ERNESTO CAL

Hi there! Thanks for stopping by!

 

My name is Ernesto Cal and I am an acoustic singer/songwriter based in Southern California. Only a few years ago, Ed Sheeran was the only artist I ever listened to. Ed was my inspiration because he wrote and sang his own songs, always stayed true to his character, and showed me that impossible is only a word in the music industry. I think I probably listened to Photograph every single day for an entire year straight, until finally I told myself, “You know what, why not film myself singing this song and post it.” Then I did. In 2015, I posted my very first cover on YouTube and after that moment I became committed to learning how to properly sing and play my dusty, old guitar.

 

I remember one time, when I picked up my guitar and I couldn’t bear to keep my fingers on the fret board because they were so sore. But I stuck with it, watching “How-To” videos on YouTube and sang off pitch at midnight, probably driving my neighbors crazy (luckily they didn’t call the cops). Days turned into months, months into years, now I look back and I see how far I’ve come. I’ve only really sang and played for a few years but slowly, I’m starting to find myself as an artist.

 

As I listened to other singer/songwriters, I found a connection that I appreciate between all of them: raw emotion. These artists didn’t need crazy amounts of production to shine, because their voice and lyrics were strong enough to move anyone who listened. I began to listen to lyrically meaningful artists like Adele and Sam Smith, who can make you smile one minute and leave you bawling your eyes out in the next. Right after, Shawn Mendes and James TW became my key influences, reviving Ed’s acoustic roots, but spiced it up with a youthful pop-rock anthem.

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It was in 2018 when I brought the world of songwriting into my life. I bought a tiny little notebook and just started writing a few phrases, making super cliche topics and rhymes. There were a few instances where I spent weeks and weeks trying to craft the perfect rhyme, I'd even set daily routines of when and how I should write. I threw out dozens of songs and was ultimately hating my songwriting, wondering why I couldn't write like my favorite artists. In fact, I gave up songwriting for a few months and never wanted to touch my notebook again.

 

One night, I woke up at 2 am because I just needed to get my emotions on paper. I wasn't thinking of any lyrics or chords, I just needed to write. I wrote for about 30 minutes (which felt like 5 minutes), threw in random chords, and arranged them in verses/choruses and went back to bed. I remember waking up and listening to what I had written. I sat there in disbelief wondering if I really wrote that song, because it actually wasn't bad at all. That's the night I wrote, "I Still Do." That's the night I knew I could start writing songs—not from routines or imitations—but something from deep within. I began to focus on my story and soon enough songwriting became natural for me and I started to feel proud of my songs.

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Amidst all the chaos going on in this world, I write songs to remind myself of what’s important, to appreciate the little things. Sometimes, I forget that I'm human and the things that happen to me are all part of this big thing called "life". But songwriting has given me the ability to share my stories, and I invite you to come alongside my adventures through each and every song. It's become a vehicle for my innermost expressions, simply through a strum of my guitar and a line I can’t stop singing from my tiny notebook. Songwriting has become my entire life now and I have no problem with that at all.

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