Interview: Emilio Castillo

Tower of Power’s axis – Emilio Castillo (tenor sax) and Stephen ‘Doc’ Kupka (baritone sax) – first joined forces way back in 1968. The band’s debut album East Bay Grease was released in 1970, and notable follow-ups were 1972’s Bump City, 1973’s Tower of Power, and 1974’s Back to Oakland. Castillo and Kupka co-wrote most of the band’s songs including funk workouts like “What Is Hip?” and “You Got to Funkifize”, and soulful ballads like “Time Will Tell” and “So Very Hard to Go”. In addition to giving us their own hits, the Tower of Power horn section has appeared on recordings by numerous artists over the years, including Little Feat, Elton John, Huey Lewis and the News, Aerosmith, and many others.

This interview with Emilio Castillo was for a preview article for Tower of Power’s concert at the Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara on 12/6/14. It was done by phone on 11/26/14.

Concert Review: Tower of Power

Review of Tower of Power at the Chumash Casino, Santa Ynez, 1/17/13.