Born in Sao Paolo, raised in Los Angeles, Mario Caldato Jr. came of age musically in the ‘70s. After seeing Duke Ellington in concert as a pre-teen, he joined at least three neighbourhood bands during high school, purchased a tape deck and recorded his friend Mark Nishita (aka Money Mark)’s band while at college, and built his first home studio. All this self-schooled wisdom would eventually lead to regular engineering gigs for seminal West Coast hip hop outpost Delicious Vinyl, bustin’ moves with production gurus The Dust Brothers on smash LPs for Tone Loc and Young MC. But it was after recording the Beastie Boys’ Dust Brothers-produced sophomore opus, Paul’s Boutique, that Mario would reach the proverbial next level. Lending his inventive production hand to subsequent BB classics like Check Your Head and Ill Communication, Caldato helped craft a sweet sticky fusion of live band spontaneity and sampled hardcore high jinks that perfectly captured the creative freedom of those L.A. times. He’s since applied his expertise to about as diverse a clientele as is imaginable: Beck, John Lee Hooker, Los Lobos, Super Furry Animals, Willie Bobo, Bjork, and Ozomatli are only a few to name. Not surprisingly his CV also includes a gang of artists – Seu Jorge, Bebel Gilberto, Planet Hemp, amongst other – from Brasil, the place where he now once again dwells. Most recently, he mixed the debut EP of One Day As A Lion, a new project compromising of Zack de la Rocha (Rage Against The Machine) and Jon Theodore (previously of The Mars Volta).
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