Nick Zanca (b. 1992) is a Los Angeles–based record producer, songwriter, cultural worker and writer whose practice encompasses songcraft, synthesis, sound collage, electroacoustic improvisation and longform music criticism.
Zanca has held conversations with leading figures in contemporary music, including Todd Rundgren, Daniel Lanois, Jim O’Rourke, Meshell Ndegeocello, Philip Selway (Radiohead), Adrian Younge, Bill Orcutt, Jeff Parker, Taja Cheek (L’Rain), and Jane Siberry. He has made records with multi-platinum recording artist PARTYNEXTDOOR, guitarist and songwriter Wendy Eisenberg and experimental sound artist Lucy Liyou, works as a duo with composer–producer Mari Rubio (More Eaze), and has made sound for experimental filmmaker Carl Elsaesser. His work has been featured in Pitchfork, The Wire, NPR, Vogue, Vice, The FADER and The Quietus, with sessions recorded at Abbey Road (London), La Frette (Paris) and Figure 8 (Brooklyn).
In the 2010s, under the production alias Mister Lies, Zanca released three full-length albums and numerous shortform releases. He later served as an editor at Reverb, commissioning and developing longform features. His editorial work there includes essays on Kate Bush’s relationship with the Fairlight CMI, the late works of Talk Talk, the electronic landscapes of Mort Garson and the minimalist compositions of Eliane Radigue. He has also contributed to Discogs and Tone Glow, and worked as a music supervisor for retail and hospitality spaces. His debut singer-songwriter record, Hindsight, was released in 2024 on American Dreams.
As a performer, Zanca has appeared at Rewire Festival in The Hague, Café OTO in London, The Silent Barn in Brooklyn and Constellation in Chicago. He is currently the producer of Critical Listening, a podcast examining music technology, labor and the culture industry, hosted by writer and journalist Liz Pelly and composer–educator Max Alper.