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Originally from San Jose, Costa Rica, Richie Nieto has been an active musician and songwriter for more than 20 years. His bands and projects have spanned diverse genres, from pop to hard rock to progressive and experimental music, and they have taken him on several tours of Central and North America. Over the years, he has played hundreds of venues and has opened shows for artists like Sting, Jethro Tull, Yes’ Jon Anderson and many more. As both a band member and session player, he has left his mark on many albums for indie artists as well as major labels like Sony Music and BMG in Latin America. In addition to his composing and performing contributions to the Costa Rican musical landscape, he has also produced and engineered several of the pop and rock albums that are now considered musical landmarks in that country’s history.
Recent developments include a collaboration with UK producer / remixer Lee Fletcher, who produced and remixed 'The Hill Of Holes' for Richie's new album. It features vocals by Lisa Fletcher and Warr guitar by Markus Reuter.
Also, Richie has collaborated with drum programming on 'Bajos Reversibles', the new CD from long-time colleague and friend Chalo Trejos, as well as on three tracks for [halo] - 'Free-Da-Sonnet', 'Above My Eyes' and a new version of 'Video Killed The Radio Star'. [halo] is Lee Fletcher, Lisa Fletcher and Markus Reuter's experimental pop project.
Some notes on the songs above:
I played all the instruments here myself, more out of necessity and convenience than anything else. I love playing and writing with other people, but this one project is more personal and quirky. If I have an idea late at night, it's easier to just hop on the computer and record it right away before it floats away back into the ether. I just have a lousy memory that way.
Grind
The very first track I have written since releasing GRAS. It features a blistering Stick solo (literally - I got blisters on my fingers) and a bit of playful 'spy theme' guitars. The title comes from my own love/hate relationship with work - it can be a pain when there's too much, but it is worse when there is none. The grass is always greener when you're not the one mowing it, I guess.
Low To Ground (GRAS version)
The "guitar" and "bass" parts on this piece, including the solo, are actually played on a Chapman Stick. This is the first track that was written for the album, and it has gone through five or six versions, this being the latest one. It's also the basis for [halo]'s beautiful song, 'The Hill of Holes', which is also included in my album.
Caffeine
This is the very last track written for my album. I threw everything I could on it - bass lines with bass AND Stick, a Stick solo, a 'metal guitar' solo. It's called 'Caffeine' for obvious reasons - no pulling punches on this one. The longest track on the album, it took about 4 months and 5 incarnations to complete.
Down The Rabbit Hole
Another track featuring the Chapman Stick as the lead instrument - no guitar at all on this one. My Trey Gunn influence shows a lot here. The whole middle section is so far removed from the rest of the track that it's kind of like a tune inside a tune. Hence the 'Alice in Wonderland'-inspired title. I could have written two separate pieces, but I like that turn-on-a-dime quality - it's just more interesting to me.
UnSub
Wrote this a while ago, and I decided to pull it out of the trunk, dust it off and post it here. This one shows my heavy Belew influence. The title (short for Unidentified Subject) came from watching too much Criminal Minds, the TV series about those witty FBI profilers. The piece is older than the series, and it didn't have a name, so it sounded like a good fit to me.
My band Neurotica's album is out for sale, finally. This trio was founded in 1991 and recorded this album in 1998 - it only took 9 years for it to be released! We should have waited one more year and made it a 10th Anniversary release, but so much for that plan.
(Layout adapted from Mike Industries.)
