Record producer and musician Gabriel Zavala is perfectly content letting his significant other bask in the spotlight.

Of course, that’s a no-brainer when your partner is Grammy-nominated Tejano artist Stefani Montiel, the talented pop singer who fronts the dance floor provocateurs Lush.

But that doesn’t mean Zavala, a four-time Grammy nominee as a record producer, doesn’t have his own adoring fans.

You see, he’s also the host of KSAT’s popular “Tejano y Mas,” and he’s experienced firsthand the power that TV can have.

“The door guy at Walmart is always saying hi,” said Zavala, 33. “I do get recognized a bit.”

Only the Walmart guy may not realize “Tejano y Mas” is just one of Zavala’s many hats.

He’s easy to miss. Zavala prefers staying in the background. With Lush, he mans a Yamaha MOTIF XS6 keyboard and laptop computer, playing symphonic riffs along with programmed flourishes.

Zavala was born in Tyler and grew up in Jacksonville, a small rural community in East Texas.

He never really knew his father, an aspiring singer-songwriter with Nashville dreams named Gary Allen Mann. Zavala is his mother, Lydia’s, maiden name.

As a kid, Zavala played drums, piano, guitar, bass and accordion.

“All my uncles wanted me to play their instruments,” he explained. “I kinda learned them all at the same time.”

He describes his childhood music education as “whatever was on the radio.” That meant everything from Chicano rock ’n’ roll, Little Joe y La Familia and the Texas Tornados to MC Hammer and Paul Abdul.

But it was a documentary about Quincy Jones (“Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones,” 1990) that had the greatest impact on the self-described music geek.

Zavala was 12 years old.

“At that moment, I just felt that’s what I wanted to do,” he said. “He talked about being behind the scenes and taking care of artists without being in the limelight, and that always stuck with me.”

His path to that dream has been admittedly haphazard. Zavala quit high school after his sophomore year and moved to Corpus Christi to play in bands at the tale end of Tejano’s Selena era.

“I regret it. I didn’t realize that there were so many possibilities (for music education) in college,” he said.

However, that decision led him to Montiel, who was looking to form a band. They met in San Antonio.

“We were hanging out like crazy,” Zavala recalled. “It was like we were soul mates. It was really cool hanging out with her, and that developed into a relationship.”

Now he produces her albums, including the Grammy-nominated “Divina,” which sported an edgy Donna Summer-ish vibe and dance floor attitude, as well as reflecting upheaval and heartbreak in Zavala’s and Montiel’s personal life. They’ve been together for 17 years.

“It was getting kind of crazy,” Zavala said. “It was like a pretty big bump. We broke up for awhile. It was just so strange because everything that was happening, Stef took that emotion and put it in the songs.” Keeping the romantic side of things separate from the professional side can be impossible at times.

“That’s one of the things we’ve struggled with,” Montiel said with a giggle. “Absolutely.”

Facing those emotions head-on is characteristic of Zavala, who hates to play it safe. In his own way as a producer — he’s also worked with Chris Perez and Los TexManiacs — he’s infusing the ailing Tejano music scene with contemporary sounds.

“It’s just soul, that’s the one thing that Tejano really lacks,” said Zavala, who is producing new albums for Montiel, A.J. Castillo and David Marez.

“There are a lot of artists that are scared of breaking tradition. They feel radio won’t play them or Tejano fans won’t like them. There are a lot of Tejano artists out there that love rap, that love rock. But for some reason, when it

comes time to create in the studio, this wall goes up. What I’m trying to do with all the artists that I work with is break down those walls.”

Fans don’t always get it, he acknowledged – “Divina” included.

“Overall, we accomplished what we wanted to, and we definitely made a statement,” he said. “That’s why we continue to push the boundaries a little bit.”