All Ages, 7pm doors, support TBA
About this Event
Turn down the lights.
Basking in the glow of LED bulbs or nothing beyond the faint glare of a smartphone screen, secrets get shared and truths reveal themselves. Carrying a bold bilingual blend of alternative, R&B, and pop through her dusky delivery, Alaina Castillo invites the sort of intimacy reserved for 3AM texts between lifelong friends—or lovers. Named Spotify’s US RADAR artist of 2020, streamed and viewed over 100 million times, and dubbed “ready to blow the roof off” by LADYGUNN, the Houston-born singer and songwriter builds a wonderful nocturnal world of her own design.
“I always like to have spots where I can escape to,” she explains. “I escape by vibing out to music. When you listen to me, I want you to be able to go into the world I’m creating. Sometimes, I’m antisocial, I’m timid, I’m an overthinker, and I want to curl up in a ball and disappear into oblivion. Simultaneously, I think I can be sweet and shy. I’m sharing these vulnerable topics out of my little room.”
A creative upbringing empowered her to do so. Dad originally hailed from Mexico, and mom grew up in Ohio, giving Alaina a diverse background. With three brothers, she embraced a competitive atmosphere, participating in sports such as swimming, track, volleyball, tennis, and gymnastics. Eventually, she joined the choir and went from listening to Elvis and The Beach Boys with her parents to discovering Usher, Drake, Rihanna, and Michael Jackson.
Upon entering high school, Alaina launched her YouTube channel and quietly built a following, attracting over 860K subscribers through mega-popular ASMR covers of Daniel Caesar, Billie Eilish, and more. She eventually caught the attention of GRAMMY® Award-nominated producer and songwriter RØMANS [Lewis Capaldi, Demi Lovato, Alicia Keys, John Legend etc.] and landed a publishing and record deal with Chosen People. With RØMANS behind the board, she unveiled her debut EP, Antisocial Butterfly, in late 2019. Only 5 months later, the songstress maintained her momentum with the voicenotes EP and its Spanish counterpart mensajes de voz.
The project spoke to a whirlwind journey from college student to full-time recording artist.
“The whole time, I was flying back and forth from Los Angeles to Houston, working in studios one weekand doing school work the next week,” she recalls. “Through that process, I grew as a person. I became more vulnerable. I usually record voice notes on my phone when I’m talking about my feelings or things I can’t tell other people, because I don’t want to burden them. So, I either speak into the microphone orsing melodies. I literally went through those and wrote the EP. I’m singing about problems in friendships and relationships and things I didn’t wish affected me—but do. By putting myself into the music, I’m allowed to be who I am without worrying what other people think.”
This approach definitely resonated with tastemakers and audiences alike. NME christened her, “Gen Z’s latest vulnerable hero.” In addition to acclaim from V Magazine, DIY Magazine, and more, Rolling Stone described voicenotes as “stunning” and placed “un niño” on its RS Latin Music Picks. Meanwhile, “Just a Boy” generated 15.1 million Spotify streams, and the platform touted her as part of its RADAR program
with an extensive documentary, exclusive recordings, and video content. She claimed coveted real estate on playlists such as Pop Rising and Viva Latino, grew her Tik Tok audience to 1.7m and over 2.9m across socials whilst speaking to an uncanny ability to resonate with both North American and Latin audiences at the same time.
“We did the EP in English and in Spanish, so we could share it with twice as many people,” she goes on. “The songs still have the same poetry. On mensajes de voz, there’s a bit of a Latin vibe. On voicenotes, it’s R&B and sad alternative pop. I’m so close to my culture and heritage. I want to cover the whole spectrum.”
As Alaina prepares her debut album and more, her little world just keeps getting bigger.
“When you listen to me, I want you to feel happy,” she leaves off. “The best thing is when I listen to a song and it instantly ups my mood. You’re allowed three minutes to chill and vibe. I hope you have a couple of seconds to get lifted up by my music and feel happy.”
BOILER
Carrying a bold bilingual blend of alternative, R&B, and pop through her dusky delivery, Alaina Castillo invites the sort of intimacy reserved for 3AM texts between lifelong friends—or lovers. Named Spotify’s US RADAR artist of 2020, streamed and viewed over 100 million times, and dubbed “ready to blow the roof off” by LADYGUNN, the Houston-born singer and songwriter builds a wonderful nocturnal world of her own design.
Upon entering high school, Alaina launched her YouTube channel and quietly built a following, so far attracting over 860K subscribers through mega-popular covers of Daniel Caesar, Billie Eilish, and more. She eventually caught the attention of GRAMMY® Award-nominated producer and songwriter RØMANS [Lewis Capaldi, Demi Lovato, Alicia Keys, John Legend etc.] and landed a record deal with his and his managers label Chosen People. With RØMANS behind the board, she unveiled her debut EP, Antisocial Butterfly, in late 2019. Only 5 months later, the song stress maintained her momentum with the voicenotes EP and its Spanish counterpart mensajes de voz. Her approach resonated with tastemakers and audiences alike. NME christened her, “Gen Z’s latest vulnerable hero.” In addition to acclaim from V Magazine, DIY Magazine, and more, Rolling Stone d escribed voicenotes as “stunning” and placed “un niño” on its RS Latin Music Picks. Meanwhile, “Just a Boy” generated 15.1 million Spotify streams as the platform touted her as part of its RADAR program with an extensive documentary, exclusive recordings, and video content. She claimed coveted real estate on playlists such as Pop Rising and Viva Latino, grew her Tik Tok audience to 1.7m and over 2.9m across socials whilst speaking to an uncanny ability to resonate with both North American and Latin audiences at the same time. As Alaina prepares her debut album and more, her little world just keeps getting bigger.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Popscene @ Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell Street, San Francisco, United States
USD 17.00 to USD 52.00