From 1994 to 2002, Castillo was the drummer of Danzig, recording three studio albums with the band before joining Queens of the Stone Age in 2002 to tour in support of their breakthrough album, Songs for the Deaf. He recorded two albums, Lullabies to Paralyze (2005), Era Vulgaris (2007), and half of ...Like Clockwork (2013) before being fired by founding member Josh Homme during the process.[1]
Since leaving Queens of the Stone Age and Homme side project Eagles of Death Metal in 2012, Castillo joined California Breed, replacing founding member Jason Bonham, joined Scott Weiland and the Wildabouts, touring with the band before the singer's death in 2015, and joined three groups with former Queens of the Stone Age bandmate Nick Oliveri: supergroups Bloodclot (with John Joseph of Cro-Mags and Todd Youth, former Danzig and Murphy's Law guitarist), Royale Daemons (with Wino), and historic punk band Bl'ast.[2][3][4] Castillo also has joined Zakk Wylde-led Black Sabbath cover band Zakk Sabbath. In 2023, Castillo along with Tim Armstrong and Jesse Michaels formed the band DOOM Regulator.
Career
A native of Gardena, California, Castillo began playing drums at age 15, when his grandmother loaned him the money to buy a drum kit. His playing is influenced by War, Al Green, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, and Black Flag. He started off his drumming career by joining the Los Angeles punk band Wasted Youth in 1984. After recording two albums and several tours, he left Wasted Youth and joined Sugartooth in 1991. During the summer of 1994, he formed a short-lived punk rock band named Chronic Halitosis.[5] They played punk covers of bands like Misfits and Black Flag.[6]
In 1994, Castillo left Sugartooth and joined Danzig, having turned down offers from Slayer and Suicidal Tendencies.[7] He worked as Chuck Biscuit's drum tech circa '90-'93 and finally replaced him as live drummer on the '94 tours, following the release of Danzig 4. From that point on, he was (with exception for Glenn) the only constant Danzig member for almost ten years, performing all percussion duties on Blackacidevil (1996), Satan's Child (1999) and I Luciferi (2002). In 1996, he was featured on Robert Trujillo's solo album, and in 1998 he joined Zilch.[8] He replaced Goatsnake's original drummer after his departure in 2001, but that was short lived when they split up shortly after.[9] Castillo auditioned for Guns N' Roses in 1997, but did not join the band.[10] In 2001 he did backing vocals and drums for some tracks on Son of Sam's album Songs From The Earth.
Castillo joined Queens of the Stone Age without an audition, playing through half a song (Avon) at a last-minute rehearsal when frontman Josh Homme reportedly walked out of the room, and returned saying "I just fired the drummer. The tour starts tomorrow," offering Castillo the gig, for which he remained for 10 years. Castillo also played on side projects including Mark Lanegan's solo album Bubblegum, Desert Sessions Vol. 9 & 10 and Eagles of Death Metal's second and third albums Death by Sexy (2006) & Heart On (2008), touring with the latter.[11]
After leaving QotSA in 2012, Castillo has had great demand as a session player, touring musician as well as becoming a proper band member in numerous projects.
In 2018, Castillo joined The Bronx after founding member Jorma Vik left to play with Castillo's former band Eagles of Death Metal. The following year, he toured in a session capacity with The Hives.
In July 2021, hardcore punk band Circle Jerks announced that Castillo would be their new drummer and he would join them on their reunion tour to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their 1980 album Group Sex. The tour was announced in 2019 and planned for 2020 however it was postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13]
In March 2023, Castillo formed the band Bad Optix along with Tim Armstrong, Jesse Michaels and Spencer Pollard. The group released "Raid", their first single.[14][15] Less than a week after announcing the formation of the band, the band changed their name to DOOM Regulator.[16][17]
Castillo is famous for his use of the LPJam block. The tone of the jam block appears solo at the outset of the Queens of the Stone Age single "Little Sister" from the album Lullabies to Paralyze, Castillo's first studio album with the band.
Castillo also has two drumkits which belonged to Chuck Biscuits and considers them his most prized possessions.
2013–2018
Q Drum Co drums (Clear seamless Acrylic or Black Stain Mahogany)
LP160 Cyclops Tambourine Steel (on hi-hat) and Brass (bass drum mounted)
LP1207 Jam Block (on stand)
Era Vulgaris tour equipment (2007–2008)
Castillo used larger sized tom drums than ever before, while moving to a smaller bass drum, the opposite of the Lullabies-era configuration. He continued using Vic Firth sticks, DW drums with OCDP clear acrylic shells, DW pedals and hardware, but switched from using Paiste to Zildjian cymbals.
LP160 Cyclops Tambourine Brass and Steel (as configured below)
LP1207 Stealth Jam Block (Black)
Additional
Joey also used Rtom Moongel on Toms and Snare and Remo 0 ring on Snare
Lullabies To Paralyze tour equipment (2005–2006)
For the Lullabies tour, Castillo continued to use DW drums, Paiste cymbals and Remo heads. Though during this tour he started using Vic Firth sticks instead of Vater. Joey also dropped his second floor tom and LP bongos during this tour and added on an LP jamblock to his drumkit. From this tour and on, he would use the toms to play "Better Living Through Chemistry" during the verses. During the Lullabies tour Joey started removing his bottom heads on both his toms
To achieve the "concert tom" sound which gave his toms a punchy, fatter sound
Snare: CS Coated Power Dot on top or Emperor X, Remo Ambassador Snare Side on bottom
Toms: Coated Emperor tops, Clear Ambassador bottoms (Later in the tour Joey replaced the Coated Emperors with CS Clears on tops but removed the bottoms for the Concert Tom sound)
Bass: Clear Powerstroke 3 on batter, DW Ambassador resonant side
LP160 Cyclops Tambourine Brass (mounted off cymbal stand next to floor tom) and Steel (mounted on bass drum rim, interchanged with jam block)
LP1207 Jam Block (Red)
Additional
Joey also used Rtom Moongel on Toms and Snare and Remo 0 ring on Snare
Songs for the Deaf tour equipment (2002–2004)
Castillo used DW drums and hardware, Paiste cymbals and Remo heads during the Songs for the Deaf tour, occasionally using PDP kits for one-off performances.
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