Today we’d like to introduce you to Jean Castro from the SLC indie band Sunset Station.
Hi Jean, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Sunset Station began as a passion project. One thing happened after another, and I ended up back in the bedroom I grew up in, in Florida. The sleepless night led to inspiration, and that inspiration led to the first song I wrote for Sunset Station; Windows. Before Sunset Station, I was leading a much heavier sounding band, so I knew I couldn’t bring this sound to my old band. I began writing more, and really taking advantage of the lack of sleep to really crank out songs, and I knew I had something special when I finished “West of Las Vegas”. I knew I had to turn this passion project into a real project and got to work. I began setting up a schedule of releases and worked with my close friends Daniel DeLira and Cheyanne Stamper on the debut music video, and On May 14th, 2021, Sunset Station was released. Over the next few months, I began to release the next few singles along with music videos. In June 2021, I visited Salt Lake City with my parents and I absolutely fell in love with the city, scenery, and most importantly the community we have; I knew I found a new home. 2,500 miles later, I’ve arrived and knew I had to get to work on building this bedroom project into a real band. I then met Lauren Kirkland (Keyboard), Andee Glass(Bass, Background Vox), Rylie Day(Drums), and Kenny Vargas(Lead Guitar), and knew I had found the right people, who believed in not only my music, but also believed in me. When you find the right group of people, everything seems to fall right in place as a band. We perfected our set, and most importantly, bonded as friends, and as a band, and debuted our first show at Kilby Court to a sold-out crowd with help from our friends “The Garden Plot”, and “Southernmost Gravy”. I am so blessed to have found this group of extremely talented musicians, and most importantly, found friends. I’ve been embraced by the community and I fall even more in love with the city we call home. We’re ramping up to release our next single “Ghost Town” this summer, and have so many shows to announce.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It hasn’t been the smoothest path to reach, with a lot of second-guessing along the way, but that’s needed to really gain your strength as a person and as a musician. My subject matter, Sunset Station was born as a creative outlet to deal with a failed relationship, and as a result, really found my footing again as a songwriter, realizing that I lost all my creative abilities while in this relationship. I found my love for creation, and excitement for music that I seemed to have lost. I grew so much through the hardship and wouldn’t trade any of it for things to have run differently. I had to have those rough nights to be where I am now, and I had to carry around that weight for me to realize that I was not myself. I am my truest self, and I am writing my favorite and most honest music to date, and I couldn’t have done it without that bumpy road. Having my band members there to support me through the tough times, and really relate to me helped pave the road that we are currently on, with each song as another milestone in our books.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m proud of the sheer diversity of musical backgrounds Sunset Station has. From classical backgrounds, to jazz backgrounds, to emo backgrounds, to funk backgrounds, to even hardcore backgrounds. We each bring a unique perspective to our songs, and writing together is such a pleasure to hear those backgrounds and be proud of it working so well together.
What are your plans for the future?
This summer we are planning to release a few songs along with music videos, two of the songs were written organically as a full band, with input from each member and we are so excited to hit the studio and begin the creative process!
We will be playing at the Utah Arts Festival on June 25th at 6:00 pm at the Garden Stage! We look forward to seeing you all there!
In addition to the Utah Arts Fest, we will be releasing a double single with our new songs “Ghost Town” and “Step Into Your Skin” along with a music video on June 24th! You can pre-save the song at the link below!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sunsetstation.bandcamp.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunsetstationband/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCCqmeY_Q6TMfBoPIz1YTUvA
