Harmless Photographed at Cosmic Vinyl by Ava DeGrinis
Today, dream pop meets indie rock songwriter and producer, Harmless, released his new album ‘Springs Eternal.’ The record is a blissfully melancholic soundtrack that uplifts the hopelessly romantic heart and transports you into the role of an 80’s romcom protagonist. Each of the songs embody enchanting melodies and intoxicating riffs, ultimately creating a sense of deep nostalgia paired with a longing for something intangible. This highly anticipated album comes nine years after his last record release, serving as a memoir of the feelings, emotions, trauma and growth over the past near decade.
I got to sit down with Nacho at Cosmic Vinyl, a warm, eccentric vinyl/coffee shop in the heart of Echo Park, to get the inside scoop on his new album and dig in on details of his origin story leading up to the big release. Before we dove in, I ordered a typical LA afternoon pick-me-up (lavender oat milk matcha latte) while Nacho stuck with his handy dandy R.E.I. water bottle. Clocking my surprised, mistrusting look, he offered a quick explanation of how his esteemed acupuncturist recently directed him to 86 caffeine and substitute water, the miracle liquid. I quickly learned that Nacho had a detailed explanation for all of his decisions, no matter how big or small.
Nacho (left) Miracle Liquid (right)
If you haven’t heard of Harmless, it’s probably because you don’t realize that he’s the brains and brawn behind the viral, hypnotizingly ethereal lovesong, ‘Swing Lynn,’ which serves as the backtrack for hundreds of thousands of videos on TikTok and Instagram. Although the song came out in 2012, it exploded out of the blue on TikTok mid-pandemic (nearly 7 years later!), launching Harmless into the spotlight, and the song into Gold certification with nearly half-a-billion total streams and counting.
When discussing the momentous ‘Swing Lynn’ effect, Nacho expressed the extreme gratitude and awe he had when the song skyrocketed on the internet ether. However, he pointed out the irony of the timing, finally reaching this career-changing milestone, and not being able to go outside and tell the world. “It was poetic that my song blew up when we were all locked in. I’ve always made this joke that I’m doomed to be a bedroom musician, where my music is larger than my image.”
I asked if he ever worried that the song would define him, and he replied with a swift “No.” He went on, “I’ve never seen that as a bad thing, but it has put me into a more fearful space: before it would be like, ‘I want to make it.’ Now it’s, ‘How do I stay here?’” He later communicated that although maintaining relevancy is top of mind, he approaches songwriting and production with an honest, trust-the-process mentality. “The most you can do as an artist – the only thing you can do as an artist, is be good at art. Everything else isn’t up to you. And ‘Swing Lynn’ is evidence of that. It was never up to me when that song was going to blow up, but I made a good song, and it eventually found an audience.”
While reflecting on groundbreaking milestones, Nacho admitted that he had been feeling nostalgic recently, looking back on all of the old rejection letters he had received from labels years and years ago. He fondly recollected one instance in particular where he sent his demo along with one of his old shoes to Captured Tracks in order to… you guessed it, get his foot in the door. Unfortunately Nacho never received a response (nor the shoe back), but the memory serves as a prideful reminder for how far he’s come.
A glimpse of what Captured Tracks saw, pictured in lower left quadrant
Nacho recounted many life-changing events that have shaped his music career since his ‘sole dispatch’ days, both wonderful and tragic. For instance, he fell in love with and married his long-term best friend from college and unexpectedly received gold certification, creating new avenues and inspiration for his art. However, the most notable event for Nacho, one that initiated an entire lifestyle transformation, was surviving a brutal, back-breaking car accident. Riding to work one day he was struck on his bike by a drunk driver going 50 mph, leaving him practically in ruins. The nearly fatal hit and run accident carved a chasm between the current and pre-accident Nacho, creating a profound internal disconnect that he sought out to amend.
“I feel like after that happened, it really felt like I wasn’t myself anymore. Like I was reborn into some dude’s broken body, and I had this weird feeling that all of the memories that I had prior to getting run over were the life of someone else. It truly felt like some sci-fi nonsense…The disconnect always made me feel a little weird. It still does, because sometimes I feel like I reconnect with myself in weird ways, and I get to feel it for a day, and then it’s gone. And so I was like, maybe I should make a record that’s just about trying to bridge that weird limbo space where I don’t remember what it was like to be younger.”
To do so, Nacho embraced the simplicity and authenticity of the songwriting techniques he employed as a teen; from the consistent writing location (his bedroom), the limited instruments he used, and the amount of time he had to work on a song. He summarized by saying his intention for ‘Spring Awakenings’ was to “rewrite the record that [he] made when [he] was 19 or 20, but the modern, ‘sophisticated’ version of it, with the same parameters.” 
The ‘Springs Eternal’ album title originated from the famous line by Alexander Pope, “Hope springs eternal” – a phrase that embodies the idea of eternal optimism; no matter how hard things get, you’re always going to be optimistic. Although Nacho actually considers himself to be one of the biggest verbal pessimists he knows, he, in contrast, is very optimistic in his actions, never wavering on moving forward and persevering through extreme adversity. “I could have never walked again, I could have died…but a doctor who saw me in the ICU told me, ‘Don’t make this your toilet,’ and I didn’t let it become my toilet.”
He explained that he has found peace living within the ambivalence of the human experience. “You could be sad and happy at the same time. You could accomplish something and still be really upset about the way it turned out. I think it’s just about honoring a space where both can be true and feeling great that you can occupy that space instead of just being like, ‘Oh, I’m happy,’ or like, ‘No, this sucks.’”
A question I love asking artists is which songs they feel closest to; which ones did they get the biggest a-ha moment or which one can they actually listen to on repeat without shying away. This intel always feels like insider knowledge, and sometimes the additional context can completely shift my song hierarchy appreciation. Nacho couldn’t decide on just one from the album (he’s a rule breaker), so he gave me three with some background:
‘Couldn’t Be Me’: “It’s a song where even then, as I do now, I compare myself to everybody” and this song serves to approach the solution in an earnest way, asking: “Can we get to the root of why you’re comparing yourself to these people and why you continue to do that?”
‘Ferrari’: This song is essentially the recreation of what ‘Swing Lynn’ was, just the 2024 modern ‘sophisticated’ version. “[‘Swing Lynn’] was for a girl, and I was too chicken to name it after that girl, so I just took her middle name [Lynn] and picked a random word and called it that. And so for this new one, I was like, let’s repeat tradition, let’s just be too chicken to call it my wife’s name [Ari]. And I was like, ‘Oh, what if we called it ‘For Ari’?” which transformed into ‘Ferrari.’
‘CYA’: “Back in the day, there was a song on one record called ‘Pretty Bones,’ and it was about me not talking to my dad and I was like – it’s really funny how we still don’t. We tried to reconnect with our dad, and then it always blows up in our face. I always look at that song as like… some things just don’t change.”
When I inquired about his favorite contemporary artists and where he seeks inspiration, Nacho deadpanned and revealed that he doesn’t listen to other indie artists’ music in fear that the ideas he picks up will subconsciously bleed over into his own work. Instead, Nacho listens to eclectic, abstract music like ambient noise and jazz; genres he says he “could never dream of doing.” He candidly (and facetiously) admitted that another part of the reason he doesn’t listen to related music is because he is a recovering “big-time hater” which he explained originates from being a “jellybelly.” While I was surprised with his willpower to resist peeking his ‘Related Artists’ Spotify playlist, I admired his commitment to keeping his craft unique and distinct, even if it meant putting culture blinders up and forfeiting valuable industry ‘party talk’ ammo.
When asking for any last words, dad jokes or haikus, Nacho left us with (one of) his passionate life mantras: “Drink water. Hydrate. Most people don’t drink enough water. They should. I think that’s important. I think if an artist told me to drink water, I would remember that. Maybe I might not remember if something that they did was good – But if, say, Thom Yorke was like, ‘Nacho, drink water.’ I would never forget that. I’d be like, ‘I should drink water.’”
Listen to Harmless’ ‘Springs Eternal’ on Spotify // Keep up with his mantras on Instagram and TikTok
