Arts Division
Lecturer
Faculty
Remote work location
Remote work location
Monday 2:00-3:00
Music Center
Daniel L Munoz is a musician, lecturer in music, and musicianship teacher. He was part of the first cohort of PhD students in UCSC's cross-cultural musicology program. After completion, he has become an active musician in LA's music scene. As bass player for Egrets on Ergot, the band quickly emerged as "L.A.'s Best Punk Band" according to the LA Weekly in 2018. He then joined legendary deathrock band 45 Grave, scoring a spot at 2022's Cruel World Festival at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena that included Morrissey, Blondie, Bauhaus, and Public Image Limited. He plays electric guitar for Guilty Strangers, Crow Jane, Lost Tapes, and Diva Destruction; he also plays electric bass for Lucas Lanthier and Several of His Esteemed Colleagues, playing the music of Cinema Strange and Deadfly Ensemble. During lockdown, Munoz studied music production and produced several songs. His first full-length record, Memento Mori by Guilty Strangers was released in 2023—he has produced the new Guilty Strangers EP set for release in May 2025. Munoz has toured with several bands throughout North America, South America, and Europe.
Munoz has specialized in ethnographic research and the oral histories of local music scenes and subcultures. He has taught harmony, counterpoint, and the analysis of form in Western classical music. As a touring musician Munoz specializes in the live performance of guitar and bass; he can replicate the techniques and timbral qualities of other musicians, and is skilled in creating new sounds. He has experience with a wide variety of software and computing technologies. Learning Manage Systems like Canvas and Blackboard. Digital Audio Workstations like Finale, Pro Tools, and Reaper.
Munoz’ current research interests include research related to his course, Music Scenes and Subcultures. Another research interest for Munoz is music and philosophy: particularly the works of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche: he has been exploring Nietzsche’s idea of Dionysian music.
Music scenes and subcultures. Music philosophy (music aesthetics). Spiritiual and political uses of music. Electroacoustic music: synthesis and listening techniques. Music theory. Applied performance practice and musicianship.
SELECTED PERFORMANCES
2025 45 Grave to play Murder of Crows Fest; New York [Bass].
2025 Diva Destruction to play Santiago, Chile [electric guitar].
2025 Cinema Strange to play Wave Gotik Treffen; Leipzig, Germany [Bass].
2024 Crow Jane: the Whiskey; Hollywood—opened for Only Theatre of Pain (surviving
members of Christian Death playing the music of Christian Death); Hollywood. [electric guitar].
2024 Cinema Strange: European Tour (France, Germany, Austria) [bass].
2024 Diva Destruction: Wave Gotik Treffen (largest goth music festival in the world);
Leipzig, Germany [electric guitar].
2023 45 Grave: Darker Waves festival; Huntington Beach—festival featured
Tears for Fears, New Order, B-52s, Soft Cell, OMD, et al [bass].
2023 45 Grave: the Whiskey; Hollywood [bass].
2022 45 Grave: Cruel World Festival at the Rose Bowl; Pasadena—festival featured
Bauhaus, Morrissey, PiL, Blondie, et al [bass].
2022 45 Grave headlined Nosferatu Festival; Austin [bass].
2019 Egrets on Ergot: Punk Rock Bowling Festival; Las Vegas—festival featured Killing
Joke, Flipper, the Damned, et al [bass].
2018 The Wild Honey Nitzsche Players chamber orchestra: Wild Honey Foundation Jack
Nitzsche—Sound & Image; Los Angeles [electric guitar].
2018 Egrets on Ergot: SXSW Festival; Austin – opened for Todd Rundgren [bass].
2016 “Pretty Looking Back: An Orchestral Interpretation Celebrating the 25th
Anniversary of Hole’s First Album” (Pretty on the Inside): Regent Theater; Los Angeles [tenor voice].
2016 Panthar (featuring Shelina Brown): EchoPlex; Los Angeles—opened for Missing
Persons; [electric guitar].
2016 Egrets on Ergot: EchoPlex; Los Angeles — opened for 45 Grave [bass].
2007 Adaptable Girl, by Renee Coulombe: Salvation Theatre; Los Angeles
[electric guitars, electronics].
2004 Symphony 13 (Hallucination City) for 100 Electric Guitars, by Glenn Branca:
Walt Disney Concert Hall; Los Angeles [electric guitar].
2005 String Quartet, by Daniel Muñoz: UC Riverside [composer].
2001 The Trees for Men’s Chorus, Franz Kafka’s text set by Daniel Muñoz: CSU Fullerton [composer]
2000 Clarinet Trio, by Daniel Muñoz: CSU Fullerton [Composer].
1994 A Midsummer Knight’s Dream. Velvet Knights Drum and Bugle Corps: United States
tour [lead soprano bugle].
