Cassiopeia from Castle Pines latest love letter album called "Por Vida" is goosebumps inducing indie rocker with a beautifully sweeping feel. Guitar driven with big bold crescendos of sound it is not afraid to get quiet in spots which only make the full charge running up the hill parts feel even bigger and more passionate. The Corona, California band's musical flourishes feel organic as they shun a lot of indie rock cliche's. No over modulated vox (for example). When Leandro Barrientos sings emotional lines like "as seasons pass me by... we lay forgotten wonder why... what were they saying through their teeth... we were taught to grin through our grief... facades are meant to fade...living inside the walls we made" the words hit home. Real and relatable, Cassiopeia feels cinematic and inspirational. Castle Pines is Leandro Barrientos (guitar, vox), Ricky Garvey (lead guitar), Sterling Fairfield (percussion, drums) and Jesse Briseno (bass).
Listen to "Por Vida" on all digital platforms here- https://cpporvida.com/
Listen to "Por Vida" on all digital platforms here- https://cpporvida.com/
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Robb Donker
PRESS NOTES:
Castle Pines is a four piece Alternative Rock Outfit from Corona, CA. Dutifully dedicated and charismatic members include Leandro Barrientos (vocalist) and Ricky Garvey (lead guitarist), Sterling Fairfield (percussionist) and Jesse Briseno (bassist) The band, likened to a fervent local movement, has relentlessly worked every aspect of their music, online presence and message over 10 years to garner international attention from radio stations, blogs and press.
Castle Pines are somewhat of an anomaly in the independent music world. Basing the band off of a family home lost in the market crash of 2008 and crafting songs with emotive and frantic sensibilities, Castle Pines built a familial, passionate following and branded themselves as the “blue collar” indie-alternative heroes of their hometown, the “non-cool kids” that fell through cracks of Suburban America.
Encompassing the many facets that new technology and the volatile music industry offers, Castle Pines founded a publishing company “CP Por Vida Music Publishing” in 2017, using the trended hashtag of their own creation #CPporVida. Their upcoming album “Por Vida” aptly titled from the Spanish “For Life” will be released as a collection of 7 singles alongside of music videos curated by different film makers to give the album a unique visual and sonic experience from the perspective of different auteurs.
Recording for the “Por Vida” album was a monumental and arduous challenge for the members of the band. The Summer of 2017, as the band was doing preliminary recordings, founding member and drummer Sterling Fairfield was rushed to an emergency operation due to complications of Crohn’s Disease. An ailment that Sterling dealt with his entire time gigging, recording and playing with Castle Pines, he nearly died on several occasions and had his entire lower intestine removed. This left the band in an unsure place for the recording of their album. Sterling, being the diehard loyalist to the band and message, struggled through weeks of recording in a cottage in Southern California, stitches fresh from an incision down his chest, and performed beautifully for the album. An album, with all odds against it, was recorded through perseverance through adversity, dedication and in no small part to the accommodating and kind efforts of Matthew Faulkner of Beta Waves Records who moved his entire studio to a cottage near the home of Sterling, in case he suffered another medical emergency.
The Castle Pines discography has been a testament to the bands ability to maneuver through changes and hardship. Their first release, “Bless this House EP” is a collection of 6 songs written in a dingy, rundown apartment in the summer of 2010. Songs like “I saw you on the Radio” and “I’m a Volcano” have not only become fan favorites at live shows and on streaming platforms, but reflect the extremely colorful musical palette and diversity of the scenes and genres each member was raised with. Punk, emo, hardcore, grind, indie and alternative meld into a sonic landscape that is completely Castle Pines own sound, developed in the now defunct, all-ages venue in Corona, CA “The Showcase Theater”.
In 2014, Castle Pines released their full length album “Summer Blood”, focused on hypnotic textures, dynamic musical language and the narrative of growing up in the 90’s suburban sprawls of Southern California, it was released through a successful crowdfunding campaign and met with praise from both local fans and the international music, blog and arts community. The album features “Palm Springs” a driving and powerful journey through youthful family trips in a minivan to the aforementioned desert oasis in Southern California. It has been featured on radio stations in Brazil, the UK, New Zealand, South Africa and the US.
Summer 2018 marks the release of “Por Vida” the album that almost never was is a testament to staying the course and faithful commitment to the art in the pangs of heartache, ailment and suffering. The band is grateful for the love and support it has received from the online community, their fans and family and is eagerly excited to premier their latest work. In an industry exploited for commercial and financial gain by juggernaut corporatism, a little garage band, from the suburbs of California, protesting the status quo and proclaiming the importance of art and music, loyalty, persistence and honesty is a fresh and needed voice in the stifling noise of the modern market.
Thank you, and remember that Castle Pines is for life homie.
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