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Alejandra Guerra
Hello. I am Alejandra Guerra
Natalie Gonzalez
and I am Natalie Gonzalez. Today, we will be interviewing a special guest about her music journey.
Alejandra Guerra
Our special guest is a commercial music major here at Cerritos College. She has sung with the commercial music ensemble at Cerritos for almost three years now and was a backup vocalist for Dr. Maz’s band. She also got to record an entire album and perform it within a four-month time span. Please welcome Madeline Castellanos, who goes by Mars.
Natalie Gonzalez
Okay. Hi, Mars. How are you today?
Mars
I’m good. How are you?
Natalie Gonzalez
Good. Thank you for asking. Can you share a little bit about your life and your music career?
Mars
Yeah, so I’ve just always loved to sing. I’ve been doing it since I was really little as like, a little pass time.
When I got into middle school, I started teaching myself how to sing, but it was more like I would listen to songs and then try to mimic the way that the artist was singing, type of thing, so it wasn’t anything major.
Then when I got into high school, I joined choir. I was part of the beginner women’s choir my first year, and then I was in advanced choir my last three years.
Natalie Gonzalez
And when you first started singing, when you were smaller, did you have trouble with the vocals. Did you go to classes for that?
Mars
I did not go to classes, but I did struggle a lot with matching pitch and singing in tune. So yeah, middle school was kind of when I started really focusing on it, and I would spend hours and hours just singing the same song over and over again until I liked how it sounded. So it was a lot of work to get there.
Natalie Gonzalez
Okay, so that’s how you bettered yourself in middle school.
Mars
Yeah.
Natalie Gonzalez
And then you originally started out as a classical voice major, but switched after a few semesters to a commercial music major. Can you share a little bit more about that?
Mars
Yeah, so being in choir, I developed a deeper love for singing. I had always loved it, but I think that was kind of the time where I was like, I want to pursue this for the rest of my life. Um, but I wasn’t really aware of, like, a lot of the options for kind of going down that route. So I originally came to Cerritos wanting to become a choir teacher. And then after kind of getting my foot in the door and trying it out, I realized that it was not for me. So then it was actually my music professor who encouraged me to make the switch, because he thought it would be better for me. And I agree. I think it is better for me.
Natalie Gonzalez
That’s good. Can you tell us a little bit more about the commercial music? Like, what type of music is that?
Mars
Yeah, so in the performance aspect, commercial music is anything that is not classical music or jazz music. So a lot of the performers that you see doing pop music, R and B, even rap, that all falls under commercial music. And then there’s also like the business side and the technical side, so you have music producers. There’s even like areas of law that deal with music. It’s super broad. You can do all kinds of different things.
Natalie Gonzalez
Okay, that’s good. And you have some with the commercial music assembly at Cerritos College for almost three years. How has that been?
Mars
It’s been great. I’ve had the opportunity to work with such incredible musicians, and I’m so thankful for that. I’ve developed so many skills like communication and teamwork through it, and it’s really great. It’s a lot of fun, a lot of work, but it all pays off in the end.
Natalie Gonzalez
And what does music and singing mean to you, and how have they impacted your life?
Mars
Oh, wow. Singing is, like my biggest passion. It’s my outlet. It’s the way that I express myself and deal with stress, and, yeah, I think it’s the one thing that I’ve kind of held on to for a really long time to kind of help me get through a lot of things. So, it means everything to me.
Alejandra Guerra
Can I ask like, who are your favorite music artists?
Mars
So I’m really into k pop.
Unknown Speaker
I really like Ateez.
Alejandra Guerra
Oh, me too.
Mars
Yeah, I Love Ateez. I’ve been stanning them since they debuted. So I love them. They’re so great.
Alejandra Guerra
Wait. Did you go to their concert recently?
Mars
Yeah, both days.
Alejandra Guerra
Oh, me too. Me too.
Can I ask who is your greatest inspiration in your life or like in music?
Mars
Ooh, that is a great question. Musically, definitely Ateez, because they are incredibly talented. I love their concepts, their stages, everything. I also really like this artist. He’s a bit smaller. His name is Isaac Dunbar, and I just love him. He’s so great. I especially love his lyricism. So when I’m trying to write songs, I usually kind of go to him for inspiration. So I think those are my two biggest inspirations.
Natalie Gonzalez
And you were a backup vocalist for Dr mass self titled band, and you recorded an entire album and performed in four months. Can you share about that experience?
Mars
Yeah, so where do I start? My professor, my music professor, Dr. Maz. He’s my main professor, and he’s been making music for a really long time. So he developed a band, and all of the members in the band are former Cerritos College students.
He originally had a different backup vocalist, and they were preparing for this project, and last minute, she couldn’t do it. So he decided to throw me into the project, which was a little scary at first. Not going to lie, um, I had to record 14 Songs in three weeks, so we had to get it done, and then the weekend after I finished recording, we were immediately into rehearsals. I had to get used to wearing in ears for the first time and using a head mic. It was crazy.
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Um, very stressful, but it was such an amazing experience, and I’m so glad that I got to do it, because it gave me an idea of what it’s like to professionally record and work professionally. And we performed here in the in the big theater. So it was, it was great. It was a awesome experience.
Natalie Gonzalez
And would you do it again?
Mars
Absolutely.
Natalie Gonzalez
What music Have you already perfected that you can sing like, is it K, pop, hip hop, R and B,
Mars
That is a great question. Honestly, I don’t know. I wouldn’t say there’s any particular like genre that I’ve perfected. I’m very open. So whatever anybody gives me to sing, I’ll sing it. I’m still growing a lot as a vocalist. I put in a lot of work, still continuing to put in a lot of work, so I feel like there’s lots of room for development vocally. So I think I’m a long way away from perfecting anything, but I’ll sing about anything.
Natalie Gonzalez
What genre are you most comfortable with right now, singing?
Mars
Oh, that’s a great question. I don’t know, like, in the ensemble, we sing a lot of, like, 70s, 80s, so I feel like I’ve gotten very comfortable with that, because I’ve, that’s what I’ve been working on the most recently. Um, yeah, I think I would say probably in that category.
Natalie Gonzalez
Okay, and then can you share about your future plans or any projects you are currently working on?
Mars
Yeah, so honestly, right now I don’t know what I want to do. I’m just kind of figuring things out and trying everything that I can. Making that switch from being classical voice to commercial music was a huge jump for me, because I’m not very good with technology, so for the past few years, I’ve been trying to navigate that, but I’m open to wherever life takes me, and I feel like wherever I end up is where I’m meant to be. But I’m still striving. I’m still striving. I’m still working on projects. I’m still, you know, putting my best foot forward, because I feel like hard work pays off in the end. So yeah.
Natalie Gonzalez
and you started little you said, was there anybody in your family or that you looked up to that was a singer?
Mars
That was a singer? No, honestly, I don’t think anybody in my family is like, not in the same way that I sing, if that makes sense.
Natalie Gonzalez
So you just started it on your own.
Mars
My mom used to play music in the car all the time, like, whenever we would drive somewhere, and so I just like to, like sing along to it, and then it just carried throughout my whole life.
Natalie Gonzalez
Did you think you were gonna want to be a singer or pursue in that career?
Mars
I think it was always something that I wanted to do, but I always try to be very realistic about things. So I knew that pursuing something down that path was going to be really hard. Like, my parents had a hard time accepting it at first, and they had lots of worries, which, you know, I completely understood, and I didn’t choose to go down this path, you know, on a whim. Like, I didn’t just wake up one day and be like, oh, I want to be a singer. It took, like, years of thinking it through and and all of that stuff. But I think it was always something that I kind of wanted to do,
Natalie Gonzalez
like in the back of your head, you wanted to do it.
Alejandra Guerra
What is the best piece of advice that someone has given you? And what advice can you give to anyone listening to this podcast right now?
Mars
Um Best-
Piece of advice.
Honestly, I think one of the best pieces of advice is stop thinking so much. I get told that a lot. Um, I tend to get in my own head a lot, and that has been my biggest struggle as a vocalist, and that is the one thing that has held me back the most I just, I just get so, like, overwhelmed. I think about things too much, and I feel like not thinking and just kind of letting my emotions take over has really helped me a lot. Advice that I would give to somebody- that is a great question. I think just always make room to do things that you love. Like I know life gets really, really crazy, but if you can just find that one thing to hold on to just keep doing it. Because, you know, we only have one life, you should enjoy it as much as you can.
Natalie Gonzalez
That was good. And then I do want to ask, how did Mars become to be your nickname?
Mars
I get asked that question a lot. I’ve honestly just, like, always liked the name, like, I just always thought it was cute. Um, I don’t know. I just thought it would be cool to, like, start going by it. So when I got to college, I just started going by it.
Natalie Gonzalez
Oh, so you’re, you’re the one that told people that that was your name,
Mars
yeah,
Natalie Gonzalez
so it’s not a middle name or anything. And do your family members call you by Mars?
Mars
My family members no, but everybody outside of my family does
Natalie Gonzalez
and do. But if you were to be walking down the street and someone called you by Mars? Would they know they’re talking about you?
Mars
Like, would I know that they’re-
Natalie Gonzalez
No would like your family know that they’re referring to you as Mars?
Mars
I think so. Yeah, like my like my mom, dad and sister, I feel like they’ve gotten a little more used to it. But if it was like, my cousins or something, they’d be like, Who are you talking about,
Natalie Gonzalez
Okay, well, Mars, I want to thank you again for giving us your time of day and coming out. And I wish you all good luck in your career, and hopefully everything goes well.
Mars
Thank you
Alejandra Guerra
and thank you for listening to today’s podcast. You’d like to hear more. Please check out our latest podcast with Cerritos soccer star, Izzy on the Talon Marks website.
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