MANGANISTA

MANGANISTA Bio

Not quite Rock, not quite Ska, not quite New Wave, but sort of all of those things at the same time. That’s the kind of noncommittal description you tend to hear after a Manganista show. Tim Pyles has described the band as “San Diego’s answer to Oingo Boingo”, while the late great Beat Farmer, Buddy Blue, once said it sounded like the band had taken several blood transfusions from Aston Barrett and the drummer had four arms working at once.

Whatever it is that Manganista does, their chameleon-like approach to making music has kept them going for more than 20 years, playing Ska and Reggae shows with bands like The Aggrolites and Unsteady, 80’s revival shows with Flock of Seagulls and When in Rome, and local Rock shows at the Casbah and Belly Up Tavern. When asked in a recent interview about categorizing Manganista’s music, singer Matt Rhea said, “At a micro level, I constantly feel like we don’t really fit in anywhere, but when I take a step back and look at all of the things we’ve done over the years, it seems like not fitting in has actually allowed us to fit in everywhere.”

Manganista is currently playing shows around the southern California area and just released a new 7” box set on Escape Hatch Records featuring rock, reggae and dub versions of the songs Human Being and Angeline. The reggae and dub versions feature guest musicians Roger Rivas from The Aggrolites, John Roy from Smoke & Mirrors Sound System, Dubrobot and more!

Music and Videos

Press

Manganista’s box set offers multiple covers, genres, and Space Pop Rocks
Andrew Hamlin, San Diego Reader 7/25/24
​

​New Manganista single inspired by lucid out-of-body experiences
Andrew Hamlin, San Diego Reader 2/8/24
​

​Rockola Indie’s review of “Angeline”
​Leo Mendez 2/7/24
​

​Ska, Punk and Other Junk’s review of “Human Being”
Dane Jackson 1/29/24

Manganista acaba de lanzar “Angeline” el día de Año Nuevo de 2024, el último sencillo de su nuevo 7” en Escape
Alejandro Balcazar, Indie AM 1/6/24
​

​Manganista acaba de lanzar “Human Being” su nuevo sencillo
Alejandro Balcazar, Indie AM 11/13/23
​

​Shooting at the Big Bang Seams album review
Aldora Britain Records E-Zine Issue 58 9/29/21


Hillbilly Bomb Shelter EP review
Aldora Britain Records E-Zine Issue 57 9/8/21


Manga Interview
Aldora Britain Records E-Zine Issue 54 6/2/21


Will 13 Point Make Lemon Grove the New La Mesa?
Jay Allen Sanford, San Diego Reader 2/6/19


Blast Toronto Review of Shooting at the Big Bang Seams
Joe Taylor, Blast Toronto 11/11/16

Big Bang Dreams
Jay Allen Sanford, San Diego Reader 8/3/16
​

Manganista Kicks off Launch Party for Vinyl Album at Pete's Place in the Village
Ken Stone, La Mesa Patch 1/30/12

Picture Head This:  Matt Rhea
Jay Allen Sanford, San Diego Reader 3/9/11


1st Manganista Gig in 3 Years @ Jan. 28 Picture Head Release Party
Jay Allen Sanford, San Diego Reader 1/29/11


Reunions & Debuts @ La Mesa Band Compilation Release Jan. 28
Jay Allen Sanford, San Diego Reader 1/22/12


Don't Tread on the Soundman
Jay Allen Sanford, San Diego Reader 3/22/07


You on the Bus?
Jay Allen Stanford, San Diego Reader 8/9/07


Big Score
Ken Leighton, San Diego Reader 11/22/06

Pictures

Contact MANGANISTA

Please reach out to Matt Rhea at [email protected] if you would like to book Manganista for a show.
Thank you!
  • Go Home
  • Buy
  • Look
  • Listen
  • Watch
  • Read
  • Remember
  • Join
  • EPK
  • Manganitus
  • Go Home
  • Buy
  • Look
  • Listen
  • Watch
  • Read
  • Remember
  • Join
  • EPK
  • Manganitus