Toni Castells is an independent artist and composer currently based in London. His eclectic sonic worlds create unique, distinctive dreamy, cinematic, and poetic soundscapes.

His music has been described as "Massive Attack meets Mendelssohn" by Ben Roberts from the music industry magazine London Tourdates and "Morricone meets Satie" by Michael Haas, producer of prize-winning recordings with major classical artists including Zubin Mehta, Mstislav Rostropovich, Daniel Barenboim, Cecilia Bartoli and Luciano Pavarotti. US label Magnatune described it as "Puccini meets Sigur Rós".

His musical themes reflect on universal themes of the human condition through a spiritual lens.

His live performances made it to the ‘Five of the Best Classical Concerts' by The Guardian in 2016 and he’s been featured in most media outlets in the UK and Spain.

He is an independent artist and releases his work through his own label Interstellar Music.

Whoami +

Aged 18 I reluctantly started my university studies. I was accepted at La Salle University for a BSc in Telecommunications Engineering (Sound and Image Specialisation). After graduating with Distinction, I stayed for a further 2 years to undertake a MEng in Electronic Engineering (Sound and Image Specialisation). In my fourth year, one of my modules was called Digital Audio and it was taught by La Salle alumni Joan Trayter, who after graduating went on to start one of best recording studios in Spain at the time, Music Lan Studios in Avinyonet de Puigventós, near Figueres in northern Spain. Trayter invited me to work as an intern during that summer and, after graduating the following Spring, he offered me a full-time position at Musiclan as an Assistant Engineer. I didn't hesitate and moved north to start the new job. My mother comes from Figueres and my dearest grandma Maria, my Abuelita, was still alive and living there at the time, so I moved in with her.

I started as a tea boy, knowing nothing much about real-life studio recording, even though I had learned a lot of theory during my studies. Very quickly I learned how to record, mix and produce music from both Trayter and Music Lan co-founder Jordi Solé, who still runs the studio today after Trayter died unexpectedly in 2002. During my 2 years at Musiclan I was fortunate to be able to work with many celebrated Catalan and Spanish artists, bands and producers such as Lluís Llach, Peret, Jarabe de Palo, Enrique Bunbury, Loquillo, Andrés Calamaro, Macaco, Ojos de Brujo, Elefantes, Sopa de Cabra, Quimi Portet, Gossos, Micky Forteza-Rey, Suso Sáiz, Jon Caffery. Castells also worked on the album Unsterblich by German punk-rock band Die Toten Horsen.

My new life at Musiclan created the first signs of strain between me and the rest of my band, Herzia. I was not able to religiously attend all rehearsals - the huge popularity of the studio meant we had work nearly 24h a day - and my musical tastes were rapidly evolving and shifting to new places after working daily with so many incredible musicians and producers. Trying to juggle both lives took a toll on me and after two years I suffered a burnout. Trayter allowed me some time off and in the summer of the year 2000, I escaped to London in search of some breathing space.

I arrived in a cold and wet London in August 2000 and checked myself into a B&B in Earl's Court, sharing a small room with 4 others. Snoring sounds kept me awake at night but I was excited to be in London so I was happy and awake during the day. I spent my time searching for rare bootleg recordings, going to see live music in pubs and getting lost meandering the city. 

An artist I had been working with in Musiclan just the week before, Enrique Bunbury - one of the most international stars of Spanish rock and a wonderful and humble human being - told me I should try and get in touch with Spanish artist José María Cano of 80s band Mecano. José María had established himself in London in the 90s when his band split up. Bunbury had given me his telephone number and, on my third day in London, I called him up out of curiosity. He invited me for dinner the next day. The situation at the time was the following: this very nice Spanish guy called Alex had been working in José María’s home studio recording José María’s first solo pop album but was quite a bit fed up with him and was leaving, thus leaving José María in need for someone to help him finish his new album. I accepted possibly because I knew it would be temporary, possibly just a matter of days and I thought it would be an interesting experience. I moved from my B&B to his townhouse in Holland Park where I exchanged my snoring partners for Bacons, Schnabels, Warhols and Basquiats. We re-recorded all the vocals in the album. I then mixed the album. We finished in November 2000. By then my job and life in Figueres were long gone. After this, I sporadically kept working for José María on other projects such as the Centenary Anthem for Real Madrid, sung by Plácido Domingo. 

Àlex, the wonderful Spanish guy I had met at José María’s house in the summer of 2000, had told me about a job that had been advertised in the Guardian newspaper for the position of Assistant Engineer at the RCM Studios at the Royal College of Music. I am full of gratitude and admiration for his gesture, as he himself was thinking of applying for the same job. I sent an application that summer but never heard back. While at home for Christmas, my mum told me that while I was away a letter had come from the Royal College of Music. They were inviting me for an interview in February 2021. The interview was with Michelle Kent, the studio manager at the time, and RCM’s Head of Music David Burnand. I was selected and offered a full-time position.

There I finally found a stable and happy home. I stayed at the RCM for 5 years, combining studio work with live recordings of the various opera productions at the RCM Britten Theatre and concerts of the different RCM ensembles. I had the privilege to record the RCM Symphony Orchestra many times and under the baton of conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Bernard Haitink, Roger Norrington and many other legends.

My job at the Royal College of Music gave me some stability and time, which I used to start finding my new artistic voice. It is then that I create the Momo project, a concept that would merge my passions for both classical and popular music, two strands that up to that point had run in parallel in my life, never intersecting. On the 23rd of October of 2006, I independently released a self-produced album entitled 'Unharmed'.

The album featured soprano Amelia Whiteman and Spanish singer Elisabeth Rodergas (better known as Beth), who had represented Spain at Eurovision in 2003 finishing in the eighth position and who famously Terry Wogan referred to as the "Kylie Minogue in dreadlocks". The album also featured Dublin-born singer Roberta Howett, who finished in ninth place in the first UK series of the television talent show The X Factor in 2004. With distribution by the newly created AWAL, the album reached the iTunes Top 20 download charts upon its release.

Curious to explore the live possibilities of my music, I adapted Unharmed for the stage. To do I collaborated with the acclaimed Sacconi Quartet, who became friends after coinciding at the RCM, to play alongside my singers, my laptop and my electric guitar. To provide the show with a visual identity, photographer Conor Masterson created a visual backdrop for the performance with his own material. The self-produced show had a soft premiere on the 12th of June of 2007 at the Roxy Bar and Screen in London and it was subsequently premiered on the 23rd of July of 2007 at Bush Hall, also in London.  Specialised music reviewer Whisperin’ & Hollerin’ gave it 8 out of 10 stars and it was featured by Julia Stuart on The Independent on a feature called ‘Pop goes Mozart’. In the run-up to the Bush Hall premiere I was interviewed by Classic FM’s Bob Jones and featured on an article on the station’s website entitled Classical Music Mix-Up together with Blur’s bassist Alex James and composer Gabriel Prokofiev, the great grandson of the great Sergei Prokofiev.

During 2007 and 2009 I toured the show around the UK and Spain in collaboration with Icelandic photographer Maria Kjartans, performing at The Stables in Milton Keynes, Roxy Bar and Screen in London, FNAC in Barcelona and at the Mercat de Música Viva in Vic, Spain amongst other venues.

Full performance list:

Roxy Bar and Screen (London) - 12th June 2007
Bush Hall (London) - 23rd July 2007
Ginglik (London) - 14th May 2008
The Bedford (London) - 15th May 2008
The Cuckoo Club (London) - 10th Sept 2008
Roadtrip (London) - 11th Sept 2008
The Stables (Milton Keynes) - 12th Sept 2008
FNAC (Barcelona) - 19 Sept 2008 - promotional gig
MMVV Festival (Vic, Barcelona) - 20 Sept 2008
Casino (Caldes de Montbui, Spain) - 25th April 2009
Formentera (Spain) - 23rd July 2009
UNNIM Auditorium (Sabadell, Barcelona) - 17th Sept 2010

After two years of Momo, I felt compelled to explore different artistic voices and a more simple and direct way to connect to audiences. In order to do so, in 2009 I created an alter ego called Famous Jack.

Famous Jack took inspiration from British post-punk New Wave and Art Glam Rock artists such as David Bowie, Joy Division and Roxy Music. It also incorporated my predilection for American Counterculture singer-songwriters such as Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger and other timeless artists such as Leonard Cohen and Jeff Buckley. Also, I tried to capture the innovative sound of new artists such as Anna Calvi, St. Vincent, MGMT and M83.

After a couple of years of being Famous Jack, I missed my Momo project and retook it, not under the name Momo anymore but under my own name Toni Castells. The globalisation that came with the online music revolution discovered a handful of other bands that shared the same name, which created confusion, so Momo became history and I became Toni Castells.

Through José María Cano I got to know Michael Haas, a legendary classical music producer at Decca who had won several Grammys working with some of the biggest names in classical music. And Michael surprisingly really liked my music. I got to know Michael back in 2002 when I assisted him during the recording of Albeniz’s opera Henry Clifford in Spain. I discovered a master at his work but also a wonderful human being. Kind, generous, fun, and a true lover of music. Later in 2010 Michael randomly emailed me to introduce me to American soprano Rebecca Nelsen, whose voice he thought would fit my music. At the time, Rebecca was - and still is - lead soprano at Vienna’s Volksopper and had been named "a star" by the Wall Street Journal.

In 2011 I started working with Rebecca and with her, I found the sound that would become the foundation of my work for the following 6 years and which became the foundation of the London Trilogy, a body of 3 chamber works inspired by Buddhist philosophy and in particular its First Dharma Seal (primary characteristic or principle) which is the Law of Impermanence.

The Law of Impermanence is the teaching that everything in material or relative existence is impermanent. That is, everything has a beginning, a middle, and, most definitively, an ending. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus wrote it this way: “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man”. Life is perpetually in flux and change is an inevitable constant. Suffering normally occurs when we do not accept this principle.

The reason why I chose this particular topic is that during those 6 years, from 2012 to 2018, my life was turned upside down in ways I would have never predicted. During this time I experienced true love and subsequent true loss, and I struggled fiercely with the idea that life could take away from me the only thing I truly wanted. I resisted it for years, leading to depression, but also to a journey of self-discovery, self-love and acceptance. Acceptance that life is not always as we want it to be, and we must learn to let go and stop resisting the flow of life, and learn instead to flow with it. The London Trilogy is this journey.

The London Trilogy consists of three chamber works:

‘Life from Light’ (2012)
‘2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal’ (2016)
‘Hhumann X’ (2018)

The London Trilogy was not created in chronological order, with the first two works reflecting on birth and death and the latter work reflecting on the journey in between both. All the 3 works started in the form of studio albums, recordings made in my home studio which were used as sketches and studies for the final compositions. Building upon these sketches and studies, the final work was able to take form.

‘Life from Light’ (2012) was sketched in my studio album 'Creation' (2011), in which Rebecca featured in most of the tracks. Its inception and naming were inspired by an eponymous chapter of the 2012 BBC Nature documentary series ‘How To Grow A Planet’, in which Professor Iain Stewart describes the mechanisms and evolutionary forces that allowed life to appear on planet Earth, finally paving the way for human civilisation. As such, ‘Life from Light’ explores what it means to be human, our relationship with our planet and the natural world, and how our actions are creating irreversible damage to both.

‘Life from Light' premiered at Union Chapel in London on the 15th of November 2012. The premiere featured The X-Factor finalist singer Roberta Howett, prize-winning British soprano Susan Jiwey, countertenor Oliver Gerrish and video artist Thomas Yeomans.

By invitation of the Tete-a-Tete Opera Festival and funded by the Arts Council England, "Life from Light" was further performed on the 7th and 8th of August 2014 at London’s Kings Place Hall One. Roberta Howett and Oliver Gerrish were joined on this occasion by soprano Meeta Raval, Classical Brit nominee Camilla Kerslake and Cuban jazz trumpeter Yelfris Valdes.

After ‘Life from Light’ I composed a group of 3 pieces entitled Triptych. They are possibly some of the most important pieces I’ve written. These are Nile Lilies, Slaves of Time and Foolish Child. They marked an important chapter in my life, like a bookmark in my Lifebook.

Nile Lilies reflected on the very moment of death, the moment when ancient traditions say the spirit leaves the body, and it wonders whether a man's success in life can be measured by who will be by one’s side at that very moment.

Slaves of Time was inspired by Homer’s epic poem the Iliad, especially by the fragment describing the conversation between Achilles and Briseis, in which Achilles argues to Briseis that “The gods envy us. They envy us because we’re mortal, because any moment may be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we’re doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now. We will never be here again".

Foolish Child was inspired by Gary Jennings’ novel Aztec (1980), arguing the futility and naivety of dying for an ideal, whatever this may be, even if there is an afterlife after all.

Triptych became the core of what would become my new studio album, Slaves of Time, in which besides death I explore destiny, time and man’s obsession to try and control both. Slaves of Time was a solid foundation upon which to build my new work, ‘2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal’.

2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal’ takes its name from the eponymous Time Magazine article by Lev Grossman (Grossman 2011). The article explores Google’s

chief engineer Ray Kurzweil’s view on Technological Singularity, a new era that the techno-scientific community have predicted to be possible by 2045 in which technology will finally allow for man and machine to merge, converting us effectively into machines, allowing us to stop ageing and live indefinitely.

Through this paradigm of the future, I explore the efforts of our technocratic society to overcome death, wondering essentially whether there's a purpose to being mortal, and whether there's a purpose to dying. Ray Kurzweil gave permission for his voice and teachings to be used in the piece.

‘2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal?’ was premiered at St. James's Church in Piccadilly, London, on the 6th of July 2016 featuring countertenor Oliver Gerrish and soprano Meeta Raval and in collaboration with Tete-a-Tete Opera Festival.

Viscountess Cowdray, Lady Marina Cowdray, commissioned a second performance at Cowdray Park on the 9th of July 2016. On both occasions, it was received with standing ovations and unanimous praise. The piece was selected as one of the 'Five of the Best Classical Concerts' by The Guardian and also had coverage on BBC Radio 3.

For the last piece of the London Trilogy I wanted to explore loneliness, the one I was feeling so intensely during those years. And one that many others feel despite sometimes being surrounded by people. I wanted to explore social isolation at a time of technological hyper-connectedness, a paradox I found worth exploring. ‘Hhumann X’ appeared as such, an exploration of loneliness in an era of technological hyper-connectedness, an exploration of isolation in our world and in our time.

The piece is a call to build bridges, bridges between us as a way to overcome social isolation but also bridges within ourselves, connecting with our true nature and purpose.

‘Do you know what you are?’, the opening line of a poem by the 13th-century Persian poet Rumi, is the repeating mantra throughout the piece and the main question I ask my audience.

Hhumann X was premiered at LSO St Luke’s in London on the 20th of October 2018 to a sold-out audience in collaboration with More Than Just a Choir, a community choir based in North London that works with people suffering from mental illness and social isolation. The choir helps its members build their confidence, whilst also connecting with the wider community. This collaboration is key to strengthen the meaning of the piece, bringing into the core of the performance these individuals who are overcoming social isolation through music and community.

The piece and its premiere gained lots of media attention from media outlets such as the BBC, London Live and the Telegraph amongst others. Hhumann X's main theme featured on BBC Radio 4's new series The Anatomy of Loneliness that started broadcasting on the 2nd October 2018.

Bulgarian video artist Tereza Duchlevová created a series of YouTube Trailers in the run up to the premiere in collaboration with actor Boyan Feradjiev.

Plácido Domingo and José María Cano - Real Madrid CF Centenary Anthem (2000-2003)

In 2002 I worked with José María Cano recording and mixing the new Centenary Anthem for Real Madrid CF called Hala Madrid!, featuring Plácido Domingo and composed by José María Cano himself to celebrate the Spanish football club's centenary in 2002.

Noah Stewart - Sting's Field of Gold Spanish Translation (2012)

In 2011, leading classical label Decca Records commissioned me to translate Sting’s hit song Fields of Gold into Spanish, which would eventually become Campos de Oro. Campos de Oro was meant to be included in American tenor’s Noah Stewart self-titled debut crossover album Noah which was released in 2012. I became Noah’s vocal coach for this particular track, which we recorded at Metropolis Studios in London. Noah became the first black musician ever to top the UK Classical Album Chart when his album Noah reached number one and remained there for 7 weeks.

Hayley Westenra - American TV Appearance with Naturaleza Muerta (2013)

In 2013 Decca Records commissioned me again this time to coach crossover artist Hayley Westenra for a forthcoming TV appearance on American TV with Greek tenor Mario Frangoulis to perform a crossover version of Naturaleza Muerta, hit track by my dear friend José María Cano and first released by his Spanish pop band Mecano in 1991.

Catty Pearson - Songwriting for Time Tells Me (2017-2018)

Through 2017 and 2018 I started a songwriting collaboration with British singer-songwriter and dear friend Catty Pearson, co-writing some of the songs of her 2018 independently released debut EP ‘Time Tells Me’. The EP was produced by Chris Kimsey, best known for his work producing The Rolling Stones, and recorded at legendary Olympic Sound Studios. 

Liam Hodges - Catwalk OST for Mutations in the 4th Dimension (2019)

In October 2018 British fashion designer Liam Hodges asks me to write music for his forthcoming London Fashion Week presentation of his 2019 Fall/Winter collection entitled ‘Mutations in the 4th Dimension’. For this I worked with my collaborator Elliott Liu and soprano Honey Rouhani. Elliott reworked and remixed 3 tracks from Hhumann X (Dancing in Space, Hhumann X and The Seeker) and soprano Honey Rouhani sang live in the middle of the catwalk.

Cyril de Commarque - Artificialis at the Saatchi Gallery (2019)

During 2019 I collaborated with artist Cyril de Commarque creating the soundscape for his multi-media installation ‘Artificialis’. As part of its special Artist-In-Residency programme, the Saatchi Gallery presented the piece alongside another multi-media installation by Kate Daudy both created as a response to 'Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh', which will be displayed at Saatchi Gallery for six months from November to May 2020. Both artists invite the viewer to contemplate notions of legacy and transition. Before coming to London, 'Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh' attracted more than 1.3 million visitors in Paris, becoming the most-visited exhibition in French history.

'Buy Music Get Art' was a groundbreaking scheme which I created in 2008 in which for the first time a work of contemporary art was sold in shares through a limited edition music CD. Edvarda Braanaas’s 'Ceci n'est pas une fille’ was divided into 100 shares, each of which was sold through 100 limited edition CDs of Toni's 2007 performance in Bush Hall. The 'Buy Music Get Art' scheme was launched in 2008 at Maddox Arts Gallery in Mayfair at the opening of “Viva Lolita”, exhibition curated by James Putnam.

'Love in the Sky' was created in 2007 by Toni Castells with the intention of bringing together a group of young and emerging artists and make them collaborate in trying to capture the essence of LOVE through an image. 'Love in the Sky' launched successfully on the 30th of June of 2009 at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, thanks to funding from the Lottery Fund and in collaboration with Nina Rennie-Gustard from Nueluxe.

Participating artists were Colin Barnes, Matt Black, Rudy de Belgeonne, Johnny Blue Eyes, Nigel Burnett Hodd, Ned Conran, Liz Dalton, Goldie, Gary Harvey, Eleanor Lyndsay-Finn, Max Lowry, Bruno Maag, Munir Malik, Hoda Mazloomian, Natalie Meyjes, Ben Moore, Jody Norbury, Paul Persky, Dan Prescott, Petroc Sesti, Sara Shamsavari, Baccara Smart, Stedhead, Zak Walters, Leah Wood, Ada Zanditon.

The works of art the artists created, always in collaboration, were auctioned on the night by ex-Sotheby's and Christie's Auctioneer Terence Rodriguez on benefit of Coram, a charity who's been providing better chances for underprivileged children since 1739, raising in excess of £8,000.

Toni is also the founder of Xmas Rocks for Charity, a fundraising Christmas time concert that took place in 2007 at the Notting Hill Community Church to raise money for Depression Alliance and the Mood Foundation.