Stephen Munoz

Steve Munoz is a professional musician/producer transplanted from his native Chicago, IL home to wonderful Kansai a year ago. Since then, he's hussled the scene to find his place in the live music community of Japan with little to no knowledge of the Japanese language, culture, or business. Steve's played at The Apple Store on Midosuji, regularly at Murphy's in Shinsaibashi, the now defunked Savannah in Amemura, Blarney Stone in Umeda, Nanko ATC on the Bay, Espoir Cafe and Vase in Shinsaibashi, various cafes around Nara and Kyoto, and his home away from home, the great Tin's Hall in Tennoji.Steve's solo style is a live, sometimes bombastic approach to standards, originals, and improvised compositions, often aided by his multi-instrumental talents, live looping and mediocre beatboxing skills, stomping and crowd participation.In the States, he's coming off a professional gig as a musician for almost a decade, not only as a solo artist, but in several bands including the original indy rock, psychedelic pop band Midstates(www.midstatesmusic.com) as keyboardist and arranger/co-producer. Midstates still continues in his absence, but this band has been performing and touring America for over a decade, released four self recorded and produced albums to wicked reviews, and continues to test the music and art scene not only in Chicago but where ever the road takes them.Besides playing solo and in bands, Steve is also an up and coming producer for himself, other artists, and bands. Making use of the Midstates ProTools homestudio, Steve learned hands -on the art of recording. Add to that countless hours over the past 15 years at home first with primitive tape to tape recordings, then with a borrowed 4track(which I still use), an obsolete Yamaha Minidisc 4track(I love this machine), Garageband, and presently learning Adobe Audition, Steve's home-style approach to recording and producing is focused on capturing a true musical moment in it's most natural state and presenting it in a fashion which hopes to inspire the listener again and again with each listen. Simple but honest, fresh and timeless is Steve's goal to produce great sounding, great feeling music.I grew up in a household full of music. My sisters played classical piano, my brothers were in band, my mother sang a bit of opera and traditional Filipino ballads, and my dad... he whistled and played alittle harmonica. It was inevitable that music would trickle down the bloodline to the youngest of six, and that's how I came to the appreciation of said art. I've never taken any formal music lessons, though my first "teacher" was my uncle Eoli, who taught me how to play the basic chords on the piano and guitar. Though, more importantly, he taught me how to listen and play with my ears and eyes, as well as my hands. In the Philippines it's called playing "widow", or playing by ear. Through the years I've watched and listened, copied to reinvent, played and experimented, and above all loved creating music. That's why I do it and will continue pursuing music, because I love to create these things that can't be expressed only in words; I love the power of a good melody, because such a melody can make you wanna dance, or cry, or get angry, or confuse you, or empower you, but in the end it never ceases to amaze me that these strings of notes and sounds can illicit such true human emotion. I've taken this love of music and applied it to make a living, and continue learning all I can. At present I sing, play guitar, piano, organ, harmonica, melodica, bass, drums, spoons, washboard, lap steel, banjo, mandolin, jew's harp, I program electronic drum beats, I collect and play vintage synthesizers and electric pianos, and I hope to get started on my assault on woodwinds and brass instruments. I'm currently a solo artist, a one-man-band, keyboardist for Midstates (www.midstatesmusic.com); previously I've played in the bands; Hot Damn(NW Indiana), Novasonic Down Hyperspace(Calumet City/Chicago), The Curtains, The Rain, did a tour with The Blacks(Chicago, formerly on Bloodshot Records), sat in with Defender and Alla(Chicago), and played on the streets of New Orleans. Profile Edited by MPS MySpace Editor 2.0