Welcome to the website of recording artist PC Muñoz.
About PC Muñoz
With "What if I Told You a Secret?" and "Echo", PC Muñoz's first pop-focused singles since 2008's acclaimed Grab Bag album on Talking House Records, shades of Muñoz's CMJ-charting work as a songwriter can be found in the earwormy hooks and rhythms, while the inventive sonic aesthetic recalls his Billboard-charting work as a producer and drummer in the avant-garde/contemporary classical field. "What if I Told You a Secret?" will release September 23rd; "Echo" is slated for release on Día de Los Muertos 2016.
San Francisco recording artist PC Muñoz's genre-defying projects are stylistically broad and deep, revealing a sonic explorer equally at home with contemporary classical, funk, hip-hop, folk, world music, spoken-word, pure improv, art installations, and modern dance productions. 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 master Danny Kalanduyan, sonic surrealists Broun Fellinis, woodwinds renegade Kyle Bruckmann, Oakland emcee/pianist phenom Kev Choice, vocalist Jennifer Kreisberg of the legendary Native American group Ulali, Emmy-winning composer/virtuoso Van-Anh Vanessa Vo and countless other musicians and recording artists.
PC's notable multidisciplinary collaborations include ongoing iterations of HALF-BREED, the award-winningIr-Rational, 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.
PC began his career in the early 90s as an 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 Bay Area emerging artists 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.
Events
Saturday July 9 and Sunday July 10 A Paradise Choir
SFMOMA
151 Third Street
San Francisco, CA 94103 PC will be playing a set of custom-made bells by amazing LA visual artist Chris Kallmyer for this interactive exhibit series.
Friday July 15, 2016 Future Arts Now! presents the San José premiere of "HALF-BREED" School of Arts & Culture @ Mexican Heritage Plaza
1700 Alum Rock Ave
San José, CA 95116
8pm
$7 advance from Eventbrite
$10 door PC returns to his hometown to present his poetry/music exploration of mixed-race identity, "HALF-BREED", as the inaugural event for the new 2Mi.East series, curated by the School of Arts & Culture. PC will be joined by Pinoy guitar sorcerer Karl Alfonso Evangelista; special guest openers include Erica Nalani Benton, Chris Locsin, and Asha Sudra Finkel. All guests will receive a card to download PC's summer single "I ♥ U" for free!
Tuesday July 19, 2016
Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
2155 Center St.
Berkeley, CA
7pm PC's new trio will hit at 7pm with an eclectic set of originals and a tribute to His Royal Badness, as part of the Museum's FULL series. Playing alongside Oakland's Black Spirituals and poet Farnoosh Fathi. Full event info here.
Saturday July 24, 2016 A Paradise Choir
SFMOMA
151 Third Street
San Francisco, CA 94103 Final performance for the above-mentioned Chris Kallmyer series.
Friday July 29, 2016 "Moving Train" music video screening @ the Seattle Transmedia and Independent Film Festival (STIFF)"
Factory Luxe
3100 Airport Way South
Seattle, WA 98134 Click here for ticket info Catch the music video for Blood Moon Orchestra's "Moving Train" on the big screen as part of STIFF's "Music Video Celebration" program. Blood Moon Orchestra is PC's "pop-up" supergroup with Emmy-winning Vietnamese virtuoso Van-Anh Vo and rapper DEM ONE; the video was directed by Christopher "Paper Son" Woon.
Friday September 23, 2016 Center for New Music
55 Taylor St.
San Francisco, CA 94102
7:30pm
$15/$10 C4NM Members This special birthday show at the coolest new-music venue in SF will feature two premieres: "Shipwreck", a dance and drumset duet with turf dancer Dopeyfresh, and "Rugged Individual", a solo poetry/percussion/electronics piece. A set of originals and curveball re-imaginations by PCM.3 rounds out the night. All attendees receive a free download card for the exclusive single "What if I Told You a Secret?"
Thursday September 29, 2016 Los Angeles Premiere of HALF-BREEDThe Last Bookstore
453 S Spring St
Los Angeles, CA 90013
7pm The Southern California premiere of HALF-BREED, with violinist Yvette Cornelia Holzwarth, poet F. Douglas Brown, and author Shannon Luders-Manuel. All attendees receive a free download card for the exclusive single "What if I Told You a Secret?"
Sunday October 30, 2016 Ira Kamin vs. PC Muñoz II Bird and Beckett
653 Chenery St.
San Francisco, CA 95131 PC will join madcap aleatoric classical/free jazz pianist Ira Kamin for another evening of exploratory duets at this great venue.
"There's a reason why we keep bringing PC Muñoz and his ensembles back to perform year after year. PC is a musical mastermind with an agenda: exploring the totality of funk and blues, and digging into the locations where they intersect other parts of the culture in the most compelling ways.
PC's homegrown "art-funk" concept has found a perfect embodiment in the trio PCM.3. At a recent show, they electrified the crowd by walking that elusive line between laser-focused intricacy and the loose, rangy freedom of the groove. Stripped down yet never simple, PCM.3 decodes the world's secret messages and delivers them to the gut, the heart, and the mind."
Sean Carson, Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
To book PC's trio PCM.3 or to book an iteration of HALF-BREED, contact PC directly at the address below.
WORK WITH PC
PC Muñoz is available for select audio/music projects as percussionist/beatmaker and composer/producer, and has a large library of vocal and instrumental tracks available for licensing. See contact info below to discuss your project or request a private streaming link of instrumentals for licensing.
LEARN FROM PC
PC is available as a guest lecturer/workshop presenter, and accepts a limited amount of cajon drum students each year.
PC is a Board Governor for the SF Chapter of the Recording Academy/GRAMMYs. Academy members may connect at the Grammy Pro site; interested music professionals should visit grammypro.com/join to learn about joining and read PC's most recent blog posts for the chapter.
Visit PC's LinkedIn page here and contact PC directly at the address below for all inquiries.
NEW ARTICLE ON KQED: PC was recently interviewed for a KQED blog piece about hapa/multiracial identity; read the article here.
SUMMER SINGLE: PC's feel-good summer single"I ♥ U" is out now and available only on PC's bandcamp page.
NEW REVIEWS: Reviews for the new Joan Jeanrenaud CD Visual Music, co-produced by PC and featuring PC on several tracks, are starting to come in. Check out the KQED/California Report feature here and longtime Bay Area music writer Derk Richardson's in-depth review here. We'll update this section with the latest as they come!
PC ON NEW BROUN FELLINIS SINGLE: Legendary San Francisco sonic surrealists Broun Fellinis just dropped a new single, "The Definition of God", featuring PC on marimbata along with a host of other Bay Area jazz/hip-hop heavyweights. Check it here.
NEW JOAN JEANRENAUD ALBUM OUT NOW:
PC co-produced and played drumset, marimbata, and cajon on the new album from composer/cellist Joan Jeanrenaud, Visual Music. Visual Music features 17 brand new Jeanrenaud compositions and guest shots from percussion maestro William Winant (John Zorn, Mr. Bungle, Danny Elfman, etc.) and multimedia shaman Dohee Lee. This is the much anticipated follow-up to Jeanrenaud's GRAMMY-nominated 2008 album Strange Toys, which PC produced, and the 2010 Joan/PC duo album Pop-Pop. Learn more at jjcello.com.
IN THE BOX: 1. "What if I Told You a Secret?" promo 2. "HALF-BREED" Los Angeles premiere trailer 3. PCM.3 (art-funk trio) Surveillance Footage, 2016 4. Trailer for Ira Kamin vs. PCM II 5. "I ♥ U" lyric video 6. "Harlem Strut" by Joan Jeanrenaud, w/PC on drumset 7. Music video: Blood Moon Orchestra's "Moving Train" with PC on drums/production 8. PC's re-imagination of Prince's "Sign 'o' the Times", with Prince and the Revolution keyboardist Dr. Fink 9. Starting at :42, "The Slow Rise of a Rigid Man" 2015 Bates College solo dance performance by Robert Moses set to PC's song "All Out of Everything"
Press
"PC Muñoz is an artist that knows no boundaries. His output straddles myriad genres, influences and art forms. From funk to classical, pop to hip-hop, experimental to jazz, globally-renowned artists in all these realms consider Muñoz a first-call percussionist, producer, composer, and songwriter. He's also an artist with a deep social conscience -- one who who uses music to connect cultures and communities together." Anil Prasad, Innerviews
"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
"...a fascinating amalgam of spoken word, acid-jazz and R&B with elements of old-school electro and even hints of gospel." Michelle Goldberg/SF Metropolitan
"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
