Dominic Castillo: Tale of a Rock Savant

What do a college kid from Boise, Idaho, a self-proclaimed music connoisseur from California and a CD Baby editor have in common?

For starters, all have offered their indulgent online tributes to a Portland based indie rock band.

Typing the name Dominic Castillo into any search engine will yield pages of references, raving reviews and requests for the presence and performance of Castillo and his trusty Rock Savants. Some will go on novel length odes about the “band to watch.”

Others will poignantly ponder the meanings beneath the soul-grabbing tunes that Dominic Castillo and the Rock Savants (DCRS) lend to the musical circuit. It begs the question: What the hell is all the fuss about?

It started with Castillo, a jazz student from Berklee College of Music, wielding his powers to create an EP entitled 5 Hideous Love Songs Plus 2 in 2004. He enlisted the help of high caliber musicians to tweak and prune the songs to their collaborative liking.

After a few years of successful releases and lineup changes, DCRS as it is today was born.

Castillo, who works at a Northeast bar, took on lead vocals and guitar. Nate Szytel, a fellow bartender, plays drums and does most of the band’s booking. The token super-cute female Kelly Ann balances keyboards and babysitting jobs, while Jonathon Barker plays guitar and designs much of the band’s artwork.

And Eric Moxygemba, the most recent addition, joined last June on bass. Essentially, they form five uber talented SoCal transplants with a knack for creating music so ridden with sincerity that even the best con artist couldn’t fake it.

“Everyone comes from a very musical background,” Moxygemba explains. “That’s where everything starts for us: music. Essentially, it’s about putting out music that you yourself would listen to. At the end of the day that’s what it comes down to, making really good music.”

The music is husky, often ridden with refreshingly abrasive lyrics on the aspects of love and life frequently ignored in pop music. And it’s fresh, completely impossible to predict. The balance of instrumental displays of talent creates a warm, fluid tone to their songs and the rich vocals add a well-rounded edge.

“I just know it’s a special band because everyone comes together in such a great way,” Moxygemba says. “We really balance out each other.”

Although there are traces of rock, jazz, pop and alternative, the band’s specific inspirations are enigmatically tougher to nail down. It seems they are simply inspired by the making of music itself; a unique trait in today’s heavily piggybacked music scene.

“My inspiration for making music is hard to name,” Moxygemba says. “There’s a moment when you’re young and start making music that you just know. At an early age I knew music made me feel a certain way. My inspiration is the feeling that making music produces.”

Their fourth record is in the works, with a teaser released on their fun, gorgeously designed website. Their digital release, “Singles for Singles” will be available soon in hard copy. Both will be loaded with feisty, snappy songs doused with a touch of old soul.

DCRS’s music feels like it was created without catering to a particular scene or sure-hit market. It doesn’t feel like it has anything to prove, and their audience surely appreciates the obvious trust they have in what they create and each other. Like so many of their contemporaries, DCRS has found success through a new world medium married to the unshakable base of quality tunes.