Jason Castro returns with new album 'Only a Mountain'
If you still think of Jason Castro as the easygoing folkie from American Idol, his new album may surprise you. For one thing, the dreadlocked singer from the show's seventh season has picked up an electric guitar. For another, Only a Mountain — out today — depicts a young man more familiar with life's struggles than he was three years ago when he released his first album.
Since that time, Castro has married and had a daughter (Madeline will turn 2 in August). Both events made a big impact on his perspective on life and, in turn, his songwriting. "Getting married, having kids — that really forces you to look at yourself and see what you're all about," he says. "In that, there is a bit of a struggle — it's who I want to be versus who I am."
In If It's Love, a married couple choose to fight for rather than with each other. It's a long way from the carefree strains of Castro's 2010 single Let's Just Fall in Love Again, even though the two songs share a theme.
"Anything worth having or worth doing is something you're going to have to fight for," he says. "I've juggled the music career and the travel. I'm still trying to cultivate a relationship that's going to last a lifetime. It takes some work, and it's not without conflict. Those conflicts — done right —-can create a stronger bond than ever. That's the heard behind If It's Love — it's the choice in love, and I really do think it's more of a choice than a feeling."
On the songOnly a Mountain."Only a Mountain is a defining spot on the album. That's the reason I titled the album that and the reason it's the first single. It's about having faith. That's been a great realization of these last few years — the little things I'm going through, the struggles that seem like such a big deal but they're not. So many other people go through the same thing. Really, this is just a short moment in a long journey. It helps to put things in that perspective.
On Enough, the song for his daughter. "When I started working on this album, my daughter had been born just a few months earlier. Everybody was like, 'Oh, you must be so inspired! You must be writing all these songs about her!' And I'm just there, smiling and thinking, 'If you only knew that I wasn't sleeping! I love this girl, but I haven't had a moment to sit down and write a song.' " When he finally found that moment, "it really came down to 'What do I want her to know?' More than anything this is it: that she's perfect the way God made her; she doesn't have to try to be anybody else; no matter what, I'm going to love her. I want her to know that."
On Moriah Peters, his duet partner for Same Kind of Broken. "While we were making the record, we were tossing around names of people that we could have on this duet. Because I'm in the contemporary-Christian music world, they were pulling out some CCM artists. Someone showed her to me, and I just fell in love with her voice. It's a different sound than what you're used to in this market. She's a super-talented new artist."
On the new American Idol season. "I really enjoyed it; I was pleasantly surprised," he said after attending a preview screening in Dallas that showed highlights from the first two episodes. "You know who really surprised me, was Nicki Minaj. She was so entertaining! I can't say I listen to too much of her music, but I really enjoyed her. I'm pretty excited, I must say. Hopefully, the talent will show up."
On the Winter Jam tour. Through March, Castro will be part of the Winter Jam 2013 Tour Spectacular, a tour with a $10 ticket that features 10 Christian-music acts, including hip-hop artist TobyMac, rock group Red and singer-songwriter Matthew West. It's the biggest tour Castro has been on since his Idol days. "I did a couple of Winter Jam dates two years ago," he recalls. "I show up halfway through the tour to take somebody's place — and I recognize the catering people. It was the same catering company that had done the Idol tour. It's really neat, walking into some of the same arenas. In some places, you still see the Idol poster on the walls."
On whether he ever considers cutting the dreads. "I definitely entertain that thought a lot. I don't know if it would ever actually happen. I don't know if I would say it's a love-hate thing — more like a bored-not bored thing. I love my hair and how easy it is. Not having paid for a haircut in eight years is awesome. And I wake up and always look the same, which is really cool." His daughter, Madeline, enjoys playing with his locks. "She grabs a dread and just yanks on it. Sometimes, she tries to pull herself up with it."