| Gavin Castleton | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Providence, Rhode Island USA |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Labels | Five One Inc., Integers Only |
| Website | www.gavincastleton.com |
Gavin Castleton is a musician/songwriter from Providence, Rhode Island. Originally known for his work with Gruvis Malt as keyboardist and singer, Castleton has also released seven full length albums (Hypotenuse, Dark Age, Grace Land, For the Love of Pete, Covers, Home, and Won Over Frequency) and 5 EPs (FortNightShift EP with One Drop, Hospital Hymns, A Bullet, A Lever, A Key, Window 23 with Stateless, and Random Anthems). He has also released two full-length albums with action-adventure rock trio Ebu Gogo. Castleton currently resides in Portland, Oregon.
Contents |
Castleton is a founding member of RI band Gruvis Malt, with whom he has released 5 full length albums as well as a number of various independently-released EPs.
From 2006 to 2008 he recorded and toured in Ebu Gogo, releasing two full length albums, Chase Scenes 1-14 and Worlds. The band consists of Castleton and two members of Gruvis Malt, Brendan Bell and Justin Abene, with Jonny Lingo drummer Chase Leonard sometimes sitting in for Bell on drums.
In 2006, Castleton collaborated with playwright Cyrus Leddy to release the bizarre spoken-word album Grace Land[1] which chronicles the mundane life of Gary Tivoli, a clerk at a Staples store, including intimate details of his relationship with his girlfriend and his obsession with Seinfeld. Castleton performed the narration, which was adapted from a series of interviews that Leddy conducted with Tivoli.
Castleton has recorded and performed with several bands and musicians, including One Drop (with whom he recorded the Fortnightshift EP and One Drop's second full-length album, Of Love and Ambition), Paranoid Social Club, Club D'Elf, and Facing New York. He performed at the annual SXSW festival in 2007[2] and 2009, showcasing the Hospital Hymns EP and some material from Home.
In late 2007 he released A Bullet, A Lever A Key, the progressive hip hop EP that tells the story of an ever-deteriorating life in reverse-chronological order, beginning with his suicide in 2054 and ending backstage at a "present day" performance. His blog "The Great Consolidation" features entries from the future that expound on the storyline of A Bullet, A Lever, A Key and discuss his latest full-length album Home, the tale of a long term love affair interrupted by a zombie apocalypse.
On Halloween 2008 the first single from Home, "Unparallel Rabbits" was released digitally along with b-side, Gruvis Malt's "Since 1968" remixed by The Overclock Orchestra. On January 12, the second single from the album, "Coffeelocks", was released digitally along with b-side, "Shell". It enjoyed much airplay on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic (and lead to a live performance on the show in 2009). On February 13 the full album was released digitally, and on April 7 it was released in stores nationwide.
On October 12, 2009 Five One Inc. released The Random Anthems EP on iTunes. It contains three songs: Shell 2: Nephew of Shell (the sequel to Shell, produced by Zach Lipkins), Scared Scared Scared (previously released on the Japanese import of For the Love of Pete), and Hope is a Drug (produced by Overclock Orchestra). Hope is a Drug was Today's Top Tune at KCRW, and has enjoyed airplay on specialty radio shows around the country.
In Fall of 2009 he toured with a trio featuring Eduardo Torres on drums and Gray Robertson on bass, playing 67 self-booked shows criss-crossing the US. That tour also included a stint with Taking Back Sunday, Anberlin, and Fun., throughout which Castleton's trio was joined by members of TBS for the majority of his set.
On October 1, 2010, after a very successful Kickstarter campaign, Gavin self-released Won Over Frequency, a collection of unreleased hit songs featuring Steve Choi, Matthew Fazzi, Keith Brush, Lex Land, Brandon Clemmens, Justin Abene, Steve Geuting, and several local Portland artists. Gavin posted a video of the extensive album artwork-making process on his YouTube channel featuring the work of Aaron Nagel, Brendan Bell, Justin Muir, and Lorna Carman. In the Fall of 2010 The Castleton Trio toured to the east coast with Lex Land and Happy Body Slow Brain, who both joined him on stage throughout the show.
A detailed list of every release Castleton has been a part of as either a songwriter, performer, engineer or producer.
| Date | Performer | Album | Media | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Subgenius | Subgenius | cassette | "engineering," vocals, keyboards, drums, graphic design |
| 1995 | Gruvis Malt | Emiquis Squerve Demo | cassette | keyboards, graphic design |
| 1996 | West Coast Groove Satellite | West Coast Groove Satellite | cassette | "engineering," "mixing," all composition, keyboards, vocals, graphic design |
| West Coast Groove satellite | Funkin' Go Nuts | cassette | "engineering," "mixing," most composition, keyboards, vocals, graphic design | |
| Gruvis Malt | Breakfast All Day | cassette | production, mixing, keyboards, vocals, graphic design | |
| 1997 | Gruvis Malt | Fetus EP | cassette | production, mixing, keyboards, vocals, graphic design |
| 1998 | Gruvis Malt | Cromagnetic | CD | (aside from credits of two cassettes that were reprinted) production, vocals, keyboards, graphic design |
| 1999 | Gruvis Malt | Sound Soldiers | CD | production, mixing, keyboards, samples, vocals, graphic design |
| Flint | One Degree EP | CD | engineering, production, mixing, keyboards, guitar, bass, drums, samples, vocals, graphic design | |
| 2000 | Gruvis Malt | Backout Smiling EP | CD | keyboards, vocals, graphic design |
| 2001 | Locale AM | Sounds of Spring | CD | vocals on track 3 |
| Grüvis Malt | 3 Radio hits demo | CD | engineering, production, mixing, keyboards, vocals, drum sequencing, graphic design | |
| Keith Carini | Untitled | unreleased | engineering, mixing, keyboards | |
| 2002 | Ethan | Principia EP | CD | vocals |
| Brandon Clemmens | The Inconvincible | CD | engineering, mixing, "mastering," keyboards, graphic design | |
| Gruvis Malt | Promotional Interactive CD #1 | CD | engineering, mixing, keyboards, vocals, flash programming | |
| Gruvis Malt | Promotional Interactive CD #2 | CD | engineering, mixing, keyboards, vocals, flash programming | |
| Gruvis Malt | ...With the Spirit of a Traffic Jam | CD | engineering, mixing, production, keyboards, vocals, percussion, sequencing, graphic design | |
| 2003 | Vismal | Volume 1: A Correspondence Course in Best Friendship | CDR | engineering, mixing, "mastering," keyboards, vocals, sequencing, graphic design |
| Sage Francis | Dead Poet Live Album | CD | keyboards | |
| 2004 | Gruvis Malt | Simon | CD | keyboards, vocals, graphic design |
| Gavin Castleton | Hypotenuse | CD | engineering, mixing, production, all composition, keyboards, drums, bass, guitar, cornet, mellophone, vocals, sequencing, graphic design | |
| Gavin Castleton | Dark Age | CD | engineering, mixing, production, all composition, keyboards, drums, bass, guitar, cornet, mellophone, vocals, sequencing, graphic design | |
| 2005 | Madjkut | The Flint | CD | keys on tracks 7-9 |
| Gavin Castleton / One Drop | FortNightShift EP | CD | engineering, mixing, composition for tracks 1-4, keyboards, vocals, graphic design | |
| Johnny Bass | I Wish You Could Love Me | MP3 | vocals | |
| Monty | The Red Shift | CD | guitar and bass engineering on tracks 2 and 4-8, keyboard production and sequencing on tracks 2, 5, 6, and 8 | |
| Jonny Classic & The Classic Johns | Your New Favorite Record | CD | mixing, additional production, violin on track 6, assisted graphic design | |
| Sage Francis | Road Tested (2003–2005) | CD | keyboards | |
| Andrew Brown | Communal Abuse remix | MP3 | production, additional keyboards | |
| Ryan McCalmon | Come Home | CD | keyboards and additional production/arrangement on track 1, 3, 4, 5 | |
| Gruvis Malt | Maximum Unicorn | CD | engineering, production, mixing, keyboards, vocals, string arrangements, sequencing, mellophone, cornet, guitar on track 6 | |
| Vismal | Volume Zero: Cover Girls | CDR | mixing, "mastering," sequencing on track 5, production on track 6, vocals on tracks 2 and 5,keyboards on tracks 4, 6, 7, and 10, arrangement on track 1, 4-6, 10 | |
| 2006 | Ebu Gogo | Chase Scenes 1-14 | CDR | keyboards, engineering, mixing (both with Justin Abene) |
| Gavin Castleton & Cyrus Leddy | Grace Land | CD | vocals, engineering, production, keyboards, guitar (except track 8), sequencing, mixing | |
| 2007 | Gavin Castleton | Hospital Hymns EP | CD | vocals, engineering, production, keyboards, string arrangements, bass, drums, guitar (except track 2 and 5), sequencing, mixing, graphic design |
| Meiko | Haunt & Habit Remixes | MP3 | production, keyboards, sequencing, engineering, mixing | |
| Gavin Castleton | A Bullet, A Lever, A Key EP | CD | vocals, production, keyboards, composition, additional percussion, sequencing, mixing (with Rob Pemberton), graphic design | |
| Gavin Castleton | For the Love of Pete | CD | vocals, production, keyboards, composition, sequencing, mixing, graphic design (with Jenny Lederer) | |
| 2008 | One Drop | Of Love and Ambition | digital release | additional engineering, production, keyboards, horn and vocal arrangement, sequencing and additional percussion, guitar on track 8 and 10 |
| Ebu Gogo | Worlds | CD | synthesizers | |
| Stateless feat. Gavin Castleton | Window 23/The Great White Whale 7" | vinyl | vocals | |
| Gavin Castleton | Unparallel Rabbits / Since 1968 Overclock Orchestra Remix | MP3 | vocals, composition, keyboards, sequencing, production, graphic design | |
| 2009 | Gavin Castleton | Coffeelocks / Shell produced by Zach Lipkins" | MP3 | vocals, composition, keyboards, sequencing, production |
| Gavin Castleton | Home | CD | vocals, composition, keyboards, sequencing, production, additional percussion | |
| Gavin Castleton | Random Anthems EP | MP3 | vocals, composition, keyboards, sequencing, production, guitar | |
| Gavin Castleton | Covers | CDR | vocals, arrangement, keyboards, sequencing, production, guitar, cornet, melophone | |
| 2010 | Blak | Feast for a King | MP3 | composition, production, mixing, sequencing, keyboards, guitar |
| Gavin Castleton | Won Over Frequency | CD | vocals, arrangement, keyboards, sequencing, production | |
| 2011 | Gavin Castleton | Swim Good (Frank Ocean cover) | MP3 | production, mixing, sequencing, vocal |
| Gavin Castleton | Diamonds (featuring Lex Land) | MP3 | vocals, arrangement, keyboards, sequencing, production |