Nacho Cano, the 31-year-old artist better known as Harmless, performed at the Echoplex on Sept. 13 as a part of his U.S tour with artist Roar. After his song “Swing Lynn” rose to popularity on TikTok and went platinum earlier this year, Cano has been soaking in his accomplishments. When celebrities such as Lizzo, Selena Gomez and Jessica Chastain used the indie-pop track in their videos, Nacho was in shock.
“I’m just grateful. I think it’s really healthy to find a balance for your ego,” Cano said.
Despite his newfound success, Nacho has been determined to stay grounded and to take each day as a blessing. Just six years ago, while riding a bike to work, Nacho was hit by a drunk driver going 50 mph. The near fatal accident left him with many injuries and a new lease on life.
Understandably, the accident still affects him.
“I haven’t toured as intensely, or as big or as quickly as the industry expected me to after ‘Swing Lynn,’ because you only get one body and I’m still learning how to use it on tour.”
However, he hasn’t let that stop him from enjoying the electric energy of a tour. This is the first time since Nacho started making music that he has performed with band mates, and he finds that it has made the experience infinitely better. The band includes Francisco Sanchez de la Vega as lead guitar, Andrew Peterson as bass player and Chris Knoll on drums.
When asked what this has meant for Harmless, Cano said, “You can’t replace having a band, it just sounds better. With this last record, or the stuff that’s coming out, I wanted it to sound like a real band.”
The majority of the show at the Echoplex consisted of unreleased music, a bold choice that worked in Harmless’ favor. The crowd enjoyed the strong guitar presence and drum-heavy tracks that were coupled with moody lyrics about life and love.
Cano made sure to connect with the audience and frequently pointed out specific fans and locked eyes. This was an intentional move by the indie artist as he shared that, for him, the whole act of a performance is the crowd.
“I just really like when artists are like ‘the only thing dividing us is this thing right here, we’re together’ and Luis Miguel will be like, I’m singing to you.”
Though he now resides in Los Angeles, Nacho Cano is from Toluca, Mexico, and he credits much of his inspiration to other Mexican artists. These artists include Luis Miguel, Juan Gabriel and José José, but he has also found inspiration in singer Sade.
“She inspires me because her music just feels very honest and it’s very simple. I think that’s the reason I like Sade… It’s intrinsically complicated music, but it’s very simple.”
Cano has made it a point to listen to a wide variety of music, not only as a music lover, but also as a way to prevent his sound from becoming overly saturated.
“A long time ago somebody told me not to listen to music that I would copy. So, I don’t listen to a lot of indie music or stuff like that because it’ll bleed over.”
He has also found musical inspiration at Mount Analog, a record store in Silverlake that he occasionally works at. This is also where he met Yves Rothman, the co-producer of Harmless’ latest release, “It’s Only You.” The four-track project features bilingual song “What U Want” and “Rosie,” a song about falling in love.
Nacho Cano’s attention to detail can be seen not only in his music, but also in the way he interacts with his fans. Before he took the stage at the Echoplex, Cano happily posed for pictures and spoke with eager attendees.
“I just want to be the guy that I wanted to meet when I was a fan of music. I hang around the merch table and I draw doodles on people’s vinyls,” said Cano.
Exciting projects from Harmless are on the way, with music available on all major streaming services.