Rising R&B Artist – Myles Castello On His Music, Upcoming Projects and More

Photo via Myles Castello

Toronto’s easterly city is making waves as Scarborough’s very own Myles Castello – is finding himself on the steady yet quick rise in music. The R&B singer hits hard when performing live, lighting up the stage and captivating the audience through his club-friendly rhythm. With singles like ‘Bad Company, ‘Way Off’ and his latest, ‘Fade Away’ – Myles proves that modern dance tracks don’t have to lack in lyricism. His writing style captures the classic R&B mood and evolves it into a more uplifting sound.

With his mother singing in choir and growing up influenced by Michael Jackson and ABBA, Myles found himself drawn to music. During his high school days, Castello would spend his time playing piano and guitar, throwing beats down on Garage Band. Seeing how Toronto’s own Drake grew on a global scale, Myles began writing along and making beats. From creating music in his bedroom to performing live on stage across the country, Myles Castello continues to quickly ramp up his growth and musical talent – with his most recent track ‘Fade Away’ being recently added to Spotify’s famous ‘R&B Right Now’ playlist.

Watch the music video for ‘Way Off’ by Myles Castello:

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

With new tracks under his arsenal, Myles opens up on his music, inspirations and tells us he has something special to look forward to. Listen to ‘Fade Away’ and read the full exclusive interview with Myles Castello below:

XMPL: Known as an R&B-infused singer, what would you say inspired you to pursue music and how do you utilize that influence today?

Myles Castello: I was always a fan of music from day one. I’m very active and was big on sports when I was growing up but got to a point where I couldn’t play anymore due to injury. So I ended up picking up the guitar and writing songs and shortly after got into music production. That’s when I started to experiment with different genres and sounds, which is a fusion of what I am today.

Since your release of ‘Talk About It’ and ‘What A Mess,’ it was clear that you can add your own unique twist to that classic R&B sound. As a producer and songwriter, how did you realize you could expand your sound into multiple genres at once?

I never did realize. It was less of a realization and more of something I did naturally. I grew up around all types of music and I am too inspired to call a sound my own. Everything I listen to from Hip-Hop, Rock, R&B, Blues, Pop, Rap etc. all ends up in my music. Whether it falls perfectly into one genre, or sits on the fence between two, that is what makes “my sound.”

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‘Right by You’ was your first release of 2018, can you tell us how a track like that came to be and what it meant?

Talking with friends Chris and Herag about relationships and where we were all at with them. The song came together one day when we were all in the studio together, just sharing stories and ideas, before we even wrote ideas down. We started jamming out a bit, and playing some chords on the piano and guitar to get a base for the song. It came together smoothly after having talked before, since we knew exactly what we wanted to write about, and that’s doing right by somebody.

‘Bad Company’ was a defining track to end 2018. Releasing the song alongside The Uccis, can you describe what it was like working together on such an amazing track?

That was the first song I worked on with those guys and we had a good time. We were just playing beats back and forth to see what caught our ears and ‘Bad Company’ is that beat. We wrote the song in a few hours and knew it was something special.

You kicked off 2019 with ‘Way Off,’ a catchy track with a cold-rugged feeling due to the flow and lyrics. Can you tell us the meaning behind that track?

It’s about you wanting to be with somebody and go have a good time with them, but they’re having an off day.

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Can you walk us through your latest track ‘Fade Away’ and what it took to create it?

We spent a day in the studio making this track. We started around noon just writing down ideas. And this whole song is about you thinking someone who would never be apart from you. And once we got a good base down we recorded some scratch vocals. We sat back and listened to them a bit to make sure we were cool with all the ideas. Once I was confident, I went into the booth to record it and that’s it.

Many of your lyrics reminisce on past scars and mistakes, they are very easy to relate to, however not everybody can find the words to describe them. How does your creative process begin when writing lyrics to a song, and how do you draw influences for the topics you sing about?

My creative process usually begins with a melody, concept, or lyric that I record on my phone. From there I usually take out my guitar to start getting a sense of the music, or I bring it to my computer and start making beat. Very different methods, but both work for me. Ideas for songs just come out of the air. Rarely do I think of an actual song concept, and when I force it, it’s usually harder to finish and be happy with the product. Usually it’s based on how I’m feeling or what I’m thinking or going through and when I feel something in a piece of music that inspires me, that’s usually how the lyrics start.

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You have been doing shows in the GTA, what type of energy do live performances demand and is there anything you’ve learned from a show that you can bring back to the studio?

What I’ve learned most about playing live is that when I go back to the studio, I need to write songs that I feel like I can sing at any point, whether I’m warmed up or not. That helps me perform my music better and makes it easier for people to sing along to.

Are there any artists in Toronto that you would like to collaborate with and why?

Jessie Reyez and Daniel Caesar would be cool to work with. I like both of the vibes as people and of course their music. Seeing both of them start to make waves in the city is cool to see, after hearing about them for so long.

With 8 killer tracks since 2018 can we expect an EP or an album before the year is finished?

Yes…expect an EP.

Stream ‘Fade Away’ by Myles Castello:

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