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Ralph Castelli Is Indie Personified

Soft Voice, Tender Guitar, Wholly Nostalgic

By Jacob HaroldPublished 5 years ago 3 min read
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The Alaskan American Himself

For a long time, I've tried to find music that reminds me of those classic 90s movies of suburbia, America. Something that brings me to tears easily or brings me to a nostalgic and calm feeling to a place that I have never been. Ralph Castelli's indie music accomplishes that music ten times over. Admittedly, I do not know much about the artist himself, yet from what I can scrounge from a quick Google search, he's a young man who's active on Twitter, grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and is now in my golden state, California. He is a producer and a musician utilizing both instruments, and abstract sounds such as footsteps, his own voice, synth voices, etc.

I found him on a YouTube channel called, "Thelazylazyme" with his song, "Alone" which ironically enough, I was listening to at night when I was alone while going out for my exercise. The combination of the cold night air and the cars passing me by along with Ralph's soft and soothing somber voice made me cry. It reminded me of things that had passed and of some personal regrets I have. Any music that makes me reflect on my life gets approval from me and therefore a recommendation to you, the reader.

Now you may say, "Well that's fine and all, but why should I listen to this guy?"

Which is a very fair question, so let me explain myself before I continue to get ahead of myself. Ralph's music explores both his past and his thoughts of his life and it ranges from simple themes of, "I'm afraid of the ocean" in his song, "I Hate Swimming"or more complicated themes such as, "I don't know what to do with myself when I'm alone" or "I don't know anything about the world" found in songs like"Alone" or "If I Could Play the Piano." Each song has its own story to tell in a similar fashion to a diary or a personal journal gives it this feeling of Ralph telling you of what's been on his mind lately, what's been bothering him, how he's improving himself, and what he's learned to accept. This combined with the great combination of both instruments and vague abstract sound effects make for a really nice, lonely Monday afternoon or great party on Friday. Ralph proves himself to know himself better than anyone else and because of this intimate knowledge of what he wants and what he can do leads to great songs that have a definite direction. Every song's name is straight forward and immediately demonstrates the purpose of the song. Again, "Alone" or "I Hate Swimming" or "Shot Down" give away their themes within an instant of glancing at the titles and yet by listening to the songs themselves, you gather this clearer idea of what Ralph is trying to convey.

My point being is that you should listen to Ralph Castelli if you like soft ambient music and a soft ambient voice. He's rather new to my mind and just starting out when it comes to building an audience. As of writing this article, the man only has around 150 thousand listeners on Spotify. Which is criminally underrating this man and his potential. I know I rarely get reads and clicks on my articles but if you've made it this far I hope you can enjoy his music just as much as I did. Not all of his music is on Spotify but the ones mentioned here are mostly there. "Alone," however, I found on YouTube. Thank you for reading.

indie
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About the Creator

Jacob Harold

22 year old man trying to navigate an ever changing society. I write fiction, poetry, and opinion pieces mostly. Trying to learn Japanese and Spanish. profile pic downloaded from sound-dream on Tumblr.

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