Taller Dan seeks new heights for his music

Soca artiste Javon "Taller Dan" Castillo is taking the music industry by the horns and overcoming all the obstacles it throws at him to make him a better artiste.

Explaining the origins of the name Taller Dan, Castillo said, “In 2018, I was looking for a stage name and the word ‘taller’ always stuck to me because in form three, I had a friend that would always call me 'Taller,' 'Tallest,' 'Tall Man' or anything that had to do with being tall.”

The singer is 6 ft-5 in height.

Castillo said that friend, Romell Goodridge, unfortunately died in a car accident in 2017, and the name he adopted was his way of honouring his friend. They attended North Eastern College, Sangre Grande together.

"It caught me off guard, because you know those people that have large personalities and are larger than life? That was him, and I didn't think it would have happened to him."

The 27-year-old said his inspiration for music came from his family members, since they were heavily involved in Trinidad and Tobago's music culture. But his main influence for his turn to soca is Jamaican musician Vybz Kartel.

“My father was a parang man, so he had me playing the shack-shack and the other instruments. My mum is a lover of the vibes and the culture, so she always had me around for Carnival events and she always wanted me to play pan. My sister always kept me emerged in the soca music from young, she always played the songs and had me singing the songs. She’d put on the instrumentals and had me singing or put on a performance.”

The challenge that he faces to this day is the realisation that talent isn’t the only thing needed to make it in the industry.

“It’s probably not even (in) the top three things when it comes to being a successful artiste. It’s more about the marketing, who you know, how you make people feel with your music and the content you put out.”

He said upcoming artistes should know that it’s not just about having good songs: the issues he mentioned are aspects that must be taken into consideration too, as part of the package.

“It’s not just, you release a song and that’s it. Make it make sense for the marketing, marketing is more important than the music.”

Castillo said he writes 95 per cent of all of his songs, but he will get help every now and again.

“My process varies, because sometimes I can hear a song and be done with it in 15 or 20 minutes and have the song basically done. Other songs may take a month or even longer. It depends on the vibes, how you’re feeling, the day, because music is a very funny thing.”

He said recently he has not been sitting and actually writing his lyrics down, but going up to the mic and just freestyling lyrics.

“A lot of the times, I would start with either a concept or a melody. So, I would hum something catchy or that has a nice melody and would stick with people, then I’ll put some words to it. From that I would keep building and once I have those ready, I’ll just fill in the words until the song is completed.”

Then he listens to the song a couple times to see if anything is missing, or what changes are needed to make the song better with backup vocals. A rough draft is then sent back to him from his mix and matchers.

“I will check and listen to it on different sound systems. I like to go in the car or listen to it on headphones, because the listeners would use either sound systems.”

Once he does his various checks on different devices, he sometimes sends those songs to friends in the industry for their opinions before sending them to the mastering engineer.

From there, the song is ready to be streamed on the radio, at parties and on streaming services YouTube, SoundCloud, Spotify, and Apple Music under his Taller Dan stage name.

Castillo has released around 11 songs, including Problem, Piece ah Wuk, Good Oye and Overactive, but has not made an album as yet. He performs live in both the United States and Trinidad and Tobago frequently, but has performed in Jamaica, St Lucia and St Thomas, among other islands. But he considers himself to be a Brooklyn-based artiste.

He encourages other young aspiring artistes to be creative and to tell their story. “Be yourself, don’t let anyone steer your narrative. If you have a story to tell, come out and tell that story. Be creative and don’t be ashamed to use different forms of inspiration.”

He said it’s fine to have multiple sources of inspiration, because that’s how you’re able to grow as a person and as an artiste.