Take a background in fine arts and songwriting, add a keen interest in music and lifelong exposure to Latin rhythms, and what do you get?
Answer: the Castros, a local band headed up by Westerville couple Marco and Sara Castro.
The band refers to its sound as “indie-folk pop.”
“I like the simplicity of it,” Sara says.
The couple, who met in Savannah, Ga., have been married for seven years, and have been performing together for four. Sara plays guitar and tambourine and sings; Marco plays guitar and percussion.
Though he was already a musician, Marco had nev
er played guitar before he met Sara – she’s the one who taught him to play – and while Sara had been writing songs for some time, she had never performed one until Marco encouraged her.
“I probably wouldn’t be doing it without him, honestly,” she says.
Sara started writing poetry in high school and soon transitioned to music.
“I probably first started turning it into songs in the early 2000s,” she says. “In 2002 or 2003 … I wrote my first song, (though) I didn’t show it to anybody, of course.”
The Castros started out playing in small venues such as coffee shops, and are now finding their way onto the bills at festivals and larger venues. They’ve also taken on supporting musicians – including harmonist Hannah DeBoer, bassist Jeff DeBoer, drummer Noah Tolson and cellist Andrew Gordon-Seifert – who’ve helped add depth, Sara says.
In August, they had a chance to be part of Songs & Whispers, a program that brings international musicians to play a month-long series of gigs in Germany. They also booked shows in Sweden and Denmark, and made visits to England and Ireland.
“We did a little bit of a European tour, I guess you could say,” Sara says. “That was a really great experience that we might not have gotten without music.”
The band was featured on Celebrating Columbus in Song, the CD put out for Columbus’ bicentennial, performing its song “Here in Columbus.”
Marco is influenced by a variety of genres, including the music of his native Costa Rica, while Sara – who grew up in Newark – is primarily a fan of folk and classic rock. Sara writes the songs. Though the Castros do play an occasional cover, the vast majority of their music is original.
Sara considers herself an emotional person, and that drives a lot of her writing. She has also been inspired by such musicians as Jewel, Ingrid Michaelson and Thrice.
“I’m influenced by music, but I think I’m more influenced by life and the things I encounter personally,” she says.
Love is a major theme in the band’s music, but spirituality, encouragement and even humor factor in as well.
Sara might be recognizable to Westerville residents through her work as a customer service librarian at the Westerville Public Library. She might also be known through her artwork. In addition to album cover designs, including the Castros’, she does cartoon portraits, graphic design, painting, drawing and more, making use of her associate’s degree in fine arts from The Ohio State University.
Some of her work – including “cute” versions of famous paintings such as Magritte’s Son of Man and Munch’s The Scream – can be seen and purchased at her Etsy page, Made with Love by Sara. The “cute” series was inspired by a Van Gogh print she saw while working at the library.
“I thought it would be cute to try to do that in my style,” Sara says.
The Castros are booked to perform at Java Central Dec. 6 as part of the Uptown Westerville coffee shop’s Saturday night live music series. The show begins at 7 p.m.
Garth Bishop is managing editor. Feedback welcome at tdufresne@cityscenemediagroup.com.
