Manny has been working with Tileyard Education for over 2 years, always ensuring that the sound at all of our events is loud, amplified and proud.
Manny was there at our first ever Vinyl Scratch, our first MA Showcase, he was instrumental in pulling together the sound in the newly-furbished event space at Tileyard, ‘The Gallery’, and has been working in the background ensuring all of these events run smoothly.
In light of COVID-19’s impact on the live industry, we caught up with Manny, to find out how the current crisis has affected the work of our lead sound engineer, and to find out more about foreseeable future of his business, EPA Sound.
Hey Manny! Tell me a little more about how you built the UK arm of EPA Sound (Esoteric Pro Audio)?
EPA – Esoteric Pro Audio – is a company from Verona, Italy. They build live sound systems, stage monitors and studio monitors applying techniques and materials normally used for home Hi-Fi. Mirko Marogna, founder and CEO, contacted me via a mutual friend, Roberto Rossini – a well known sound engineer – to involve me in using the EPA sound systems here in London.
I accepted the challenge and I compared the products with equivalents in the industry… The result was incredible. I recruited other engineers to give me their feedback – in particular my long time friend and colleague Matteo Musetti, who is an amazing engineer – and all the feedback was positive. I struggle to replicate the quality of sound I get from the EPA on other sound systems, simply judging by the amount of dynamics and eq tweaking to get the sound right.
What made you want to get into the live industry? What was your inspiration?
My dad was a guitarist, so we had a couple of guitars in the house and that fascinating strumming thing has always been challenging and sexy. So around the age of 8, I decided I was gonna be a rockstar. That never happened, as we all know, so I moved to the technical aspect of the music career.
I started working in the industry around the age of 20, since 2005, Stagehand for local sound companies, then sound tech, then backline tech. All that happened in 15 years time.
I left Italy in 2010 looking for bigger ambitions and I worked for Ian Anderson, Jethro Tull, from 2012 until 2019 as monitor engineer.
Tell me about one of the highlights of your career in live music to date?
Having had the chance to tour the world with an amazing band and crew was surely the most rewarding thing that happened to me and probably the most exciting chapter of my professional career so far.
I carry in my heart memories that are hard to describe… the Isle of Wight Festival, Sydney Opera House, Royal Albert Hall, Teatro de Verano in Montevideo, Montreaux Jazz Festival, Beacon Theatre in New York, The Greek Theatre in L.A., Blues Fest in Australia… And of course going back touring my country, Italy – one of the most beautiful places on earth.
Also, I managed to meet some of my heroes and inspirations in person! Don’t do it. Now I don’t like them anymore.”
How has technology in recent years changed the work you do? What has been the biggest improvement?
Since I moved to London – besides my regular touring work – I started buying equipment and supplying sound and lighting gear for live music venues, Studio 9294 in Hackney Wick, Strongroom in Shoreditch, The Water Rats in Kings Cross, Drury Club in Covent Garden, Total Refreshment Centre in Dalston, Giant Steps in Hackney and more, I even got a phone call from Chicago by someone who then purchased the EPA sound systems for 2 new venues!
I used mainly Midas and Behringer mixing desks for the first years then someone from Waves contacted me asking if I was interested in considering switching to the Waves LV1 virtual mixing desk. Game changer.
Me and ‘my partner in crime’ Matteo Musetti got into the new Waves toys and that was it. The combo of having a fantastic combo of sound tools – EPA sound system + Waves LV1 + Aston and Shure Microphones – changed the perspective of our job and the result has been beyond expectations.
Everyone loves it now. It just sounds good and real – a sound full of texture and natural timbre.
How did you come to be Tileyard’s head sound engineer?
I got to know Gavin Miller via mutual friends at the Strongroom and he asked me to come and visit Tileyard, where he supplies – via his company Kazbar Systems – studio gear for Tileyard Education and some of the studios in the complex.
Gavin kindly introduced me to the directors of the various companies and they started asking me if I could supply speakers for this and that event … Until Tileyard started to become my main working hub and now it is for real. Well… Until last month.
I got to work with brilliant human beings such as Dan and Sven in The Gallery, Lucy, Arianna, Harry, Steve, Justin and everyone else at Tileyard Education.
How has COVID-19 affected EPA?
We are still trying to understand how Covid-19 is affecting us.
We supply services and goods for live music events, where people are supposed to hug, sweat and dance for hours… So at the moment, there aren’t many incoming phone calls or emails… I guess only time will tell.
What are your plans, how do you think you can use this to your advantage?
My plans are to get back where it all started: playing music. I rediscovered the charm of the guitar (and other instruments), which has been for many years only an input channel on my mixing desks… But now is different.
I have around 25 guitars at home, one bass, 3 drumkits, 3 mandolins, 2 flutes and probably something else, so really I have no chance to say that I’m bored.
Also, I’m improving my lasagna skills.
What would you say has been your biggest lesson during the lockdown?
Ah! That’s a good question. At the moment I’m only resting really. I’m not looking back in a nostalgic way thinking ‘If I could go back in time….’, because I did all I could do.
I have learned something new though: to allow more time for projects and be patient – within reason.
What is the first thing you’re going to do, when it is safe to put on live music again?
If I am still alive in 2021 I will probably put on my best black clothes, get my Vespa and go to Tileyard to meet up with the people I left on the day when the Lockdown got announced. I miss my job, I miss my toys, my friends, my colleagues. I miss the sticky floor at the end of the night and the waking up knackered and at the same time looking forward to having to go back to work again. I’d like to collaborate with Tileyard on a Tileyard Festival in the future.
Thank you Manny! We appreciate all the work you’ve done with our team, and we look forward to future projects. We look forward to listening to your amazing sound system again, very soon!
More on EPA here.
