Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tenesi Castro. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Tenesi thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

So! I write, I vocal produce, and I engineer: these three things have all stemmed from (and developed off of) one another throughout my life, but the thing that truly came first was writing!
When I was in kindergarten, one of the teachers made it mandatory for us to write a daily three line “journal;” it could be about anything, but it had to be three lines.
Now, I’ve always been pretty lazy, so I had already been moaning and groaning about those three little lines to begin with, but that teacher must’ve seen something in me, because- among like nine or ten other young children- she singled me out: I think she made me write five or six lines, haha!
And because of that, I’ve always loved writing! For a while, when I was growing up, I had wanted to be a fiction writer. I would go all out on creative writing assignments, I was a very ambitious child in this sole regard, haha.
When I had gotten to high school, and I had truly begun to appreciate the songwriting of artists like Amy Winehouse, Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, and others (many others, but those were my big three when I was a kid), I had begun to pivot into lyric writing.
I would spend entire classes feigning paying attention to whatever the physics teacher or chemistry teacher was droning on about, and I would write anything and everything that I could think of. By the time I had gotten to my sophomore year of high school, I could write an entire song in about ten minutes or less (although, really anybody can do that, you sort of just have to let it fall out of you, haha!).
Granted, the quality of the work that I did as a teenager might not be subjectively as good as the work that I do now (as a slightly less “green” writer), I truly appreciate the upbringing that I had in writing!

Along the way of delving into songwriting, came singing (which, for me, evolved into vocal production), and eventually engineering. I used to be a HORRIBLE singer, I had little control over my voice, and I had wanted so badly to sound like the people that I had grown up listening to, and the people that I had discovered throughout my journey. People like Whitney, Mariah, Beyoncé, Keith Washington, Chaka Khan, Monica, Brandy, Amy, and so many others! Eventually, about seven or eight years into my journey (I started around age 14), I got a bit better, and suddenly I found that my falsetto had developed, and I was finally (after a bit of guidance from other singers and some people I knew) able to sound how I had always imagined I could sound!
However, what probably would’ve made that moment come a bit sooner than seven or eight years would have been voice lessons! I had never considered taking vocal lessons, I really don’t know why (I think it stems from me having a bad experience with a teacher at my local church when I was about eight years old, I must’ve figured “screw her, I can do this by myself,” haha!).

Engineering came when I had started to do amateur vocal productions/top lining for friends and people I met online. It had been this shiny, new (to me) thing that I was completely fascinated by, it fit really well with how I am!
I decided to learn from the mistake I had made when I was a kid trying to improve my voice, and pivoted my education to cater to my engineering interest. I pursued an AS degree in studio recording, which ended up being my introduction into the Hollywood studio scene, something for which I’m so grateful. I learned a lot from all of my teachers, some of which I remain close with to this day, and I’m very glad that I decided to evolve from my illogical, childhood error.

I’m still learning more, about all of the things that I do professionally! There’s always someone who knows more than you, and I really love this! If someone is willing to teach me something, I will never find shame in listening to what they have to say.

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

I provide top lining and songwriting services (in both English and Spanish), vocal/background arranging services and their engineering/editing, and full band audio engineering and mixing!
Something I love about the work that I do (and something that I’m proud of) is that whenever I do a job, I tend to perform all of these services at one point or another throughout the run of the project! I’m very grateful to be able to do this; for me, all of these things go hand in hand with each other, and I’m also grateful that I’ve found different people that let me collaborate with them on their material in all of these ways.

I’ll usually meet someone when I engineer either for them or for other people that they know, and as I get to know them, they’ll come to know my voice/writing, and if we find that we enjoy working together in general, then after a while, we sort of naturally end up writing/producing together!

I work with people across many genres; not only rnb, but post hardcore, pop punk, rock, pop, rap, Americana, country, and more. I enjoy the writing from all different genres, and I love getting turned on to records from genres- other than those from my home in rnb- from the people that I work with!
For example, I’ve been working with this great group from Hollywood, they’re called Toadstar- everybody in that group is great, they call their genre “sex rock!”- and their lead singer, Maia (@maiathetoad on Instagram), is not only like an encyclopedia when it comes to rock and alt rock, but she knows so much about a whole lot of other stuff too! She knows all of the rnb/funk/soul records I love, not just by title or in passing, but INTIMATELY! She’s like me when it comes to turning other people on to the music that you love: “Wait, you don’t know this record? Check out this, that, and that by the same artist, and this is another b-side that they did before they went solo!” Haha! I learn a lot about genres outside of rnb/funk/soul from the people that I work with!

Collaboration in this industry is one of my favorite things in the world! No one person has the answers to every question (although, some people truly do, but those people end up being great to work with, because they’re so wise and open to anything and everything, they’ve seen it all!); on projects with multiple writers/producers, when everyone in the room is receptive, adaptive, and open to change/constructive criticism, you can make things that are really great, and when you find people that you both enjoy working with, and with whom you can be really productive, that’s truly something special!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

One goal driving my journey is the goal of being able to make the wonder that I feel about the work that I do audible to those that may listen. I feel wonder about many things: great lyrics, great vocal harmonies, masterful vocal performances, full of nuances and meaning, haha; I enjoy seeing the world this way!
When I was a kid, I really got into Amy Winehouse. The way she wrote about everything, even things like cheating, was so profound, charming, and beautiful. She’s so clever, I grew up thinking to myself “Damn… how would Amy say this?” She was one of the best writers for me to have learned from when I was that young. I really just wanted to write things maybe even half as profound as the stuff that she had written. I don’t think I could pick a favorite lyric, but one of my favorite verses she’s ever written is probably the second verse of “In My Bed.” Genius!

Lately, one record’s lyrics I can’t stop thinking about is “I Still Love You” by Kleeer from 1979, from the album Winners. It was written by Woody Cunningham, someone whom I really admire; he was a really prolific drummer, doing stuff with Sylvester and The Weather Girls (I love “Taking Away Your Space” off of the Two Tons O’ Fun record!), and he did stuff for Salsoul, and with Jocelyn Brown (I love her, and I love her work in Inner Life!), Luther Vandross, Kashif, Narada Michael Walden, even more too! He lived the life I’m currently carving out for myself, working on records vocally, lyrically, and generally musically! I admire him!
The lyrics to that record are just so great, such an ingenius way of putting the feeling of liking someone way more than they like you in words!

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Something I wish I knew even earlier in my career, something which I’m very grateful to have realized now (and low key a bit embarrassed to not have considered before) is that all you have to do to get into the studio world, the songwriting world, or the production world on a professional level is just talk to people. People run the industry, you can get along with people. Introduce yourself politely to the secretary at the front desk at that studio you’ve been dreaming of interning at (BUT NEVER PUSH YOURSELF UPON ANYONE)! Keep it polite, succinct, professional, be genuine, and be yourself! People can truly tell when you’re being disingenuous. Some people won’t be a good fit for you, but that’s okay, because other people will. Keep it moving!

I’m very fortunate and grateful to have found friends and mentors in this industry that enjoy exactly who I am and how I operate; people that believe in me, and enjoy the work that I do. These people have done so much for me already (like everybody at Sound Factory! They’ve earned my loyalty tenfold, haha). One day, I hope to be able to help all of these people just as much as they’ve helped me, or even to help other people in the ways that I’ve been helped, like opening doors for me in my career, introducing me to people whom otherwise I might not have met, and giving me opportunities to work on big records. I would love to be able to do these same things for other people.

I’m glad that now I’m unafraid to talk to people in the [recording] industry, especially in Hollywood, around “creative hubs” in the area: you never know who it is that you’re dealing with. The person that you’re talking to might have worked on stuff that you really love, or even stuff that you grew up listening to!
There’s a time and place for going up to strangers and talking to them, but don’t be afraid to politely put yourself out there! As long as you’re polite, and you treat others well, the worst that can happen is that you don’t vibe with the other person!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tenesicastro/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-castro-240300180/
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/tenesicastro
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/37nciWVK7EnvZBW22shWdO?si=7kQEYzi-RACHtMWZTskVHg