Hi, everyone! Last week, I had the pleasure of sitting down to chat with Marco Rivero Ochoa, lead singer of the Miami based bedroom-pop (self-described as "zest" pop) group Mustard Service. Known for their oftentimes electric live performances, the band has been notable for being the opening act for Spanish act HINDS on their 2018 US tour. I actually came across these guys through suggested artists for my good music friends, Hot Flash Heat Wave and BOYO. Their music really caught my eye, and I reached out to Marco as soon as I could.
bazzreviews: Which artists or albums inspired you to start a music career in the first place?
Marco Rivero: I took guitar lessons when I was really young, and my tutor taught me a lot of the solos for classic rocks songs. I guess you could say that really shaped my influences, these classic rock bands. When I met Nuchi, our guitarist, we really bonded over the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Their album Blood Sex Sugar Magik made us wanna start our own band. We then got into jazz and bossa nova, which is where some our sounds lie. Other indie artists like Mac DeMarco or Mild High Club are some of my personal favorites, too; their music really helped us further believe that we could put our own stuff.
br: I’ve heard you’re a Beatles fan, but how come you hate on John Lennon so much?
M.R.: How do you know I hate John Lennon so much?
br: In the words of Nardwuar, “we have to know.”
M.R.: That’s funny as f--k that you know that, mad respect. I love John’s lyrics more than Paul McCartney, but as a person, he’s much worse. I also think that Paul and George Harrison just had more musicality in their solo careers. And then Ringo, well, he’s just there for show. To me, John just comes off as a lot more pretentious, which I think is a horrible quality in a musician. You can’t really blame him though, because he was a member in arguably the greatest rock bands of all time.
br: Was that one cigarette worth crashing your new Benz over?
M.R.: Holy s--t, am I actually talking to Nardwuar right now? And no, it was definitely not worth it. I was driving my car on the highway one day in Miami, and it was bumper to bumper traffic. I had a little bit of confidence that I could look away just for a split second. I asked my friend who was sitting in the passenger seat for a cigarette, and the second that I turned my head to grab it, the car in front of me just stops. I hear the thud, and I’m like, oh s--t. This is gonna cost me big time. The dude gets out of his car, yells at me for like thirty seconds, then just drives off. Luckily, no cops were there so I got of scot-free. I am pretty happy about that. But, yeah, not happy about my car. I look at the f----n’ thing every day and just hate myself for it. The whole front fender broke, and there’s still a giant-ass scratch from the impact. That’s basically one of the biggest reasons I quit smoking.
br: When are you going to grab Nuchi’s dick and fulfill those odds?
M.R.: Damn, I totally forgot about that. I haven’t seen Nuchi in so long because of the quarantine, nor have I been able to catch him while he’s peeing. Just for you, I’m gonna give that a little tug next time I see him.
br: What does the phrase, “pato raro” mean to you?
M.R.: It’s an affectionate nickname that we got from the girls in Hinds during our tour with them. It comes from this one video of a Mexican gentlemen who found this strange bird and he puts it into his car to film himself asking his followers, “What is this animal, because I can’t tell.” It’s just a weird looking duck, which, in Spanish, translates to pato raro. Hinds was obsessed with that video, and they started calling each of us that. I have a nice little stick-and-poke on my arm, courtesy of their bassist, Adelaida, that says pato raro. It’s just that weird duck smoking a cigarette. It’s actually my favorite tattoo.
br: Tell me a little bit more about your tour with Hinds?
M.R.: It’s actually a really crazy story. A year before Mustard Service was what it was, I heard my first song from them on Burger Records’ SoundCloud. I was really obsessed with them for a period of time. I listened to them and kind of moved on to other people. Three years later, they DM’d us and asked if we wanted to tour with them. Let me tell you, I could not have said yes faster. The first time we met up with them, I was in awe. I probably said some stupid s--t that I don’t remember. It was really sad once the tour was over and they went back to Madrid. That stretch with them was one of the most fun memories I’ve had in all of my days of playing music.
br: How did you meet the other guys in the band?
M.R.: This is another wild story, but bare with me. As I mentioned earlier, Nuchi and I met early on, like in high school. He has been longtime friends with our current bassist, Augusto, who we call “Tuto.” Tuto moved to Argentina when he was in middle school and didn’t come back until he was a senior in high school. When he came back to live in Miami, Nuchi and I had been playing music with his cousin, who was on drums. We decided to add him back and start a band, but that didn’t go anywhere. We were all so bad at playing music because we only knew a few cover songs. After Nuchi’s cousin left, I rekindled with our old friend, Armando, who’s now our producer. He came in to play drums for a bit in a band which Tuto was fronting and I was playing bass. Just when you think it couldn’t get any crazier, Nuchi went off to college, leaving it as just Armando, Tuto and me. They then kicked ME out because I had no bass nor a bass amp. A little while after that, Armando and Tuto had a falling-out, so that left us all back where we started. Six months later, I was at home writing “Taking Up Space,” and sent Armando a little voice recording of me and my guitar. He really liked it, so I came over to record the album. We got it done pretty quickly, I think in under a couple of weeks. Since we needed someone to play bass, we brought Tuto back in and brought in another musician, Leo. He now plays keys for us. Mando left to start his producing career in Nashville, so Leo brought in one of his drumming friends, Adam from his other band. That’s where we are now, plus Nuchi.
br: What’s the significance behind the band’s name?
M.R.: It’s kind of anticlimactic. We had a few names in mind for the longest time, but I really did not like any of them. I went onto a band name generator and they gave me three options: Milk And Equality, Johnny’s Trashcan, and Mustard Service. For some reason, I really liked the sound of “Mustard Service.” I brought it up to the band, and they all were on board with it. It’s a little stupid, but it’s funny at the same time.
br: I’ve heard that the live show is an important part of the band’s image, would you say that you prefer playing live rather than working in the studio?
M.R.: I would definitely say that live show is my favorite. I think that it’s more important than the recorded product, if I’m being honest. It’s what generates the most income, too. I think if a band has a good record but they sound completely s--t live, you’re not going to want to go back and listen to them live again. That’s why we were so in awe by being on tour with Hinds. Their music isn’t the most sophisticated musically, but they’re so f-----g incredible live. The fact that they can keep the same amount of energy on stage each night is so special. In the studio, I think you get a feeling of self-doubt a lot more often. You could spend hours and hours on something you think is good just for it to get wiped away and needing to be re-energized. More importantly, there might seem like a lot of energy in what comes out. That’s not always the case, though. You could be using the fifth or six take in the final cut out of ten, twenty, even thirty takes of a song. Playing live just culminates everything you’ve done in the studio. We’re a really laid-back band, and each show we play is like a party. Having everyone screaming, drinking and dancing is like a dream come true. Giving our music to those fans with our own genuine energy, in the moment, is one of the best things about being a musician.
br: Can you describe your process for making a song?
M.R.: Usually, it’s just me sitting in my room with my guitar drawing up various melodies and stuff. I’ll then take what I have and go into the studio. I sit down with the guys and we decide where we want to take an idea that I have. They’ll add their own sort of twists and takes on it until we all agree it sounds right. Leo is the jazz nerd, he’s always finding different ways to make chords strike a certain way. Adam will then add a drum beat, Tuto will create a bassline, and Nuchi will doodle around with some leads. I really love the process that we have. It’s fun to see how these guys perceive your song and how they each make it sound awesome. Especially because we’re all friends and musicians we each respect, that makes it even more rare. Even though it took us a while to get off of the ground, I’m so glad that we’ve been able to keep up this chemistry.
br: How did the writing process differ on your recent LP, C’est La Vie, differ from past releases?
M.R.: Zest Pop was recorded very quickly. As you know, “Taking Up Space” led to only me and Mondo working on the record in a home studio. I had a lot more saying power in what went into the songs because of that. I had to write the basslines, leads, chords, and vocal melodies myself. The process I described in the last question was basically how it went for C’est La Vie. It was just a collection of songs I had written over the course of the last three years. Because we now have five guys in the band, it wasn’t just me fiddling around and having to create everything on my own. Like I said, it was amazing to see how each member contributed something that made each song sound so dynamic. It was also really different, because now we had to write our songs with an audience in mind. We sort of had to be more mindful of the songs we were making, because more people are going to actually be listening this time. When I was writing stuff for Zest Pop, I had no f-----g idea that it was gonna get as much traction as it did. That was just me and Mondo having fun and making an album. For C’est La Vie, I didn’t really want to write anything super personal in the beginning stages, which is why there are songs like “Daddy Dookie Brown” on there. It has nothing to do with my life. By the end of the recording process, I started to focus more on my personal side, with songs like “What A Life” or “Fin.” That is what makes music so special. The audience might be going through s--t I did, and hearing a song can help them humanize everything they’ve experienced.
br: What are some of your favorite songs that you guys have released?
M.R.: “Pleasantries” is my favorite by far. We’re all Latin, so it’s got a great Latin groove in there, a couple polyrhythms, and it’s just a great song to play live. “Need” is more R&B, and I love that type of music a lot. Even though I mentioned it was kind of a goofy song, “Daddy Dookie Brown” might still be one of my favorite from our full catalog.
br: If you could delete one song from the discography, what would it be and why?
M.R.: “My Oh Me, Pt. 2” has never been a favorite of mine. “Getting There” was one that we were writing specifically for Zest Pop, but it ended up getting deleted and brought back on C’est La Vie. The fans really liked that one for some reason. If it was up to me, it would have been left on the cutting room floor entirely.
br: Even though your record just dropped last month, do you guys have any other projects in the work right now?
M.R.: A friend of mine named Mattias, who’s a videographer, is getting a bunch of his friends together to make a sort of visual album. I don’t know if it’s going to be just me or Mustard Service, but I’m on board, and I think the Marias are as well. I really don’t know how much more I can say about it because it’s still up in the air. I’m also working on compiling some demos for C’est La Vie. I think it would be cool to give our audience a peek of how the song started to where it ended up. It would be sort of like what Mac DeMarco does with each of his records. We may release it, we may not.
br: What music goals do you have for the future?
M.R.: I’m really happy with where I am right now. As long as I can make songs and put them out, that’s all I care about. So, I guess I just want to be able to keep up my writing skills. Other than that, the biggest dream would be able to live off of music full time. I also work part-time as a server right now, so just having the complete freedom to make music without any secondary income would be awesome.
I want to thank Marco for sitting down and talking with me. It was an awesome time, and props to the guys in the band for giving me these deep-dive questions. If you haven't heard their music or are looking for someone new to check out, give these guys a listen. As always, thanks again for your support, and hope to see you reading more bazzreviews stuff in the future!
To hear more of Mustard Service's tunes, head on over to https://open.spotify.com/artist/7kAZYW5e5hQHYGQ0XHYhns
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