An Afternoon With Mustard Service
Courtesy of Ionit Studios
Mustard Service makes "zest-pop," so don't attempt to use your labels to describe them. "People would ask us, 'Oh, what kind of music do you play?' And we'd say, 'Zest pop,' Marco, the band's de facto leader, emphatically explained. "What's Zest Pop?" you ask? according to the band, it's "music played by Mustard Service."
The eclectic band formed in 2015 and currently consists of five members: Marco Rivero (lead vocals, guitar), Gabriel "Nuchi" Marinuchi (guitar), Augusto "Tuto" Di Catarina (bass, vocals), Leo "Big Guy" Cattani (keys), and Adam Rhodes (drums). And together, the bunch have released three albums: 2017's Zest Pop, 2020's C'est la Vie, and their latest effort, Variety Pack, released on Friday, August 4.
Variety Pack follows the quintet diving deeper into their musical influences, crafting various interpretations of what "Zest Pop" can be—13 interpretations to be exact. The project is teeming with diverse compositions; the band taps into genres like dance, alternative, surf, jazz, and folk with unique flavors you'd only find with MS.
An official press release for the band details Variety Pack as the first time other members in the group could show their talent for song-making and writing. "'Alole,' 'Song for Marco,' and 'All or Nothing' were composed mainly if not entirely by Gabriel Marinuchi (Nuchi), and LArkin's PArkin' was composed by Leo Cattani with only the lyrics written by Marco," the release reads.
Weeks after the release of their jamming junior album, Marco and Nuchi sat down with In Search of Magazine to talk all things Mustard Service. The pair discussed their new album, their very own festival in Zest Fest, Miami's bands, and how the lively upstart began their journey.
Courtesy of Evan Garcia
In Search Of Magazine: How did the band come together? I read somewhere that you guys chose your name through a name generator.
Marco: Yeah, I'd like to change the story now and then because whenever I tell someone it was a band name generator, I can see this disappointment in their eyes. I remember I was in, I think it was in Nashville, and some kid came up, he was almost teary-eyed, and he was like, 'You have to tell me how you guys come up with your name.' And he was just being so genuine. I'm like, 'You know what? I'm going to give you the real answer. It was a band name generator.' And his face just dropped. And I was like, 'F**k. I have to stop telling people that.'
But, at first, we were not doing anything band-related. We were all interested in music. But until I was about 19, I think I decided to start a band with our bassist, Augusto, and our next drummer/producer. We started a band where Tuto, Augusto, was the vocalist and the frontman. I was playing bass, and that was the first band we had. And that fell apart.
And I started writing songs, and I started taking it to them because they were the only friends I knew. And then, Nuchi, Gabe was all... we've known each other since high school. So, naturally, he came and started playing guitar with us. And everyone else we met a year after starting Mustard Service. We met Leo, our keyboardist, and then a year after that, we met our new drummer when our old drummer decided he wanted just to become a producer.
So, mostly through school, I've known Gabriel since 2009. Augusto has known Gabriel since birth practically. And Adam and Leo just hopped in after the first album came out.
Gabriel: It's made up of multiple long-time friendships.
Do you ever see those relationships and bonds aiding in the construction of various songs?
M: We're more comfortable with constructive criticism. It's always easy to tell someone who you're comfortable with, like, 'Hey, I don't like that part.' Or, it's more conducive to getting a final product that everybody's happy with. Because if you're not too comfy with someone and they bring something you don't like, you feel a little weirder; you're going like, "Hey, I don't like this that much."
But when you're with your friends, you guys are all still best buds, and it's not as personal.
How has the changing times of music impacted how you guys work together? I'm curious if streaming or TikTok, or even the fact that rock or indie isn't the top of America's zeitgeist right now, impacted your song-making decisions.
G: We were, in terms of music distribution; the first time we ever uploaded music was when Marco finished writing Zest Pop with our former drummer, Armando. It went up on SoundCloud in 2016. And so, we knew it would inevitably go to streaming. But at that time, there were fewer third-party platforms to work on to upload to streaming.
So, that being said, we were born into the streaming era. Our first release was already...the zeitgeist was streaming. Everything was streaming, streaming. The first music was uploaded in 2016, and just now, in 2023, we have our first physical releases. We just started being able to release vinyl. In terms of that and in terms of social media, I'll let Marco answer this one because he's a social media guy (laughs).
M: We hate social media. I hate social media. But the thought goes through your head: 'Oh, let me write a song that might blow up on TikTok, or let me write something for content.' Producing content is new to go along with streaming, and you have to get people engaged in your social media, and it's daunting.
And I've found that the more you try to make music for other people or with a certain intention, that's not just expression; from my experience, I'm not as happy with those tracks as I am with stuff that comes out. So, I'd say that's a positive but also negative because it does...TikTok helps streaming helps musicians, but at the same time, it impedes the, for lack of a better word, the artistic process.
And like Nuchi said, yeah, we were born into the streaming era. I've heard [many] people say, 'Oh, before Spotify or Apple Music, you had to play a bunch of shows. Find someone in the biz who likes your sh*t and have them push you.' Now, it's more accessible for people to enter, but at the same time, it's more saturated with all these people competing for the same space.
Do you think this saturated market is why you created a diverse album like Variety Pack—A project that can satiate any craving across DSPs?
M: That wasn't the idea starting. We all have different tastes, and it depends on the day. Nuchi had a month-long period where he was listening to Argentina tangos from the 1940s, and then the next month, he was listening to The Garden and industrial music. I have a phase where I might listen to drum and bass and techno, or I might listen to Hip-Hop or rap.
I was just watching Atlanta, and I got put onto some music. So, I've been listening to that lately. So, I think it is like, we worked on this album over three years, and we just recorded and wrote sh*t we liked. And we were worried that we wouldn't have a sound like a band like Vacations or Mac DeMarco. But it might provide what you were saying, like, 'This is a different genre a little bit for everybody.'
And that was the idea. Like at Variety Pack, if you don't like our sad boy sh*t, maybe you'll like a dance to your track like 'Cat.' Or if you're not into that, maybe a little more up-tempo, tropical-like 'Tulum.' It was part of the idea, but not so much from a marketing sense; it's like, 'Oh, we want to market this to different people.' But more so out of a desire to make whatever we wanted.
G: There was a slightly longer list than the 13 tracks, and it was just what we had. We had 20-something songs, and we trimmed it down to 13, and they made the cut between us five and our producer. Some of these songs were from three years ago; others were from three months before we recorded. So, a lot of time went by. The recording was in two weeks, but the writing was in three years. So, sh*t changes.
Walk me through the inception of Zest Fest. I know you guys had an album called Zest Pop.
M: Zest Fest came from Miami, not having an indie scene or not too strong of an indie scene. It mainly was techno, house, and electronic. And then, you have reggaeton, salsa, and Hip-Hop—the big three in Miami for a long time.
G: And then, outside of that, you do have, in terms of bands, we have a [solid] hardcore scene.
M: The scene was more metal punk. I was in the punk scene when I was a kid, and we decided, 'Why don't we start a festival and try to get bands doing the same kind of sh*t that we are, and give them a platform?' Because there's not a lot of venues in Miami that will play indie rock or that will even pay you to play. It was this thing we tried to build in 2019 where we saw the genre growing a bit, we're like, 'Let's give these people a platform, get some of our favorite artists, some of our friends to play.'
And hopefully, in the next few years, the scene will grow, and we'll be able to have an entire two-day festival and get the scene growing in Miami.
Bands included were...Oh, God, we have Better Than This. I love those kids. Some of the most driven 19, 20-year-olds. Then there is Seafoam WALLS. They're, as far as musicians go, those are cats. They play really mathy stuff like intricate, sophisticated. And for the jazz kids like Leo, it's always good to have great musicians on a stage.
G: They just opened for Unknown Mortal Orchestra, by the way. They're on Thurston Moore's label—the guy from Sonic Youth. They're this band that's super low-key here and killing it. Check it out.
M: Also, I wanted to mention Donzii because they put on such a good show. Aside from being great musicians, they have the showmanship. They had someone on stage. They brought this guy on stage in a tiny denim speedo and a denim vest, and he was making pina colada on stage and serving it to the band members. I went on stage; I got one. It was delicious.
This is awesome (laughs); what would you guys say is your mission statement as a band?
M: If I had to put a phrase to it, we've always been the most serious about not being too serious, not taking yourself too seriously. Sometimes, that can be a good thing and sometimes a bad thing. Because if you have something important to say, someone might not take you seriously, and at the same time, someone shouldn't take you that seriously.
Because at the end of the day, we're making songs about a cat. We're not a super serious band. So, it's mainly about the music and about having a good time, having an escape, not trying to beat yourself up over every little thing, and not taking yourself too seriously. And I think that's it.
G: I think having a good time is what I take from that as the mission statement, Marco. And something like Zest Fest, if you listen to all the bands, maybe they wouldn't be booked together. Maybe they don't make sense sonically, like the bands we chose. But we all clicked because, I don't know, they were all weird and fun. It's all made in Miami, too.
At In Search Of, we're always searching for new music—It could be old to you, new to me, and vice versa. So, I would love to know what Marco and Gabe currently have in rotation. Three artists or three songs.
G: The first song is like a soccer chant recorded by some Inter Miami fans, like a punk version of a soccer chant recorded. And then, 'One of Us' by Joanne Osborne and "Die For You" by The Weeknd.
M: I've listened to 'Gimme Head' by Dj Clent. That's been in my rotation, man. It is so unhinged. 'Flicker On!' by Brad Stank, I think, was one of my favorites lately. And then, I had 'One and Done' by SahBabii. And then...I don't know how to say it. Rosalía, I'm listening to Rosalía. And also Moondog.
Is there something that recently happened that you want to shed some light on? Or maybe that you all have coming up?
M: Well, we're going to tour! I'm sure our manager would be upset if we didn't [discuss] that (laughs). We will be touring through most of the US, minus Boston, Philly, and Seattle. We're hitting most of the major markets, though.
We're going to be playing at Racket in New York. Never been, but we hear it's a nice place. We played at Elsewhere last time. That was a dope spot. And then, [we will] go through the Midwest, West Coast, Southwest Texas, and then back home. So, we're going to do a full 360 around the states. It's going to be called the Variety Pack tour.
Courtesy of Evan Garcia
