Meet Meg Castellanos Aguilar

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Meg Castellanos Aguilar. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Meg below.

Hi Meg, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
I got my work ethic from my parents. My father emigrated from Cuba when he was 15 years old. He came to New York with his father and new step mother but soon left home to find work. He quickly learned English and trained in heavy machinery, and learned how to build hot rods while working at a gas station that he would eventually own. He joined the Marines where he met my mother who was in the Navy until she got pregnant with me.
They were divorced when I was 2 years old and I saw first hand the hustle she had to go through to raise me on her own. My mother worked her way up in the banking system, eventually becoming a branch manager. She sometimes picked up jobs on the weekends to pay bills, while my father invested in a nightclub that hosted live music. When times were tight, she sold the silver or gold pieces she had gotten as gifts. There was a lot of scrimping to make ends meet but we always did.

As a teenager, I was as active as could be. I was a serious figure skater and would often ride my bike several miles to cheerleading practice or to the rink. I discovered I had a weakness in my right leg which turned out to be a benign tumor. I had to have a bone graft from my hip to the ball of the femur which laid me out for months during my junior year of high school. Once I was back on my feet I got back to skating and all of my activities as soon as I could. This physical challenge was one of many I have had to overcome through out my life. These experiences have been humbling, but I learned early on that the body has a miraculous will to heal itself and sought to tap in to that.

After 2 years of studying dance in college, I moved out to the west coast from the east, and decided to study massage therapy. I got certified in 1992 and have been doing hands on healing work ever since. It has allowed me to be a channel of healing energy for my clients, as well as myself. It has rewarded me my own business practice where I am free to travel and also dedicate my life to dance and music.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I practice Myofascial Release and Deep Tissue massage at Mananian Chiropractic in Montrose, CA. I am fortunate to have a wide range of clients, many professional therapists and doctors, writers, musicians, etc… my goal is to be present and to listen to their bodies as it guides me during their sessions. I am a confident empathic therapist and look forward to continuing to do this important work for many years to come.

I also currently play in Alma Sangre and All Souls, 2 bands based in Los Angeles, both with my husband Antonio Aguilar.
Alma Sangre is a coming together of 2 passions; my love for flamenco dance and my husbands songwriting in Spanish on acoustic guitar. It is an expressive theatric performance that draws on our ethnic backgrounds and is very different from our other band All Souls which is a louder progressive rock band. Both projects have allowed me to write and visualize ideas for lyrics and songs, video making, and creating album covers. It is necessary for me to maintain an active creative outlet.

I also co-own Eastside Rehearsal with my husband and another friend Eddie Rivas. It is a practice space for musicians located in the neighborhood of Boyle Heights where we also live. We created a safe and inclusive space for musicians where everyone feels welcome. The rooms are fully back lined with top-notch gear and we have hosted local to international touring bands.

Upcoming Alma Sangre shows:
12/2 Silverlake Lounge (w/Alice Austin)

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Resilience: I have been able to recover quickly from injuries and trauma. When you have to rely on yourself, this can come naturally. I am self sufficient and very proud of this. I can always figure out a solution to a problem.

Healthy lifestyle: Being active and staying busy but taking time to rest is key. I am a big fan of getting massages every other week. It’s important to receive when you are giving.

Perseverance: I like to see things through to completion. I take projects seriously and commit myself with a high sense of professionalism.

For those starting out in a career of healing arts or music, do it because it is a calling. It takes a lot of time and effort to grow an audience or clientele. I love the path I have chosen. It might not be the most lucrative, but has given me a lifetime of rewards.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
There are many challenges for working musicians. Number one being that the streaming services that we all use do not pay the musicians. Music has been devalued for so long now that most younger people don’t even think about spending any money on it. Many of us have had to stop manufacturing CDs and vinyl because the cost far outweighs the profit. For touring musicians, this used to be a way to make money by playing live. But since the pandemic, the cost of going on tour has become so high, bands have started to realize that this is no longer a viable path.

All Souls started to do regional tours where we would fly into a city and share equipment with other local bands. That is a way we could continue to tour but it was still hard to make any money after costs.

There are many ways to get your music and videos out there, and so much of it can be done now on social media. But it does comes with a price of having to be your own manager, booking agent, PR person, videographer, all the while trying to stay focussed on making music!

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Memo Villaseñor photo credit on Megred, MegTonyAlma, Megmask Melissa Castro photo credit on MegnPocho Antonio Aguilar photo credit on MegLaPaz

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