—— MIXED BLOOD Would you believe that Seb has no Filipino blood at all? He quipped in pure Filipino, “Walang wala.” He is of Peruvian-Japanese descent, but American by citizenship as he was born and raised in the United States. START OF CAREER He was still 20 then and was living in the City of Angels (Los Angeles, U.S.A.) when he got discovered while dining in a Vietnamese resto in West Hollywood by a group Filipino fashion icons/institutions (some of the famous people in the group include Michael Cinco and Dennis Lustico). They were the ones who tried to convince him to visit Manila and to attend VTRs as a potential model. Seb first arrived in the Philippines on January 6, 2011 and had plans of staying here for only about two-three weeks. From working on a Sun Cellular billboard to being casted as one of the Cosmo bachelor hunks, the projects just kept coming in for this excited neophyte. He then fell in love with the country and its people… and the rest as they say is history. WHAT HE LOVES MOST ABOUT THE PHILIPPINES Being a proud becky himself, he says, “I really love the gay culture and community in the Philippines.” He loves how Filipino gays, aside from being hardworking individuals, typically help each other and have each others’ backs especially in times of difficulties. Furthermore, he also fell in love with the general Filipinos’ obsession with the local entertainment scene & the performing arts, which are very much close to his heart. HANGOUT PLACES IN MANILA For people who are secretly wishing to bump into Seb in a gay club or in a bar, unfortunately, you definitely won’t find him there. “I’m not a huge party animal,” he says. So you better check out his performance schedule on his Twitter or Facebook pages instead as he only parties out if he has a special gig. COMING OF AGE Considered as a late bloomer, Seb only fully accepted his then peculiar sexual orientation at 15 years old while watching gay porn for the very first time. “[While watching porn] and that heart-pounding moment, it all made sense,” he adds. Boom! After that moment, Seb affirmed to himself that there was no turning back anymore… Seb also had several male bestfriends while growing up. Only now did he realize that he actually had crushes on each one of them. (Ahem, para-paraan!) COMING OUT Thank god for the digital world, news definitely spreads faster now more than before. For Seb, he turned to Twitter and to a gay-themed podcast called Beckynights to publicly announce to the world his love for men. STORY BEHIND ‘BUBBLE’ AND ITS 1M YOUTUBE VIEWS
Seb narrates how he wrote the song behind his Youtube hit, “I wrote every lyric in the song ‘Bubble’ because everything was part of a 10 year process of me finding myself. It started when I was about 14 or 15 years old… I was attracted to the male ass.” The lyrics goes something like, “I like your bubble, even the stubble…” The song may be very sexual in nature just by reading the lyrics and listening to the song. But for Seb, it’s a way for him to express himself and narrate his story as a young gay boy. Seb is very much involved and hands-on with the production of his videos–from writing the screenplays, co-directing, and even framing the shots, but of course with the help of his friends and producers. We all know for fact how expensive and challenging it is to produce even two-minute videos that are of a high quality. But no one can slow Seb down when it comes to creatively producing new concepts to enthuse his millions of followers around the world. His third video, “You’re Gay,” proved to be a great blessing for him. Although he was already getting broke at that time and has no means of starting his latest production, with the help of his loyal followers around the world, they supported Sebastian to raise not just US$3,000 (which is the original amount needed) but a handsome US$6,000 to fund this new dance video: FUTURE PROJECTShttp://www.cdbaby.com/cd/sebastiancastro3 |
Aside from producing his own new album, “S.E.B.”, which was recently released digitally (available on Spotify and on iTunes), he is also working on new videos with the objective of surprising and shocking all his followers. He says, “I am always moving on to the next new thing…” “I plan to launch three music videos almost at the same time. It’ll be a surprise, and something special. There will be a day for the launch… three consecutive days where all the videos will be released. And it’ll be exactly at the same time, but I won’t be giving any clues to my followers when these will be launched,” he adds. RELATIONSHIP WITH ABS-CBN REPORTER RYAN CHUA
Seb and Ryan first met in 2013 when Ryan attended his ‘Bubble Art Exhibit.’ Ryan was still in a relationship then and so they first started as really, really good friends. They share the same interests such as Pinoy Entertainment. He says, “He is always accessible and he’s very friendly. We bond over ‘My Husband’s Lover and over gay pop culture…. we fangirl all the time…. and when his former relationship didn’t work out, I guess it was a long time coming [for us]…” Although Ryan is currently based in London for his further studies, they still both find time communicating on a regular basis through different means such as Twitter, Facebook, iMessage, or through Skype. FAVORITE ICONS Jessie J, Florence and the Machine, and Queen Lady Gaga. He says, “I also love small artists. It’s good that you know them from the beginning before they become big.” CELEBRITY CRUSHES In the Philippines: Dennis Trillo and his gay character in “My Husband’s Lover” (Eric). International: English Olympian diver Tom Daley. RANDOM TRIVIA
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