COMBAT!
“Jacaranda”

COMBAT!

Mark Nieto applies a decade of bouncing around LA’s underground scene—as a DJ, guitarist, and producer—to his self-titled debut as COMBAT! next month. Due out September 16th through FoF Music, the restless effort was inspired by Nieto’s travels outside California—trips like the Tijuana gig that inspired today’s #selftitledpremiere. Here’s what Nieto had to say about its spry melodies, humid vocal hooks, and spring-loaded drum loops, along with the album’s previously released single…

“Jacaranda” was the last song I finished for the album. I recorded most of it right before I played a show in Tijuana at Moustache, so I had that venue in mind the whole time. Anton Hochheim, who plays drums on the song, crossed the border with me to perform. As soon as we got back to LA, we met up and recorded his drum parts to finish the song.

Around the time I was finishing up the album, I found a box of my uncle’s old mixtapes. He used to record songs off the radio and I guess the tape recorder he used had a built in mic so on one of the tapes you can hear him walking around in the silence between the songs. He passed away when I was a kid, but it was because of his influence that I took an interest in music. I took some of those subtle sounds and added them to the record. You can hear him walking around and putting the cassette in the machine right before the drums start.