Producer and engineer Mario Caldato Jr. (AKA Mario C) was born in Brazil and came to L.A. as a child. He learned piano early and was a member of various bands in his teens, which is when he discovered his love of recording and taught himself to make records. That knowledge helped him land a sound gig at legendary L.A. nightclub Power Tools, where he met DJ Matt Dike, co-founder of hip-hop label Delicious Vinyl. Dike introduced him to the Beastie Boys and he went on to engineer the trio’s acclaimed Paul's Boutique and later to co-produce Check Your Head, Ill Communication, and Hello Nasty. He’s also worked with Jack Johnson, Beck, and Björk, among others.
When he begins a collaboration with a new artist, Caldato is more interested in where they are creatively than where they’ve been. “Before I start a project, I like to hear a demo, even if it’s just basic elements,” he explains. “I don’t even listen to their past records for various reasons such as I don’t want to be biased by them. I want to be open to what’s going forward especially since artists change their sound often.”
Something that struck him while working with a pro player once was that it’s not always easy to infer their process. “One time I tried to help in a situation where it sounded like a bassist was struggling to understand a song,” Caldato recalls of the experience. “He kept playing the wrong notes and when I’d point it out, he’d say ‘I got it.’ But he continued to play incorrectly, and I couldn’t understand why. When he was finally ready, he actually played all of the right notes. His technique was to play every note that wasn’t right, so he’d know not to play them.”
Caldato helped build the Beastie Boys’ G-Son Studios, where the trio made several multi-platinum records. It comes as little surprise, then, that his past projects that shine brightest for him are Hello Nasty and Check Your Head. “I’m proud of Check Your Head because we built G-Son from the ground up for it,” he says.
Caldato has been involved in music for practically his entire life. Indeed, his vinyl collection could just as easily be measured in metric tons as it could in raw numbers. Advice he offers to rising producers or engineers is to love the craft and to pursue it doggedly. “Follow your heart and go for it,” he advises. “Recording is a lifestyle and there are so many tutorials online that you can teach yourself to make records.”
The seasoned sonic stylist works primarily from his L.A. home studio, which boasts dozens of keyboards and even a vinyl cutting lathe. One of his first pieces of gear was a TEAC four-track recorder, which he still uses and loves. He’s also a fan of the Universal Audio 1176LN compressor and AKG C414 microphones. When he worked with the Beastie Boys, they often relied upon an inexpensive Sony karaoke mic. Recently he and his wife Samantha launched their label Amor In Sound, and plan to release noted actor and singer Seu Jorge’s The Other Side soon.
Contact Instagram @mariocaldatostudio; @amorinsound
