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

Hi Pedro, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I personally believe that in life we all need to take risks or chances. My philosophy is you have to fail in order to win. Its not common you hear how many times an entrepreneur has failed. We only hear what made them successful. Success makes us feel good and accomplished. Failure sucks, however it is probably more important than success because we learn alot about ourselves and how to become better. I’ve learned to set a side any ego and with that mind set, it has created great discipline for me. Taking chances has played a huge role in my music career because all it takes is one phone call to accept the next music gig. When I accept a gig, I also acknowledge there is risk or chance that I can be fired from the job, easily.
In this buisness there is someone always waiting to take your place. That’s what drives me to become a better audio engineer and a better person.

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.
At a young age I started playing guitar and so did the rest of the school. With so many guitarists I actually started to play bass and then I was able to join more bands since no one wanted to play bass, haha. Since I had experience playing guitar, it was easy for me to translate my skill over. It wasn’t my first choice of instrument but when I set aside the pride, more opportunities came to me but more importantly I was introduced to a music community. Being a part of a community can really take you anywhere.
I can’t even recall how many projects I’ve been apart of that have failed and this is where every musician/producer gets tested mentally. It has not been easy but everyday we can add another brick to this foundation we are building. I try to approach most obstacles in buisness at a different angle then everyone had and are doing.
There were only had a hand full of places to showcase when we were younger and even now with the pandemic. We saw opportunity in the live market to start our own DIY studio venue made by musicians for musicians, thats what makes us unique. The best lesson I’ve learned is its not who you know, but who knows you.

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?
It would definitely depend on who would be visiting me,haha. Local spots around me are the Wayfarer which is cool since they have live music, Pie Society speakeasy, Memphis restaurant, Green Cheek Brewery.
If I had a week long trip I would probably go camping or get an air bnb and enjoy some nature.
Lake Lopez, Kern River, Joshua Tree, Big Bear etc.
I miss being outdoors hiking, fishing, drinking and eating all day.
Some of my best memories are were at those places.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Most of my family and friends have always supported me since I fell in love with music at a very young age. I’ve been very influenced by producers, bands, and biographies that share their past and present experiences.
There is someone who has invested but more importantly believed that we could make something from all of this natural talent and that is Dean Sexton. He’s been a mentor, support and encouragement to keep going. He is the founder of the company Find the Good (FTG) Productions.
Without him, we would have never been given a platform to do what we love.

Website: www.pedro-mancillas.com

Instagram: @pedro_mancillas

Image Credits
Jaime Kameron

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