We recently connected with Emilio Castillo and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Emilio, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

At 14 yrs old the Beatles came out and I got in a bit of trouble trying to steal some T-shirts. My dad told me to fill a spiral notebook with why I’d never steal again and to figure out something to keep me out of trouble that summer. My brother Jack and I told him we wanted to play music and he immediately took us to the local music store and he rented me a sax and my brother some drums and we started a band that day. My life drastically changed that day. I was totally consumed with the band and I’ve been a bandleader ever since.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My brother Jack and I formed a band when I was 14 yrs old and I became the bandleader shortly thereafter at the behest of my father who said that, even though Jack was a year older, I was the one with the ability to lead and guide the band. I’ve been a bandleader for almost 60 years and my forte is helping and guiding great musicians to play together as a group with a particular sound of their own. My band is Tower of Power and we’ve been together performing live and recording since 1968. Along the way I started writing songs and, along with my songwriting partner Stephen “Doc” Kupka, I am the main songwriter in the band. I also started producing our recordings in the early 70’s and I’ve produced the most successful of the band’s recordings throughout the years. I’m the one that listens to everyone’s ideas for the music and then helps bring them to fruition by giving each member the opportunity to contribute. We collectively decide what ideas are working and what ideas are not. If we can’t all come to agree about that, I as the leader make the final decision. There has to be a leader with the final say and with Tower of Power “the buck stops here.” My way of achieving our sound is to get as much out of the great musicians God has blessed me with and do it in a way that makes them want to do their best for me. That’s something I learned from my father when I was a young man. I’ve made a lot of mistakes over the years. I was an active alcoholic/drug addict for the first twenty years and then sobered up in 1988. I began my spiritual life in sobriety and today my entire band and I pray with and for each other. In 1994 I became a Christian and that relationship with Jesus Christ is the most important thing in my life.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I’d been drinking and using for 10 years when my friend Chris Stone, the owner of Record Plant Studios in Sausolito, CA, a man I totally respected, yelled at me to “Get out of those Berkeley Hills clouds and get in the business or get out. The business is in LA!!!” I then moved to LA to try and get my career back on track and eventually moved the entire band down there from the Bay Area. Chris was gracious enough to let me hang out at his Record Plant Studio in Hollywood and I was able to get a lot of recording sessions and make some valuable business relationships. I also was able to get my horn section on a tour with Huey Lewis and the News who were the biggest stars in the world at that time. We toured with them, while still doing Tower of Power shows, for over 4 years and we also did sixteen David Letterman appearances during that time. I still struggled with my addiction but finally sobered up Feb 20, 1988. It’s been uphill ever since.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding thing about what I do is the effect I have on various people and fans that know a lot of my story and relate to my sobriety of 35 yrs and my Christian lifestyle. My trust in God and my relationship with my family, coworkers, and like minded people is the greatest blessing in my life.

Contact Info:

• Website: towerofower.com
• Other: Our band is on all social media but I myself am not a social media person. If you’d like to know all the social media info for Tower of Power our publicist is Ariel Rosemberg. Cell 404-402-0484 Email [email protected]