Siesta Produce: The Person
Siesta Produce is also
my blog, siestaproduce.blogspot.ca, me being Phil Manning. The studio such as it is, is secondary to my other involvements, the most recent being my running blindly into the world of blogging. If you're more interested in that aspect you can
go to my blog now by clicking here.
Siesta Produce: The Studio
Siesta Produce is a music creation and production environment consisting of a really nice recording studio
and a group of like-minded, mature, professional musicians. What started out as my personal creative space has become the rehearsal,
development and recording facility for our band "4PM".
Who We Are
While the equipment and engineering chops are primarily mine, the music making ability is a multi-person effort. Our first-call studio
players also form our band, "4pm". They include lead vocalist Yo Vanderkley, drummer Mike McClelland, guitarists Josh Dowhan and Andy Fong,
bassist Nick Succi and keyboardist/vocalist Phil Manning (that's me). Yo's husband, Berge Alnayak also helps out with engineering.
Berge was a founding partner and engineer at Toronto's Kensington Sound recording studio.
Where We Are
Our tracking room is located in the east end of Toronto, Ontario Canada. Our mix room is located in Pickering, Ontario, Canada.
Why We Are
We exist to make great music. Initially we're making our own music, but down the road a bit we like the idea of recording other artists as well.
We formed the band "4PM" in February of 2011. While working up our tunes we decided it would be a good idea to record what we had rehearsed for
use as a demo to shop for engagements. I moved most of my studio equipment into our rehearsal space and we began recording. Well, those first
few "off-the-floor" recordings turned out quite nice and so we decided we should sit down and write an album's worth of originals. That's where
we stand now. Yo and I are meeting weekly to work over song ideas and foundational arrangements. We hope to have several tunes in the can by
mid-summer and perhaps a CD product in the fall. We'll see how that goes as we all have day gigs.
Our Name
I have always loved the Southwest climate and and the beauty of the desert. Tex-Mex food, fashion and culture have always appealed to my senses.
Siesta is a word which in my childhood held the conotation of a Mexican nap during the hottest part of the day. This relates for me to the
biblical teaching around Sabbath or "Sabbth rest", not so much the day of the week but more the idea of God's provision of peace during
difficulty and ultimately a final peace in God's presence after life has ended. Produce is a word which for me relates to the biblical idea of
fruitfulness, and the business idea of productivity. So, producing great music in a peaceful, restful environment is what I like to do with
the time and energy remaining in my life. My wife thinks the name is a little goofy. Oh well...