Miami “zest pop” trio Mustard Service talk about balancing melancholy with melody in “Conversation Overtime,” the latest single off their upcoming fourth studio album, ‘Vice City Magic.’
“Conversation Overtime” – Mustard Service
And it feels less than comfortable, like the quiet dead of night…
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Miami band Mustard Service continue to carve out their own offbeat, sun-soaked sound, that they call “zest pop.”
Equal parts playful and poignant, their music blends Latin rhythms with surfy guitars, jazz touches, and thoughtful songwriting. Their latest single, “Conversation Overtime,” is no exception. Released April 25 via Handwritten Records, it explores that slippery moment when a disagreement turns sour, and communication turns from sincere to strained. With velvet vocals, spellbinding keyboard melodies, glistening guitars, and lush production, the band tackle the weight of unspoken tension in a way that feels both refreshingly honest and oddly comforting.
Some things are better left unsaid, I know
Sometimes it’s best to bite your tongue
But if somebody seems to cross the line
Then you might regret you never said it
Will someone come and
take my temperature
This blood is boiling,
heating up so cool back down
No need for conversation overtime
Best to not regret you ever said it
Atwood Magazine spoke to Mustard Service’s Marco Rivero, Leo Cattani, and Adam Perez about “Conversation Overtime” and why painful truths are often best delivered with a smile. The band also teased what’s coming next, from new music to wild tour stories (and yes, mustard was involved).
And it feels less than comfortable
Like the quiet dead of night
And it feels less than comfortable
But it’s getting harder to deny
Mustard Service’s fourth studio album Vice City Magic is out July 18, 2025 via Handwritten Records!
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:: stream/purchase Vice City Magic here ::
:: connect with Mustard Service here ::
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A CONVERSATION WITH MUSTARD SERVICE
Atwood Magazine: The idea of “Conversation Overtime” is simultaneously specific yet universal. The lyrics touch on that gray area where silence can be just as loud as shouting. How did you approach putting that tension into words without it being overly literal?
Mustard Service: This question reminds me of something Tony Asher said about The Beach Boys song, “Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder).” He said: “It’s strange to sit down and write a song (lyrics) about not talking … but we managed to do it and it came off well.” I guess this might be in the same vein albeit a different arm. Instead of describing a silence for the sake of romance, “Conversation Overtime” is describing a silence for the lack there-of. That being said, I wouldn’t compare these lyrics to those, after all they’re two of the greats and I’m just one indie rocker but I do resonate with Asher’s frustration at writing words about not speaking. We can only hope we do the emotion justice and the rest is out of our hands.
Sonically, the track is very calming for a song about emotional strain. How did you balance that vibe musically with the heavier lyrical content?
Mustard Service: Well don’t we all need a little soothing when we’re under emotional strain? A hard message is best delivered softly if you ask me. At the very least it might be received better.
If someone’s in the middle of a messy communication breakdown, what do you hope this song offers them?
Mustard Service: A bit of respite or at least the courage to ask for some. I don’t think anyone should take relationship advice from anyone let alone a musician but the best advice I can give is to try to notice when the talk turns into a fight and put a bookmark in it until the anger subsides. No good choice has been made while angry.
Give me some pillow talk and nicotine
A little slower might be just what we need
No need for conversation overtime
Just make sure you said it like you want it
And it feels less than comfortable
Like the quiet dead of night
And it feels less than comfortable
But it’s getting harder to deny
Your previous single “Big Time” explores the pain of having to let go of someone toxic, even when there’s love there. What was the most challenging part of writing that one?
Mustard Service: Having my friends wonder who it’s about. [laughs] Sometimes a song isn’t about a specific person, but an amalgamation of myself and the people I love. I have definitely been the narrator in the song as well as the subject in the song, so it’s more so an ode to the idea more so than a person.
If you have friends who use, especially if they’ve been using for a long time, then you probably know how hard it is to tell them anything. Drug addicts will lie, cheat, and steal. Don’t do drugs… and if your friends are doing (hard) drugs, then it’s okay to say goodbye to them once you realize they can’t be helped. It’s very sad but you can only give someone so much
With both “Big Time” and “Conversation Overtime,” there is a juxtaposition between the intensity of the themes and the feel-good sound. Why do you think that contrast works so well?
Mustard Service: Well firstly, thank you for saying it works well, we’re really proud of it. Secondly, I don’t think it’s a juxtaposition at all, although I can see how it seems that way. Beauty and horror are not mutually exclusive – just turn on any horror movie, and everyone is beautiful. In a different way, I think sadness is also beautiful and can also be uplifting. It makes me think of what Leopold “Butters” Stotch said in “Raisins,” the 14th episode of the 7th season of South Park: Butters has just been dumped, and in an attempt to cheer him up, the local goth kids invite him to the graveyard to “write poems about death and how pointless life is,” to which Butters replies, “No thanks, I love life.”
The goth kids don’t understand how he can say this under the circumstances – “Huh? You just got dumped,” and Butters clears it up for them beautifully: “Well yeah, I’m sad, but at the same time I’m really happy that something could make me feel that sad. It’s like.. it makes me feel alive, you know? It makes me feel human. And the only way I could feel this sad now is if I felt something really good before. So I have to take the bad with the good, so I guess what I’m feeling is like a beautiful sadness. I guess that sounds stupid.”
Goth Kid 2: “yeah.”
You've shared stages with Bombay Bicycle Club and packed out venues like El Rey – what’s the wildest or most memorable moment from a show so far?
Mustard Service: I hope I don’t get in trouble for saying this but as far as stage antics go my funniest memories have to be from the Zest Fests we throw in Cali and Florida just because we feel emboldened to behave poorly at our own festivals. One time a fan in El Rey theatre threw Heinz Yellow Mustard on stage during a song and our guitarist at the time, Nuchi pointed his index finger into his mouth, signaling that he wanted me to squirt some of the good stuff down his throat… I obliged. I then turned to the front row to see every kid pointing into their mouths and cmon… I had to. That whole front row got doused. I kind of blacked out after that but management told me that I was in big trouble and that they would have to remove the carpet floors from the theatre. It must have been a lot of mustard. Anyways I apologized and we were invited back next year but the carpets were removed and security denied entry to a few kids who had brought bottles of mustard. Sorry guys.
Your next single “Going Nowhere” drops on May 23rd. Any insights into what we can expect with that track?
Mustard Service: Expectations are the prime ingredient to disappointment! Don’t expect anything 🙂
With an upcoming album and nationwide tour, 2025 is shaping up to be huge for you. Looking ahead, where do you envision Mustard Service this time next year?
Mustard Service: Hopefully in the studio with our fourth mustardo, Chad Copelin, the producer extraordinaire.
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:: stream/purchase Vice City Magic here ::
:: connect with Mustard Service here ::
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“Conversation Overtime” – Mustard Service
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