Welcome to the cyberlair of art-funk recording artist, musician, and writer PC Muñoz.
About PC Muñoz
San Francisco musician and writer PC Muñoz aims to directly confront the caricatures and stereotypes that have long been associated with mixed-race people of all backgrounds in his latest multimedia production, HALF-BREED. HALF-BREED, which debuted to a packed house at The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis in late November, is a collaborative, spoken-word driven event featuring mixed-race artists from both indigenous Asian-Pacific Islander traditions and continental Native American traditions. Performers for the debut performance included fellow Bay Area musician Erica Nalani Benton, Minneapolis-based dancer/poet Emily Johnson, writer/activist R. Vincent Moniz, Jr., and vocalist Jennifer Kreisberg of the legendary Native American group Ulali.
PC's genre-defying projects as an artist and producer are stylistically broad and deep, revealing a sonic explorer equally at home with electronic funk, all-acoustic hip-hop, percussion-heavy improv, spoken-word, world-music fusion, and contemporary classical. His partnership with composer/cellist/longtime Kronos Quartet member Joan Jeanrenaud has yielded two highly acclaimed projects: the Grammy-nominated Strange Toys and the iTunes-charting cello and beats duo album Pop-Pop. A frequent and enthusiastic collaborator, PC has recorded and/or performed with rock legend Jackson Browne, dream-pop poet/chanteuse Ingrid Chavez, Prince and the Revolution synth wizard Dr. Fink, Kulintang virtuoso Danny Kalanduyan, sonic surrealist Kevin Carnes of Broun Fellinis, woodwinds renegade Kyle Bruckmann, noise/metal vocalist AC Way, and countless other musicians and recording artists across a wide range of genres.
PC's past multidisciplinary collaborations include 2012's Fall of a Sudden project in Hong Kong, 2008's public art installation Light Haiku with kinetic sculptor Chris Eckert, 2005's award-winning project Twenty Haiku, and ongoing performances with Vadim Puyandaev and Erika Tsimbrovsky of Avy-K Productions, including the December 2012 production Ir-Rational.
PC began his career in San Francisco in the early 90s as a R&B/Gospel drummer and indie producer, while teaching elementary school by day. In 1998 he launched a solo artist/label entrepreneur career, releasing his debut solo disc, The Trouble I'd Bring You on his own label, Beevine Records. Beevine also released 2002's CMJ-charting A Good Deed in a Weary World, 2004's Golden State mash-note California (featuring Jackson Browne on the title track), and 2005's Twenty Haiku. In 2005, PC delved further into production and artist development, co-founding the unique record label/private recording studio entity Talking House Productions with Seagate CEO Steve Luczo and 5 close music industry colleagues. Known as the Bay Area's premiere studio with the only SSL-9000K console in Northern California, the former Talking House facility is now called Studio Trilogy, and hosts everyone from local up-and-comers to pop mega-stars like Lady Gaga and will.i.am.
Born and raised in San José, California, amidst innovation and entrepreneurialism, Muñoz now resides in San Francisco.
UPCOMING PROJECTS AND APPEARANCES
Tuesday December 31, 2013 Center for New Music
55 Taylor St.
San Francisco, CA 94102
10:00pm
$30/general, $25/members, $50/couple
Admission includes unlimited drinks and hearty snacks!
PC will present a new structured improv piece with spacefunk guitarist Michael Cavaseno (RonKat, Black Quarterback) as part of the Center for New Music's RESOLUTIONS NYE event. Other performers include The John Raskin New Rhythm Plus Band, Les Gwan Jupons, and Three Times Bad.
NOW LISTEN-HEAR!
Selected tracks from various projects:
WORK WITH PC!
PC Muñoz is available for select audio/music projects as producer, composer, percussionist, and beatmaker, or as a content creator/project leader for large and small creative initiatives. See contact info below.
LEARN FROM PC!
PC is available as a guest lecturer/workshop presenter, and takes a limited amount of cajon drum students each year. Currently there are NO cajon drum lesson spots available; contact PC directly for next availability.
PC offers one-one-one organizational skills/daily planning mentoring sessions for artists in-person or via Skype/Google Hangout; 3 sessions maximum. Currently there is 1 opening for late 2013/early 2014; contact PC directly to book.
Visit PC's LinkedIn page here and contact PC directly at the address below for all inquiries.
SEATTLE FILM FESTIVAL: "One Voice/One Drum", PC's minimalist music video collaboration with rapper DEM ONE and award-winning filmmaker Christopher PaperSon Woon, recently had its big screen debut at the latest film festival presented by South Bay First Thursdays in San José! Next up, "OV/OD" hits the Seattle Asian American Festival, at 1pm on February 8 at Ark Lodge Cinemas in Seattle! We are currently looking into live appearance possibilities in conjunction with this event; stay tuned!!
NEW PHOTO SHOOT: Veteran stage lighting designer/photographer Lucas Krech recently photographed PC for Krech's Artist Portrait series, which focuses on artists in their work environments. Lucas captured PC while working on music at Studio Trilogy. Check out Krech's work here.
FREE NEW DUO ALBUM: PC and avant-garde pianist Ira Kamin, best known for his seminal work with the legendary guitarist Michael Bloomfield, released their first free-jazz/drums and piano duo album, The Space Between, on October 15th, and it is available for FREE exclusively on PC's bandcamp page, right here!
LATEST DRUM! MAGAZINE ARTICLE: PC's next piece for DRUM! Magazine, due in early 2014, focuses on Bay Area songwriter Andrew Griffin and his band Felsen. You can read PC's October 2013 article, "Drums in the Key of Wonder", online right here!
PCM FILM WORK: PC is beginning work on music production for Glenn Mack's upcoming motion picture Brujo which was filmed in Vermont and San Francisco, with a story involving artistry, jealousy, passion, and magic. Lots of talented people from across the nation involved in this project..stay tuned for details!
FRANCES HA/ NEW JJ MUSIC: The quirky hit film Frances Ha, starring Greta Gerwig, features one of PC's productions: "Axis", a Joan Jeanrenaud composition from the Grammy-nominated Strange Toys album! The movie is now out on DVD. Also, two stellar new Joan Jeanrenaud compositions featuring PC on drumkit and marimbata are mixed and mastered and being considered for release----stay tuned for more info!
BERKELEY ART MUSEUM PHOTO SET: Check out this photo set from the March 22nd "Positively Alphabet Street" performance by PC Munoz's Singing Blood, at Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film archive, with special guests DEM ONE and Tyia Wilson! PC's blog post about the event is on the BAM/PFA site here.
CHASE MARTIN ALBUM: PC is just over halfway finished with work on the upcoming album by Oakland Pop/R&B artist Chase Martin, featuring an incredible roster of Bay Area session players. Stay tuned for teaser videos/previews!
VIDEO GUIDE: 1. Sneak-peek video for the multidisciplinary project "HALF-BREED" 2. "One Voice/One Drum" by DEM ONE and PCM 3. "Panama Canal" by Joan Jeanrenaud and PC featured on So You Think You Can Dance 4. Fall of a Sudden promo video, featuring Hong Kong rehearsal footage and audio collage, Summer 2012 5. "Family Matters" from the Grab Bag album 6. PC clears up the misconception that Cher is part of the "HALF-BREED" project 7. PC's remix of Ingrid Chavez's "By the Water" single, featuring PC on drumkit, synth, and marimbata 8. "33 1/3" from the album Pop-Pop by Joan Jeanrenaud and PC 9. "Arietta" by Kev Choice, produced by PC
Press
"Dark, sexual, sensual, confessional, and confrontational--all at the same time...a poet." Performing Songwriter
"3.5 Stars (for Pop-Pop). This cello-and-percussion team moves through 10 tracks that are alternately tantalizing, mesmerizing, even somber at times." DownBeat
"(PC Muñoz) is truly a modern musician, equally at home with a live band, playing the most organic of instruments...or hunched over a computer, making beats and working magic with ProTools..." Tom Chandler, East Bay Express
"Muñoz's tasteful electronics, effortlessly balancing hard-hitting syncussion with bouncy basslines and buttery synth washes, are the perfect counterpoint to the thought-provoking words he spits out with an incomparable cool....undeniable talent for crafting songs that stimulate the mind and the body." Amorn Bholsangngam, Urb Magazine
"Somewhere between hip-hop attitude, Minneapolis nasty and latin rock playa chops, PC Muñoz has an instantly compelling sound that defies definition..." Rickey Vincent, author of "Funk: The Music, The People, and The Rhythm of the One" and host of KPFA's "The History of Funk" radio show
"Compelling beats, clever lyrics, and special guests, such as cellist Jean Jeanrenaud, make (Grab Bag) an enjoyable listen." Electronic Musician
"...undeniable stage presence...laid-back, but commanding...the show is a left hook all right---and a knock out at that." Mike Osegueda, Fresno Bee
"Great work. It's all too rare to hear someone breaking new ground in the pop field." John Zorn, Composer
"... PC Muñoz consistently redefine(s) himself, sailing effortlessly across artistic categories..." Marian Liu, San Jose Mercury News
