Manganista’s box set: from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Angels and humans, reggaefied: The two songs on the new Manganista single run less than four minutes each. “Human Being” dismisses the human condition with its sarcastic and sad refrain of “I just work here,” while the B-side “Angelina” commemorates an angel of the night, guiding the singer through Dreamland before evaporating with the dawn. How then, do you go about reggae-izing the pair? If you’re John Roy from local Escape Hatch Records, working with the blessings of Manganista head honcho Matt Rhea, you take your foot off the gas and bump up that bass.

“I took all the stems [stereo masters] that Manganista had, then slowed it all down a few BPM to get ‘Human Being’ grooving,” explains Roy. “I hybridized the bass after creating a synth bass part and sending it to [LA reggae/ska musician] Brandon Niznik, to emulate it with real bass and guitar shadowing the line. I recorded hand percussion, backing vocals, and three saxes. Then I sent the tunes to [LA reggae producer] Roger Rivas, to add skanking piano and organ bubble. Lots of work, but so much fun.” As if that weren’t enough, the tunes then took a trip to Brian Wallace’s mad scientist dub studio. “[Wallace] knows the nuances of removing vocals, horns, keys, guitars, then bringing them back in tastefully with delay, reverb and other effects. He transformed the mixes into deeper grooves!”

Roy has lived in San Diego since age two, “relocated against my will” from his native Glendora, east of Los Angeles. In addition to record label duties, he’s played sax and sung for reggae and ska acts including Smoke and Mirrors Sound System, Unsteady, and ska revival royalty Dave Wakeling of the English Beat and General Public.

Bot or Not? figurines

Matt Rhea says the band cut the first version of both new tunes here in town, recording with Ben Moore at Singing Serpent. Then they followed Roy’s lead, after the Escape Hatch doyen proposed three different versions of each song, and packed them all into a triple seven-inch box set. Manganista will throw itself a box unboxing party August 30 at the Ken Bar, with The Psychlops and Little Dove. “When you open the set,” Rhea elucidates, “the first record you see is the original single with rock versions of each song. Then, when you take that record out of the box, underneath is the second record with the reggae versions. Finally, underneath the reggae record is [the dub record]. Each record has its own unique artwork that is a visual representation of the songs morphing from rock to reggae to dub.”

The eye-popping Dimension-X graphics come courtesy SD’s own Dave Talbott, with overall package design from Escape Hatch co-founder Mike Buchmiller. “Since [Talbott] painted the artwork for the original single,” says Rhea, “John suggested that we try to get him to do two more paintings for the reggae and dub versions, for continuity and to continue the story. Mike Buchmiller brought everything together by using some of Dave’s art on the front of the box, but also incorporating his own crazy ideas. My favorite part is a coupon on the back of the box that urges the listener to vote for their favorite member of Manganista by mailing or faxing a coupon to Escape Hatch Records. It says, ‘Send in your response and we’ll tell you why you’re wrong.’”

In addition, adds Rhea, “Each box includes the three records, a Manganista sticker, an air freshener, a pack of ‘Bot or Not?’ figurines — the listener needs to decide if they’re robots or not — and a pack of Space Pop Rocks. I haven’t opened the Space Pop Rocks yet, but I’m assuming they’re like pop rocks candy. John and Mike came up with the ideas for all the extras. Everything somehow ties into Dave’s space theme and the way “Human Being’” questions what we are.” The quintet plans to sell the sets over the Escape Hatch website, though they’ll also have stock available at the release party and, says Rhea, “probably a few in some local record stores like Re-Animated Records.” The reggae and dub versions will also be released on the streaming platforms throughout the summer. 

As for the band itself, Rhea sees an open road. “Manganista will be playing a few local shows starting at the end of the summer to support the box set release. After that we’re going to start working towards recording a new full-length record that we’ll release sometime in 2025.”