“We’re four friends who collaborate well, and we clicked pretty quickly on,” shares DFMK bassist Fernando Cruz. “It’s a collaborative effort where we all had parts of writing. All four of us wrote songs; we all came up with riffs; we all would add and elaborate on each other’s songs. Because we were all so collaborative on this, we were able to really expand on different ideals and aspects of what type of songs we wrote, but with the same cohesiveness that they still flow together as an album.”
Playa Nuclear out now via Alternative Tentacles, is the second full-length by the Mexican punk rockers since their Self-Titled debut in 2021. It was recorded in 2023 in Tijuana by Fernando Morales and mastered by Jason Livermore at the Blasting Room in Fort Collins, Colorado. The collaboration didn’t stop there though, as they brought in Nekro—a punk rock icon from Buenos Aires—for a feature, which ultimately led to the creation of the album artwork.
“We knew it would be perfect,” shares Cruz. “He’s always been a supporter of our music and we’re a supporter of him. We were privileged to have him on our record, and then that led to him helping with the artwork. The cover just came out wonderful and we’re more than beyond excited that he did that for us.”
The album was a full collaboration of unique perspectives from each member of the band. According to vocalist Cap, it dives into many different themes: emotional withdrawal, loneliness, human corruptions, immigrant rights, co-dependency with alcohol, and mental health and friendships. It’s a veritable slew of tough concepts, but emphasizes the awareness of each. With so many different struggles tackled, it’s especially important to take a step back and really take it all in.
“This album and all the different aspects we focused on is our vulnerability,” admits Cruz. “Political issues and dealing with personal demons. As we get older, we’re able to also incorporate other things that are happening that are important to us. It’s okay to talk about feelings of anxiety, depression, even suicidal ideation in life. We lose so many people now because they don’t speak about their feeling or don’t communicate and we end up losing a lot of good friends, which we have. I feel like with this, it’s just a little bit more grown up. We’re still down to burn it all down when it’s necessary, but it’s a little bit more reaching into life.”
Playa Nuclear is out now and you can order it from Alternative Tentacles Records. Follow DFMK on Instagram for future updates.
Photo Credit: Alan Snodgrass
