Big Time Maca (Max Castillo) chatted about his breakthrough comedy rap album “Big Time Album,” which was released on September 27, 2024.
Castillo is a comedian, content creator, and rapper. He draws inspiration from The Lonely Island and “Saturday Night Live” comedy rap music videos. He spoke about his latest musical offering, and his influences behind it.
How did you approach the song selection process for your debut album “Big Time Album”? (Were you going for a certain theme to it)
The song selection wasn’t too tough of a process. I already make a lot of music-based comedy content, so for a few tracks (“Sad for No Reason” and “Take a Little Walk”) I knew which songs people already liked.
I had written/recorded a few songs over the last two years- “Bed By 9” was actually finished back in April 2022, and once I started incorporating musical performances into my stand-up comedy sets, I saw how people responded and realized I needed to make an album.
From there it all just fell into place- I just wanted to have as many songs on there as possible that were hilarious but also a lot of fun to listen to- comedy songs you could throw on at a party.
What inspires your music and songwriting?
I’m hugely influenced by the Lonely Island- one of the things that made their music so good was how specific it was.
I love comedy because you can take any small piece of day-to-day minutia and stretch it out and explore it as much as you want; comedy music just takes this to a completely different level.
I usually try to find something super relatable and add stakes to it- the more banal the better. Like “Fonts”- I just love “Fonts,” they’re one of those every day things we are constantly experiencing that people don’t think about.
“Bed By 9” is about being in my 30s and getting tired, but now there’s this whole 90s R&B dramatic vibe where I’m acting like I’m letting my girl down.
My favorite example of this: when I first wrote and filmed the content for “Can I Still Do a Backflip??” back in 2020, I genuinely DIDN’T know if I could still do a backflip.
Writing, recording, and filming it all was a literal part of the journey to find out if I could or not (luckily I could after a few tries).
What is your personal favorite song on there?
They are all my children. But if I had to pick ONE I would say “5’7″ & Proud” is my favorite because I wrote that from the heart. And also the beat is absolutely banging.
My producer Tommy Wakefield (who makes music under the name Evil Laugh) was on fire this whole album!
But I love that song because of the way it subverts expectations- it’s such a cliche’ for people to prefer to date tall men so when I wrote that I was like “nah I’m planting my flag in the soil and the shorter kings everywhere will be proud of who they are.”
And then the way it just gets ridiculous is so fun- it starts out me being like “hey I’m still cool even though I’m shorter” to being “you can literally fit me in your pocket”. It’s so fun to do live. (“Sad For No Reason” is also up there for me- others I love are “Adult Money,” “Bed By 9,” “Two Christmases,” and “Fonts”)
What do your plans for the future include?
I’d like to have a video for every song on the album- two are out now (“Two Christmases” and “Bed By 9”) and “Backflip” will be out later this fall. The others are in early production stages/ideas at this point.
Ideally, I want to build a career like the Lonely Island have, just dropping fun comedy music and also getting to act/perform live/tour. I love incorporating music into my stand-up sets, it’s so fun and dynamic.
How does it feel to be a part of the digital age? (Now with streaming, technology, and social media being so prevalent)
It feels awesome! I think social media is such an equalizer in the entertainment industry. It’s amazing to be able to build and cultivate an audience from your own home just by using the internet and then turn that into a whole career.
Plus, people aren’t afraid to try new things and create some absolutely wild stuff. I love how widespread comedy is now- it wasn’t like that when I was a kid.
What is your advice for young and aspiring artists?
Took me so long to realize this: find your superpower. What’s the thing you love doing the most? And know you do well? Do that (at least at first).
When I was first really getting into comedy/content creation it took me so long to realize I needed to be creating something that I would think is funny, not just trying to do what I thought other people would think is funny.
Doing this really helps establish your voice as an artist and also makes creating more fun! Once I started incorporating music/dancing into my comedy, I started to gain momentum- and started having more fun.
What does the word success mean to you? (My favorite question)
To me, “success” (as a creative) is when you’re in a place to make exactly what you want, when you want to, and make a living doing it.
Being able to hire my friends to help make a music video is a success in its own right. Once I’m doing that full time, I will know I have made it!
What would you like to tell our readers about your new album “Big Time Album”?
I just hope people have fun with it. I made it to be as silly as possible, but there’s some heart in there! “Two Christmases” is a silly song about having divorced parents at the holidays (hence doing two Christmases), but there’s also a nice bit
of optimism in there. I hope the album makes people not only laugh at the jokes but also just puts them in a better mood.
The new album is available on digital service providers by clicking here.
To learn more about Big Time Maca, check out his official website and follow him on Instagram.
