Alaina Castillo reveals her three favourite songs of all time | My Life In 20
4 June 2021, 17:07
Alaina Castillo takes a trip down memory lane for My Life In 20.
How many people's dream dinner guests would include bloodthristy, empire builder Genghis Khan? Not many, I would imagine. But that's exactly who Alaina Castillo is inviting, according to her answers to our My Life In 20 questions.
The Houston-born, 21 year old star-in-the-making has been building a huge fanbase in the last year and was named Spotify’s first-ever US RADAR artist in 2020. Alaina has amassed over 150 million streams so far, and that's likely to increase exponentially thanks to her dark and dreamy album Parallel Universe, the first half of which is available to stream right now.
On standout track 'indica', which floats somewhere between the breeziness of SZA's 'Drew Barrymore' and Alessia Cara's x 'Here', Alaina sets herself apart from a crowded field of newcomers in the pop landscape. “The process of making my album has taught me a lot about who I am as an artist", says Alaina. "But it’s also showed me who I am as a person, and allowed me to have the confidence to finally be that person in the real world."
Read Alaina's answers to our My Life In 20 questions after the jump.
20) What did you learn about yourself in 2020?
I learned that I had a lot of emotions that needed to be fixed or talked about and that happened from sitting in a studio all day writing about them. It showed me how much I had been keeping inside. I think quarantining helped me out in the end because I didn’t go out much, so music was the one thing that kept me sane and allowed me to grow still.
19) What was your favourite album from 2019?
Khalid - Free Spirit. I listened to this album when I used to make YouTube covers and i would always dream of making my own music one day when I heard any of the songs. When my album came out a few weeks ago, 'Better' came on and I started to tear up because that’s my best friend and I’s song, so now I just get nostalgic when I listen to it.
18) What was the most important thing to happen in your life when you were 18?
I was discovered by my managers! I had been talking about going to LA to visit the haunted ship Queen Mary and vlog it for my YouTube channel and then a few days later I got a DM from my producer asking if i wanted to come out to LA and work in the studio for a day.
17) Who was your crush at 17?
Leonardo DiCaprio. All of his movies are amazing and his acting skills just take it to another level.
16) What can you remember about your 16th birthday?
It started off amazing and very cute because I finally got to drive to school in a car but then about a week later I made the worst decision of my life and ruined the rest of my high school experience that year so...loved that for me. Relationships are so much fun in high school.
15) What did you hate at 15 which you love now?
I hated the colour pink and would only wear black or red but now half of my closet is pink. I don’t know what happened in between.
14) What TV show were you obsessed with at 14?
Narutoooo!! I had just started watching it back then and would go on binging sprees where I wouldn’t stop watching for hours on end. I’d take my food, water and blankets into my room and just hide away.
13) 13 is unlucky for some. Do you have anything that you’re superstitious about?
The number 13 is one of them! There was talk about adding one extra song onto my full album and I don’t think I could do it because it would have been 13 songs instead of 12. Also, karma. I mess up a lot of the time when it comes to that, but I always try to think about how things will come back to slap u across the face one day.
12) If you could live the life of any other person for 12 hours, who would you be and why?
Elon Musk! I wanna know all things space and get an inside look at what’s really happening. But maybe he doesn’t even know so I might change my answer to someone working for the government that knows if aliens are real or not.
11) Who was your best friend when you were 11?
I think it was a girl named Alicia Chen. We would always play outside together and we had a very bumpy road but she was always so nice and had amazing food at her house. And a fish tank with really cute fish!
Alaina Castillo - indica (Official Music Video)
10) Where do you hope you'll be in ten years time?
Wellllll on my way. Four or five albums, fresh out of a tour, married, and living in a house with a very pretty garden. I have these little mood boards I make each year and those are the main things on them.
9) What was your biggest fear when you were nine?
To be completely honest, my biggest fear when I was nine might’ve been birds. My dad always used to say they would pick me up and carry me far away, and I believed him so for a second. I was scared of birds but then grew out of it in middle school. I would always run in the opposite direction when I saw birds while I was with my dad.
8) When you were 8, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A singer. It was all I talked about and I would throw little talent shows with my brother so my family could rate who had the best act out of all of us. I won most of the time (insert satisfied face lol).
7) Which of the seven deadly sins are you most guilty of?
I think pride because a lot of the time my ego wants to make sure that everyone sees me the way I see myself, and if they don’t, then I get really defensive. Lately, I’ve been trying to do things that are embarrassing to myself or weird or out there so I can get used to the fact that not everything has to be serious and it doesn’t matter what other people think because their thoughts are a reflection of where they are in life, not where I am.
6) You can invite six people to your dream dinner party (dead or alive), who would you invite?
Elvis Presley, Albert Einstein, my bf, my best friend, Genghis Khan (idk why but yes) and Michelangelo.
5) Name five things you can't live without.
My cat, my bf, a device that has every song ever made, a lil blunt and a camera for pictures (:
4) Describe yourself in four words.
Shy (at first) Confident, crazy, and dark.
3) Your top three songs of all time.
'Runaway' by Galantis, 'Clair de Lune' by Flight Facilities and 'Forever and Ever' by Demis Roussos.
2) Name two things on your bucket list.
Perform at Madison Square Garden & see aliens before I die.
1) What or who is your one true love?
My one true love…. is myself. Cause nobody got me like I got myself.
