We recently sat down with the co-founder of the Cook House LA, Steven Grier and Daniel Manteca, to talk about the changes they are making in LA through music. Teaching the youth mixing and mastering and even becoming entrepreneurs themselves, Daniel and Steven share how they did it and even give us an exclusive look into some new projects to come.
Hip-Hop Since 1987: You guys are the co-founders for Cook House LA, how did you guys first meet?
Steven:
We first met in Phoenix, Arizona. Our parents knew each other, and I think that was the first place we met. Then I met him [Daniel] at the studio that was actually a barbershop that was a studio in the back. I saw him over there — It was one of those things like, ‘wait, I just saw you, how you know about this over here’. Then we kind of just locked in ever since.
Daniel:
Yeah. We met through our parents. I’ve always done music and I know Steven’s been doing music since he was little. My dad kind of linked us together one day and, you know, we’ve been rocking together ever since.
Hip-Hop Since 1987: Do you guys have any new or upcoming projects that are adventures that you’d like to talk about?
Steven: Yeah. How about you tell her about Heaven.
Daniel: So, I was actually introduced to a sort of young artist. She’s a dancer, rapper and singer. But mainly she’s was a dancer rapper. We met her through one of my uncle’s friends. And he was telling me about her. I was really interested in that. Around that time of my life
I was kind of transitioning and I was trying to figure things out, kind of COVID situations going on. I was looking for something kind of new and she just fell in my lap, she found me.
So, I went and met her mother and told her what I do — songwriting, audio engineering, and production. And we just started rocking and started recording like little covers. And, yes, she really liked all of that. So, we were just recording like little covers and stuff like that just to get the vibe and, see where she was at musically. So now, we are definitely recording new music and just kind of working on her artist development and her artistry and just trying to take her to that next level.
Steven:
Heaven is 12. She’s amazing, like, you said, she dances, she sings, she raps and she’s actually getting in the production and making her own beats right now. We’re working on her EP, her debut, it’s going to be amazing. I think the world is really going to be excited because as we’re going through this development with her, she’s so open to like everything. And I think that’s really important for new artists to really get an understanding of everything. She wants to know how to make beats, she wants to know how to record herself. And I just think that’s super dope, especially for like a 12-year-old girl. You don’t really see that out there. We’re just really excited to get her out to the world and for people to see and be inspired by her. She’s going to inspire so many, so many kids to get out there and do it.
Daniel: Yeah. And the thing that really drew me to her is that she already has like this little community following her dances.
Hip-Hop Since 1987: Who are some producers or artists that you guys would like to work with in the future?
Daniel: I would definitely want to work with Quincy Jones. That’s a big name and a big inspiration as well. Metro Boomin, I love Metro Boomin.
kind of worked with Kanye a little bit, but I would really want to lock in lock-in with Kayne you know, cook up. Uh, Weezy yeah, that’s about it right now.
Steven: Daniel just named a lot of producers, which is good, because I can’t think of any producers, but there are some artists I’ve been listening to afro-pop and this music out of Africa a lot. It’s pretty much all I’m listening to. I would love to work with Tem’s. I would love to work with Wizkid. I would love to work with Burna boy. Oh. And then, and then a friend of mine Mechie the director I was telling you about. He introduced me to another artist, Joe boy, like they’re all like duper, super talented, all coming out of Africa. And uh, so yeah, I would definitely love to make that connection.
So, we’re actually in communications with the ministry of tourism in Ghana because they have this whole, uh, black Renaissance. I want to kind of bridge that, you know, so we’re really excited about making that happen and be able to, you know, create with our artists here and then have that outlet and platform internationally to go over to Ghana and its form out there. And we’ve already seen some music out there and they love it. So, it’s, I mean, Ghana is popping right now that Africa as a whole is pretty popping, I’m excited to bring those together.
Hip-Hop Since 1987: Congratulations on that. That’s beautiful. I’m looking forward to that. What advice would you have for somebody wanting to follow in your footsteps?
Steven: Oh, good advice. Just say yes. I think that’s important because a lot of times we might say, oh, I can’t do that. Or I don’t think, you know, because we don’t have the confidence because we’ve never done it before. But sometimes you just have to say yes, and that’s going to get you in the door and you can figure it out as you go. Like, I can’t tell you how many opportunities have opened up because I said “Yeah, I can do it”. And I really didn’t even know I could, but I had enough confidence in myself that I would say, just have confidence in yourself to be able to know that you can figure things out, you know, and just say yes to opportunities because you know, sometimes those opportunities might not present themselves again.
You know, and just move in faith, you have to just tell yourself that you are enough and know that you have what it takes to achieve the goals within you. Of course, education and learning as much as you can about whatever topic is important, but you’ve got it. You got to match that up with faith in yourself, faith in God, you know, and confidence that you can get it done.
Daniel: Definitely, you know, don’t be afraid to fail. A lot of great people have failed, on the way to becoming successful. And you know, all those failures are little life lessons to try to show you what you can do to be better. So definitely having undoubted confidence in yourself. And like Steven said, not saying no to everything and, you know, just kind of being your own cheerleader because you’re the only person that’s really going to truly believe in you and you know, there’s outside influence as well. But when you have that undeniable faith and belief in yourself, you know, that can be limitless and that can take you, you know, limitless places.
Hip-Hop Since 1987: You guys are big on giving back to the community. Can you tell me how the studio is designed to give back?
Steven: Right now, we have our artist’s development and music production workshops. So, it’s really focused on exposing our youth to the industry, showing them more than just being an artist or a rapper. But there are audio engineers, songwriters and producers and just the technical aspects behind it. Cause I think, I think it’s really important that the kids be exposed to everything, you know?
I think it’s like you see the basketball player, you see the arch, you want to be that, but there’s so much that goes into it. So that’s what our workshop is about, is it’s exposing the different, uh, careers paths within the music industry. We have the workshop coming up and then what we do from there is we’re going to launch our full program, which will be a 16-week program that goes from the very beginning to, you know, so that students can learn how the studio operates, to how do you come up with ideas to, how do you record those ideas.
You’ll learn how do you mix, master them, how do you release it. And just go through the whole process of creating a song and then releasing it and then emphasizing the business behind it. Cause I think it’s important for us to not just have new artists, but new entrepreneurs to support artists because without, you know, marketing team or without, you know, the production team behind you, the artists are going to struggle. So, we want to promote everything within the industry. So that’s what our workshop is about.
Daniel: Definitely. Creating those work-ready skills because it’s a lot of life skills that are intertwined into music. Music is math and like technology, literacy, writing, and communication. All of those skills that you can develop, side by side when you’re trying to learn all these other musical skills, like songwriting and production and music business type stuff. So, all that stuff goes hand in hand and runs parallel to each other in the program. You always want to get engaged with the future generations and what the trends are and what they’re trending and what they’re coming up with because that’s the future.
Hip-Hop Since 1987: Do you think that kids are what inspired you to give back or what exactly inspired you guys to get back to the community?
Steven: Yeah, it’s the youth. Once my son was born, you know, I started looking at the world a little differently. Because, you know, cool. I can raise him to be a great person but if he’s in a world full of not friendly, mean, angry people what quality of life is he even going to have. So, it’s like, I want him to grow up in a world where you can be around like-minded people, positive people who want to actually make a change and add to things. So, it’s like the youth for me is definitely been the inspiration because that’s who’s going to be, here when we’re gone. And if we don’t put into them and invest into them, then I feel like it’ll be a kind of a repeat of what we’re going to know, where you have almost like a lost generation of people out there who don’t really have the guidance.
And we have to at some point step up and do what’s right for the future and not always do what is just right for us at the moment. I think that’s an easy thing to get into. But at the end of the day, when it’s all said and done, when we’re gone, what we invest in now is going to be what’s left for our kids and their kids. So, you know, I want things to go up. I don’t want them to go down. So, it starts with the youth, like some adults they’re in their ways and they’re not going to change, but kids they’re open books.
And if you feed them and put them into their mind’s positive things, you’re going to get positive outcomes.
Hip-Hop Since 1987: Where can artists find you?
Steven: Yeah, they can find us by going to our website, CookHouseLA.com, and join become a member because our facility is about community. So, we have a membership site where you can join for free and get active. There’s an app you can also download off of our website and this will allow you to connect with other producers, other artists who record out of our studio. And you can also go to our Instagram which is @CookHouseLA. And then that’s where you can check out what we’re working on and hear some dope music.
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