still going through the process just like them. We are in it together. That’s my life motto really.

Talk us through your new single “pocket locket”?

When I was writing “pocket locket” it became very clear to me that this was who I wanted to be, this was a side of me that I’d never really shown, that was discovered singing R’n’B songs after choral songs and is now able to come out. 

What about the music video?

It’s just free expression, creativity and ideas. I was so involved in the outfits, the visuals that we did, and I feel like finally I’m able to be this person that I was hiding for so long. I want everybody that watches it to feel that as well, in their own way. To make their own interpretation of it and to go and live their life and be the creative people that they are, without feeling judged or without over thinking everything.

If your music was the soundtrack to a movie, what movie would it be?

It would probably go well with the Twilight saga. I know there are a lot of depressing moments in those movies, but there are a lot of hype moments, bad ass moments.  [My song] “indica” could fit in there somewhere, I just know it. Every time I watch Twilight, I could recite the words, so my music would fit perfectly with that. Maybe I’ve been secretly writing for Twilight this whole time…

What’s next for you?

The second half of parallel universe is coming out very soon. Then in November I’m going to be going on my second tour ever! The dates are already out and tickets are being sold. We might release some new dates very soon, but that’s the main thing I’m super excited about. It’s been so long since I’ve been on tour, I’m excited to see my cute little fans again!

Exclusively watch Alaina’s latest video for “pocket locket” below.