Miami’s “Mustard Service” stopped in Philadelphia on August 28th, as part of their 28 city Paradise tour, where I had the chance to ask them a few questions. Mustard Service lit up the Foundry Stage in Fishtown, playing a mix of vibes from their discography and giving fans a show they wouldn’t forget. Mustard Service, made up of Marco on guitar and vocals, Leo on keys, Adam on drums, and Yucky on bass, released their fifth-studio album, Paradise, on August 21st.
Starting in 2015, Marco and his friend Armando began playing music together and working on making an album. Leo joined next, followed by Adam after Armando stepped away from the band. Yucky, who joined the band on their “Vice City Magic” tour last summer, has officially now been recognized as a “core” member. According to Leo, to become a core member of Mustard Service, “…you play with somebody for the first time and they put in effort, as if it was their own project, when it’s not. They show dedication that you want to have, and then that helps the process,” and Yucky showed all of these attributes. After finalizing their “core member” lineup, the band has been writing and playing together since.
From the start, Marco has described Mustard Service’s genre as “Zest Pop,” or “music that Mustard Service makes.” This circular description was intentional to allow the band to develop new sounds over time. Marco spoke about the band’s natural evolution, as listeners hear from the jazzy, surfy, bedroom pop sound of the first record, Zest Pop, to the serene, indie pop sound of their new record, Paradise. The cool thing about the development of “Zest Pop”, Marco describes, is that “the old Mustard” is always accessible to stream, but in regards to new music, they’re gonna keep pushing and exploring new sounds.
Mustard Service’s writing process has always been multi-faceted, featuring a distanced, yet collaborative approach between the band. When asked if the band works actively together in the studio to write their records, Leo referenced a Beatles documentary regarding their “jamming together” writing style, which often were halted by creative differences, as the exact reason they work separately until they’re ready to present a demo. Leo detailed how one of the members brings in a “seed,” or a basic, very reduced structure of a song to the rest of the band, such as a simple demo or melody. The “seedling,” is then expanded upon in the studio, adding more and more from each member until the song is album ready. Receiving feedback from other members and producers on an idea you’re presenting is also integral to the band’s collective approach to making music, Marco discussed.
Staying true to the core member goal of Mustard Service, Paradise was collaboratively written between Marco, Leo, Adam, and Yucky. Marco described how Paradise took a darker direction than Mustard Service’s previous works, as part of the band’s natural sound evolution over time. The band also talked about how getting older contributed to the darker style of this record. This doesn’t dictate the sound of the entire album though, as it features upbeat, indie rock tunes like “Sharks,” “Aerolineas Mostaza,” and “I Want It All,” to the slower, darker tracks like “County,” “Today I Killed My Son,” and “Psalm 2.” The band also released a really fun music video for “Sharks,” showcasing an awesome yet gruesome wrestling match.
The Paradise tour continues until the end of September. Starting up the east coast, Mustard Service is currently working their way through the midwest, with their next show in Seattle on September 14th. You can find more information on Mustard Service on their website https://www.themustardservice.com/ and on instagram @mustardservice. Yucky runs all their socials, and has some pretty cool content on tiktok as well @mustardserviceofficial. He was talking about bringing back “the twist,” so if you see it coming back online, you know who started it.
Madi FM interviews Mustard Service for 91.7 FM Philadelphia.
