isn’t sick of pizza, he’s tired of how it defines him.
As a Spanish-speaking, first-generation immigrant, who was born in California and moved to Denver in 2007, Castillo is a lot more than just the leader of his garage-pop band , which was signed by in 2013.
“From a character standpoint, are like, ‘The Pizza Time dude! You must be a certain way,’” Castillo explains, referencing his musical persona. During Pizza Time performances (or even on recordings), Castillo comes across as a stoned slacker. But, at 27 years old, after so many experiences and so much traveling, he considers himself more of a documentarian than a mere musician.
On March 28-29, Burger Records will host its 4th annual in Santa Ana, Calif., just a few miles away from the label’s home base of Fullerton. For Castillo, this Burgerama will be his last. In fact, on April 9, Castillo will play his final Denver show as Pizza Time at Rhinoceropolis and stop putting out recordings under the moniker.
With Castillo’s new project, Panaderia, he uses bizarre video shorts to document various things in Denver that he deems cool. The videos feature a group of Spanish-speaking, animated characters who further the story, acting as transitions between a showcase of various Denver artists, musicians and Castillo’s own Panaderia songs (which are very similar to Pizza Time tunes, by the way).
“The music still sounds exactly the same,” Castillo says, laughing. “But, because I made these little cardboard characters, I think itap more like a ‘fan zine,’ of whatever I like, that changes from episode to episode.”
On Feb. 15, Castillo released Panaderia’s first episode on his YouTube channel. It starts with a time-lapse of Castillo waking up, making some Nescafé and setting up his simple production gear. Then, it introduces us to his animated friends, who are playing a sweet cover of “Sugar, Sugar” in their basement hangout. Eventually, the cartoon crew is interrupted by some stupid adults, a feeling that Castillo can probably relate to.
Armed with a cheap 4-track recorder, a microphone and a camcorder, Castillo is a do-it-yourself purist when it comes to creating these little “love letters” to his side of the Denver scene or pop culture in general. This debut episode, for instance, is Castillo’s tongue-in-cheek homage to The Archies, another group of animated musicians from the ’60s who made “Sugar, Sugar” a hit.
Fortunately, the founder of Burger Records, Sean Bohrman (who signed Pizza Time back in 2013), understands Castillo’s new project. Once Panaderia has enough material, Bohrman will release it, Castillo says.
Bohrman’s willingness to support Castillo comes from the fact that he and his partners, Brian Flores and Lee Rickard, are very open minded, says Chris Adolf, leader of the Denver-based power-pop quartet, American Culture.
On Sunday, March 29, American Culture will play Burgerama, just as they did last year. And even though they don’t have the garage-rock or psychedelic stylings of most “Burger bands” (e.g. King Tuff, The Growlers), Bohrman has let American Culture come aboard.
“ has created a culture,” Adolf said. “Not just a successful little tape label, but a whole culture. Back in the day, music fans were branded by . There were the Metallica kids, the Cure kids. You don’t see that much anymore, but now there’s ‘Burger’ kids.”
For the past two years, those “Burger” kids are what kept Castillo going. This is why Pizza Time’s last record, “Todo,” will be released on vinyl, as opposed to cassette. Not only will a vinyl pressing give Castillo’s fans a lasting format, but “Todo” seems like the right album to put on such a medium.
Recorded with his bandmate Ben Donehower at Castillo’s former home, Rhinoceropolis (a warehouse-turned-venue in the River North area), “Todo” is a masterful pop effort filled with eight catchy tunes. Each track is flushed out by raw guitars, a playful drum machine and Castillo’s sweet, lyrical lines, mostly sung in Spanish. And, seeing this is Pizza Time’s last album, the songs come across as more endearing (no matter the production value or language barrier).
“When we recorded the last song, I was definitely like, ‘Well, that was the last Pizza Time song,’” Castillo recalls. “And we we’re like, yeah, thatap it. It felt good.”
“When I decided I was going to end , I felt bad,” Castillo continues. “Like, ‘They’re going to put out my vinyl and I’m going to end my band?’ But if you drag something out for too long and you’ve done anything worthwhile, you just bring that down with you, too. It feels better just to let it go and start something else.”
In Aug. 2013, Adolf ended his popular jam-punk band, Bad Weather California, to start American Culture. Many of his fans couldn’t understand why, but he knew it was the right move.
“This sounds unromantic, but I wanted to make music thatap a little more structured than Bad Weather California was,” Adolf says. “With American Culture, I wanted to make something where: These are the songs. They’re two minutes. Done. I think pop music, pop culture, needs to be ‘throw away.’ Things don’t last long and you’re going to make more of it — little gems and snapshots of a time. I won’t speak for David, but I think thatap what he is doing: on-the-fly feelings.”
Part of that on-the-fly approach to art means that projects eventually have to die. For Panaderia, Castillo will write songs as they come to him and make his “fan zine” videos until he gets tired of that process. But until that happens, Castillo and his current Pizza Time bandmates are finishing up a farewell tour.
For the past 10 days, Pizza Time has been on the road, playing towns like Missoula, Mont., and Spokane, Wash., before pulling into Santa Ana for Burgerama. While there, Castillo will visit his extended family, who lives in the area. In all, the trip just might inspire some new Panaderia episodes. One thing is for sure: the weekend will give all of Castillo’s “Burger” fans a final chance to say “adios” to pizza.
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