Mario Caldato Jr.


Mario Caldato Jr., also known as Mario C., is a Brazilian-American record producer and studio engineer best known for his work with Beastie Boys and Jack Johnson in the US, and with Marcelo D2 and Seu Jorge in Brazil. He is the winner of three Latin Grammys to date, along with several nominations and multi-platinum and gold records to his credit.

Biography

Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Mario Caldato Jr. is the son of Italian father Mario, Sr. and Brazilian mother Guiomar. In 1963 Mario and his family moved to the United States, settling in Los Angeles. As a young boy, Caldato received a Sears Silvertone organ as a gift from his father, and then a piano a few years later. Soon after he began taking classical music lessons. These lessons came to an abrupt end when he was slapped by his teacher for not practicing. The incident did not however deter Caldato's budding interest in pop music. He was further inspired by a 1972 performance by Duke Ellington at El Camino College in Torrance, California.
As a teenager Caldato played keyboards and percussion in various local bands including Soul Sticks, Wake, Phaze, Phaze II, and The Jungle Bugs. In 1979 he purchased a cassette deck and recorded the band of his friend "Money" Mark Nishita at Harbor College in Wilmington CA. After building a home recording studio with Nishita and then visiting Jamaica for 1983's Reggae Sunsplash Festival, he then produced The Jungle Bugs' 7" single and then an EP for Alice I Wonder with the help of Brian "Sly" Foxworthy.
In 1985, Caldato started a PA and DJ rental company with Mike Nishita, brother of "Money" Mark Nishita. A year later he met DJ Matt Dike at legendary downtown L.A. nightclub Power Tools. At Dike's request, Caldato built a recording studio in Dike's Hollywood apartment, transforming a closet into a vocal booth. It was at Dike's home studio that Caldato engineered and helped co-produce Tone Loc and Young MC's hit singles and albums for Dike and Mike Ross' label Delicious Vinyl. It was also at Dike's apartment that Caldato first met the New York rap group Beastie Boys and the duo the Dust Brothers.

Work with Beastie Boys / Grand Royal

In 1988-89 Caldato engineered the Beastie Boys second album Paul's Boutique. Caldato is visible in footage of the album's release party atop the Capitol Records building. Deemed a commercial failure at the time, Paul's Boutique is now considered an unimpeachable cult classic. The album began Caldato's long-term professional association with Beastie Boys, co-producing their multi-platinum classics Check Your Head, Ill Communication and Hello Nasty. His name became well-known to Beastie fans via the shout-outs "that's a record 'cause of Mario" on the song "Root Down", "Mario C likes to keep it clean!" on the hit single "Intergalactic, "Ed Norton is chillin' with Mario" and "Me and Ad and Adam and the Mario C" on the song "Three MC's and One DJ" and "at the boards is the man they call Mario" on Sure Shot. During his early association with the Beastie Boys, Caldato also produced DJ Hurricane's 1st album The Hurra for Grand Royal. With Adam Horovitz, he produced two albums for the hardcore punk band D.F.L. for Grand Royal. Caldato also toured extensively worldwide with Beastie Boys during Check Your Head and Ill Communication mixing their sound live, his style inspired in part by legendary dub reggae pioneers King Tubby and Lee "Scratch" Perry.

Work with other artists in North America / Europe / Australia

Caldato's long-standing friendship with Money Mark has resulted in Mario's engineering, producing and mixing much of Mark's solo output, including the albums Push The Button, Change Is Coming, and Brand New By Tomorrow. Caldato has also produced three Jack Johnson albums On & On, In Between Dreams and Johnson's fourth Billboard Number One album From Here to Now to You. He has also worked with Beck, Bjork, Blur, Cibo Matto, The Cult, Day One, Los Lobos & John Lee Hooker, Manu Chao, Mother Tongue's self-titled debut, Molotov, Super Furry Animals, Gruff Rhys, The John Butler Trio and Yoko Ono. In 2008, he mixed the self-titled debut EP of One Day as a Lion, a project comprising Zack de la Rocha and Jon Theodore. In 2008, he produced the 2nd album of Joseph d'Anvers, a talented French songwriter, called Les Jours Sauvages, featuring appearances by Money Mark, Vanessa da Mata, Moreno Veloso and Kassin & Domenico. In 2012 he mixed the debut by Kids These Days, "Traphouse Rock," recorded by Wilco's Jeff Tweedy. Also produced Ethan Tucker debut LP 2015, also Mala Vita, So Far So Good LP from Holland 2016, Willie Bobo Dig my Feeling LP and Con Brio debut LP Paradise in 2016 from San Francisco.

Work with artists in South America

The Portuguese-speaking Caldato spends significant time in Brasil, where his personal heritage infuses his music projects. He has produced many Brazilian artists, including Planet Hemp, Marcelo D2, Seu Jorge, Nação Zumbi, Bebel Gilberto, Marisa Monte, Vanessa da Mata, and Mallu Magalhães. In 2008 he mixed the debut album of the Argentinian group Banda de Turistas titled Magico Corazon Radiofonico, one of the new revelations of the Latin scene. In 2010 Caldato mixed and co-produced the Seu Jorge and Almaz self-titled album released by Now-Again Records. Caldato organized, recorded and produced a charitable album with Anglo-Brazilian collaboratory supergroup, The Bottletop Band. In 2014 he was responsible for mixing Criolo second album Convoque seu Buda and also Filipe Ret, Revel LP and Ana Cañas To Na Vida LP in 2015. Also produced Aymoréco debut LP 2016, Santiago Cruz, Trenes, Aviones y Viajes Interplanetarios LP from Colombia, also mixed Alvinho Lancellotti, Canto de Marajó LP and FingerFingerrr, MAR LP in 2016.

Production, mixing, and engineering credits for LPs and EPs