Meet Manny Nieto | Producer, Engineer, Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Manny Nieto and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Manny, what role has risk played in your life or career?

I do believe we need to put out in the universe forward thinking ideas and lots of faith believing in ourselves.

I went on tour once with my band Distortion Felix from New York City up to Chicago. Because of my bandmates scheduling they weren’t able to drive out so I told them book flights flying to New York City and I’ll pick you up at the Airport Ha. So I drove across the country alone with all the gear in the back of the van and I picked them up at JFK! Out of that tour through meeting friends in DC we opened up for Fugazi!  Also by traveling to Chicago we Connected with Steve Albini, who produced our second record. A year later He showed me how to record which brings me up to speed today as a Producer and my new band The Chavez Ravine.

Was it worth to drive across country, not knowing what would come out of it? Id say yes, but I had faith something good would happen  and it did! A little forward thinking putting it all out there in the Universe can go a long way.

Years later, i had become unhappy with our own Music scene in Los Angeles as a Producer and took a one-way plane ticket to Shanghai China. My only purpose was to record all the hard-core and cool bands I could find. I had ran out of money in nine days, but I was some how able to live off what bands could donate $ for my services. Little did I know this China recording Mayhem would last me two years recording Artists in Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Macau, Hong King and Singapore. Life-changing and so many life lessons were learned from this adventure. Zero regrets to take on. I was 45 years old at this time. Just turned 58 last week to bring you up to speed. I almost died a bunch but I believed in myself to finish it and I did. Two years living in China was crazy. I carried 150lbs of gear on me and looked like a hipster astronaut Ha! Even funnier nobody knew what a Mexican, Latino,Mexican American or homeboy was ? When I told them I have American Indian in me they thought I was from India 😉

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

I’ve been in Producer and a Artist in a band called The Chavez Ravine since the late 90s. Prior to that I was in the band called distortion Felix. A lot of good things came out of touring Pre 1989. I hadn’t yet stated recording bands but getting signed to a few indie labels helped be see this dream come true. I used indie deals to eventually buy recording gear ( Thank you Delight @ Alias Records ) and that started my journey to where I am today owning all my recording gear and have built like 4 studios since 1999.. I’ve been living off the land making records for close to 25 years now, I don’t have a house or a nice car but every morning I wake to an alarm, Grab a coffee and I love moat days making music and enjoying life the best I can.

I watched my father reach the age of 55 and be forced into retirement, and that broke his heart , I never wanted to have that happen to me! I didn’t want to become a mailman or work for the DWP so I can get a pension and retire. Ive lived on the edge, I’ve traveled the world making art and my legacy is now something I’m proud of. What it really comes down to is family and friends! The people that will be with you till the end of your life matter to me now. I’ve tried to make friends forever. My Son just had a baby so I’m a grandpa now…

No regrets at all and believe sometimes you need to look up in the sky and make a wish for great things. Add a little luck and it will happen I promise.

When I built my first studio I had never set foot in a professional studio to work! I remember looking up once and said to myself “will I ever make records in the world class studio?” A year later I was in London England at Abbey Road mastering a record with Kim deal of the pixies!!! Now that’s a dream come true.  I do feel sometimes I’ve been overlooked as an Artist but I’ve never wished to be someone else walking in their shoes. If I can make enough money to go to Nicks cafe in downtown LA , enjoy a good meal or take my wife out to the movies?! I feel life smiles back at you and I dig That.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

Well, I feel I’ve already mentioned a few things, but breakfast would be at Nicks cafe downtown LA then we would hit some thrift stores Saint Vincents, out of the closet, City vintage on Figueroa. By that time we would be will be starving again and head up the street for a real home cooked meal at La Abeja.

Now that we are stuffed like a Turkey we would have to walk it off! Probably then we’d head down to Little Tokyo catch some sights and sounds considering as mandatory dinner of sushi to round off the day.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

Yeah, my story is dedicated to my Nana, Francis Miranda. When I grew up, she always supported me in as encourage me to pursue art and music. A cool story is when I started producing bands I had the name Francis Miranda put down as the producer. Probably 300-500 singles, EPs and records had her name on it. The only reason I stopped using her name was when I recorded the breeders Album “Mountain Battles” which is Kim Deal from the Pixies band, Steve, Albini one of the engineers and mixer of same record told me I need to use my real name, Steve said I’ve gotten good enough now that people should able to find me as a music engineer. He felt with this Breeders record people should should know Manny Nieto recorded it. Yeah I was a little sad not to use Frances Miranda but here we are today and people know me as Manny Nieto a local LA Music producer. The main story behind using her name was I thought if someone had picked up the record in France or Europe from one of the bands I did recorded and read in credits it was recorded by a woman, Francis Miranda! I thought it would blow some minds and be so cool, This actually came true as I had contacted a band called Savages. This is way before they toured with Queens of the Stone Age or where anybody knew who they were in the States. I contacted the Label and sent it a reel of music and credits to share my body of works as a Producer. One of the bands I recorded was called Chokebore who are huge in France. The label got back to me and told me they loved my records “Francis Miranda” Ha so it did come true. My Nana is out there in the world still and Kicking Ass.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mannysmiclocker?igsh=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mannysmiclocker?mibextid=dGKdO6

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@mannysmiclocker?si=BrjMgexNrPXJdOIE

Image Credits
Myself and Steve Albini. My band The Chavez Ravine W / Mando Lopez