Containing 13 songs, the musician explores different expressions, amplifying his horizons with the collaboration of other great Peruvian musicians.
Oliver Castillo is a Peruvian musician known for being the founder, bassist and singer of D’Mente Común, a band that has been in the rock scene for 28 years. But within his wide repertoire, sustained in 28 years in the service of music, he also includes some works as a soloist, the most important being ‘Laboratorio’, a musical project that has just released its second installment.
“The adventure of ‘Laboratorio’ began in 2015 when I found out about a physical problem that causes me pain in my hands and arms regularly. At that time, I decided to revisit discarded compositions and work on them with musician friends as guests. I started with Ricardo Méndez and Walter Cobos, and I enjoyed the process and result so much that I haven’t stopped and now I have the second material with a new perspective”, says the son of Tavo Castillo, legendary musician of the band Frágil.
Oliver recalls that the first song that appeared was ‘Libélula’ with Ricardo Méndez. The name is inherited from the bass line, which generates an indescribable sensation of flight. Because of this, he determined that each track should keep insect appellations, imagining, precisely, a laboratory of experimentation with all of them.
“Something I really like about this proposal is that he gave empty canvases to the guests… just simple demos with drums, bass and no arrangements. This gives them a lot of freedom to each one and the ability to add a lot of emotion at the moment of listening to the first return,” adds Castillo.
During the pandemic, the author revealed that he had completed 13 songs in five years. He compiled them and worked on the bass production, mixing and mastering with Kenneth Quiroz and the artwork and cover design with Renzo “Corpz” González. Thus, in July 2020 saw the light ‘Laboratorio V01’. At the time this proposal appeared, Oliver already had the demos of the second album. In 2021, he began to work on the production of drums and bass with Kenneth Quiroz. As we know, the unfortunate departure of this musician and producer left a void in the Peruvian music scene, as happened with this album. Therefore, its production, mixing and mastering was finalized by the also renowned musician and producer Daniel Willis.
In this project you can appreciate the collaborations of artists such as Magali Luque, Tavo Castillo, Walter Cobos, Veronik, Renzo Perales, Gabriel Infantas, André Vasquez, Marmotasdebemorir, Sarid Challco, Daniel Willis and Vhako. “With the album V02 I am trying to slowly get out of my comfort zone, inviting musicians from styles farther away from my projects, and moving away to many songs from the trio format that I had respected in V01. It is more varied, in styles and emotions, and has allowed me to explore other capabilities as a composer and arranger, and not only as a bass player”; he concludes.
The album will be available next Wednesday, January 25.
@alex-martinez
