Fact #99497

JOSE MUNIZ : Profile by Johnny Black for Audience Magazine, 2013

YES WAY, JOSE!

There was a time, not too many years ago, when South America was somewhere that great musicians came from, but it was not somewhere that great musicians went to.

In the 60s, bossa nova had come surging out of South America, bringing with it musicians like Antonio Carlos Jobim, Gilberto Gil and Joao Gilberto, who revolutionised jazz and pop across the globe. In the early 70s the Peruvian folk melody El Condor Pasa provided Simon And Garfunkel with the hit single El Condor Pasa, and by the mid-80s South America could boast a world-class metal band in Sepultura.

Clearly, there was great music coming out of South America, but it was largely a one-way traffic. Great musicians from the rest of the world rarely ventured further than the classy nightspots of Rio De Janeiro, and as far as rock stars were concerned it was a no-go zone.

Then, on July 26, 1988, an ambitious and far-sighted local promoter, Jose Muniz, known to everyone simply as Muniz, brought Jethro Tull in to tour Brazil. On their opening night in Mineirinho, Belo Horizonte, the band saluted Brazil's rich musical heritage with a rendition of the Astrud Gilberto classic Girl From Ipanema, but the real significance of that night lay in the fact that it represented the opening of the floodgates for global rock.

'Before then," remembers Muniz, "global artists would not come here because of the total lack of infrastructure, difficulty in getting attention from agents, a challenging economy with a sky-rocketing dollar and hyper inflation. The few existing international promoters in Brazil at the time were fighting for pop stars that were popular on the radio and paid no attention to what was already considered "old stuff'."

Muniz, however, had grown up listening to classic British heavy rock, and knew there was a whole generation who, like him, loved this music but had never heard it live.

Staging that Jethro Tull tour, however, was a daunting prospect. "Back then we had a Telex machine in our office and I had to smuggle a Fax machine into the country, which was a rare item at the time, but essential to improve communication with their production people. The six-date tour required two weeks because it took three days to hang the lights in the arena ceilings. Also there was no Rock It Cargo in those days, so I had to clear customs myself after getting a permit turning my company into a importation broker. Finally, to get money out of Brazil, we had to rely on the black market, which was really risky."

Clearly, elements of the Wild West still prevailed in South America, but Muniz was determined to turn things around.

"There are still some promoters down there who you'd be worrying about getting paid by, but Muniz is not one of those," says Neil Warnock of The Agency Group, who first worked with Muniz in 1991 on Deep Purple's first South American jaunt. "He proved to very reliable, he makes it very easy for artists to move from one South American country to another, he's brought a certain comfort level to production. He's on top of paying deposits on time, he can advise on tax structures, so you feel safe with him."

Muniz followed up his sold-out Jethro Tull success with Motorhead, Uriah Heep, Black Sabbath and more, as well as starting to bring in artists from the USA. Suddenly, Brazil was a desirable destination, and the young promoter began an ascent which, a quarter of a century later, sees him occupying the presidential chair at the powerful pan-American Evenpro and XYZ Live group.

Born on March 14, 1958, in the relatively prosperous Southern city of Curitiba, Muniz grew up in a family that prepared him well for his future career. With his mother a classical pianist and his father a banker, he was exposed to the combination of music and commerce from the start.

As a teenager he was living in the capital city, Brasilia, where he says, "the music scene was exploding, with some of the biggest artists in Brazil." In 1979 he opened a fast-food outlet, Giraffas, and quickly revealed his enterprising nature by promoting free music shows in the parking lot. "We would attract an average of 2,500 people and we would sell a ton of cheese burgers and hot dogs."

Within six months, managers from Rio and Sao Paulo were asking him to promote their acts in Brasilia so, in 1982, he made a momentous decision. "I decided music was my passion, so I sold Giraffas to the son of a local politician. My only regret has been not keeping a piece of the business, because Giraffas nowadays is second only to Mc Donald’s in Brazil."

1983 saw another leap forward when he created Rockway, Brasilia's first rock festival, drawing 17,000 fans to see some of the nation's biggest acts, including Raul Seixas, A Cor do Som, Radio Taxi and Robertinho de Recife.

That same year also brought him together with the promoter Phil Rodriquez, who would become a lifelong friend and business associate. "I had a tour with Quiet Riot and Muniz managed the Brazilian artist that was support on the dates," recalls Rodriguez. "We hit it off from the beginning." The pair would often find themselves in competition, but their friendship persisted through it all.

As his ventures continued to proliferate, Muniz moved to Sao Paulo in 1984 where he started a new company, Metal Productions, under whose banner he brought in the aforementioned Jethro Tull.

These were still difficult times in Brazil and, although he can now laugh at the memory, his 1989 Motorhead tour was one long headache. "Because of a mix-up, TWA left the band’s gear in Frankfurt and did not deliver it until the day of the show around 9pm, when the band was already supposed to be on stage.  I hired three local opening bands and kept them playing alternately for four hours until I cleared customs and got the gear to the venue. Lemmy and Co eventually got onstage around 1:30pm."

Not long after, Rob Hallett (now President of International Touring, AEG) brought his latest proteges, the outrageous Sigue Sigue Sputnik, to Brazil with Muniz in charge of the dates. "Brazil was still virgin territory. There was nowhere substantial to play. We were playing sports halls and anything we could find. Muniz was a real trailblazer. He made us very welcome, showing us the city, the clubs, the beaches, and he's gone on to become recognised as one of the founding fathers of international touring in Brazil."

Hallett's other memory of that tour reveals a little about Muniz the man, rather than the promoter. "We were standing outside the hotel on Copacabana Beach, and a bunch of little five-year-olds came by. I was thinking how cute they were, but they nicked my wallet and went running off. So Jose legged it down the beach, caught them and persuaded them to give it back to me."

Muniz's next move came in 1991 when he changed his company name to Mercury Concerts. "That was because I wanted to diversify and start promoting family and Broadway shows and I thought I needed a less specific name."

Before long, Mercury was promoting around 70% of the international content presented in Brazil, and spreading its field of operation into territories including Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Costa Rica.

In partnership with Rodriguez, Muniz launched the Philips Monsters Of Rock Festival in 1994, initiating the first sponsored music event of its kind in Brazil, with headliners including Kiss, Black Sabbath and Slayer.

"One very fond memory," says Rodriguez, "is that with Monsters of Rock we would give the whole festival a new thematic look every year.  One year was Medieval, another Egyptian, another Greco-Roman and another futuristic-Blade Runner. The punters would rush into the venue when we opened doors to get their first glimpse of the stage each year.  So Muniz and I would place ourselves right at the entrance to the main gate of the Pacaembu Stadium in Sao Paulo when we opened doors at 8am just to see the excitement on their faces. We would stand there together like the proud parents of the event.  It became our little tradition."

Muniz adds, "In its four editions between 1994 and 1998 Philips Monsters attracted over 250,000 fans and presented some of the biggest names - Kiss, Ozzy, Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Megadeth and many others.''

Alongside this, Muniz was continuing to expand his boundaries and in 1995 he staged a spectacular presentation of the opera Carmina Burana on Copacabana Beach. As ever, its success was matched only by the monumental struggle to make it happen. "The show uses a 25m high tower which was much too heavy to sit on the sand, so a sub-stage had to be built," he remembers. "Lots of rain, broken cranes and production managers quitting the job added lots of emotion to the project but finally, on show day, 250,000 people witnessed one of the most beautiful events ever presented in Rio. With all the press coverage and great reviews, one week later I sold out the Pacaembu Stadium in Sao Paulo with 32,000 tickets and a gross of US$1,6m."

Exploring yet another new avenue in 1996, Mercury promoted the first Broadway show to arrive in South America, The Who's Tommy. "During a trip to New York I went to see Tommy on Broadway," reveals Muniz. "I thought it was amazing, with lots of special effects, very appealing to both rock and theater audiences. I decided it would be the first Broadway show to be presented in Brazil. Back then, we didn’t have proper theaters for musicals, so we had to demolish a back wall at the Olympia in Sao Paulo to be able to hold the full show. Tommy had a very successful run and confirmed the potential of the market for musicals."

In 2000, Muniz sold his flourishing Mercury Concerts to CIE/Ocesa, and became their Director Of Entertainment. One of their first promotions, a tour by Mark Knopfler with agent Andrew Zweck of Sensible Events, proved that, although much had improved in South America, many problems remained to be overcome. "Mark played a circular venue called Gigantinho in Porto Alegre which had about 12,000 capacity," says Zweck. "Muniz had entrusted the show to a local guy who had sold way more tickets than the capacity, maybe even 20,000. Every stairway, gangway, exit and corridor, was crammed, even backstage. We had to bring in the police to clear a route from Mark's dressing room to the stage."

Zweck is happy to confirm, however, that, "Since then, Muniz has built up Brazil to the point where the quality of service and backup is as good as you get in America, certainly more sophisticated than its neighbouring countries."

Another historic moment came in 2002, when Muniz, allied with Neil Warnock of The Agency Group, pulled off an expected coup. "I've represented Rush since the mid-70s, and despite never going there, they started to develop a huge following in South America. Muniz rated them, with Pink Floyd and U2, as among the Top 3 bands that could really clean up in South America. For six or seven years, Muniz was making offers to me, and the band's management would reject them."

Eventually, manager Ray Danniels relented but with conditions. "I told Muniz there was no way I would send Rush there unless he came to see the show in America.  Within a week, he and his production manager flew in to see Rush in San Francisco." 

"We had to set it up so they could take all of their production with them, so they felt very safe," adds Warnock, "and because they were very sceptical, all the money had to be paid upfront."

In the event, the show in Morumbi Stadium, Sao Paulo, sold 60,000 and Maracana Stadium in Rio did 50,000. "Muniz had been so eager and committed," says Danniels, "but even more important, he was right!"

2004 saw Muniz moving to New York as the new Vice President of CIE's Ocesa Presents, overseeing the company’s tours in all of South America. "We shared offices on the same floor  in New York for a couple of years, while he was booking Latin America and I was booking Mexico," reflects his close colleague from that era, Memo Parra. "At the end of every day, we always got together in each other offices and talked about our day or misfortunes, it was a nice tension breaker."

But New York was not his home for long, because in 2007, when the newly created Time 4 Fun acquired CIE, Muniz relocated to Florida as Senior Vice President of T4F USA, overseeing the company`s activities in Brazil, Chile and Argentina.

With Muniz at the helm, and a reviving South American economy, further expansion was inevitable, and tours with acts like Aerosmith, Pearl Jam, Madonna and Bon Jovi were coming in to play tours up to 17 dates. "We were able to add new territories in each tour," he says, "and with the exception of Bolivia, there was no country left in the region without a show."

His greatest success in this era was a 17-date, 12-country visit by Guns N' Roses in 2011. Even Doc McGhee, manager of Guns N'Roses, admits, "With a band like Guns 'N Roses, Muniz had to face all kinds of things from not showing up on time to audience riots, but he stayed calm and dealt with it through the whole thing. I've worked with him for almost 20 years, and we have a good relationship. I can call him any time and ask his advice, about the timing or the routing of a tour, and I trust him to give me good information."

A special bond seems to have been established during that tour. In the words of Axl Rose's personal assistant, Fernando Lebeis, "Working with Muniz, during our South America tour; through thick and thin; Muniz stood by our camp and showed us a level of respect never witnessed before from any other promoter.  We love Muniz, and we don't see a tour in Central and South America that does not involve him."

In 2012, after twelve years with CIE/T4F, Muniz accepted an irresistible offer. "My dear friend Phil Rodriguez invited me to join forces with him at XYZ Live and Evenpro," he says, "and I felt that together we could really make an impact."

It's no great surprise that the old buddies have already successfully revived their first baby, Monsters Of Rock, headlined by Aerosmith, Slipknot and Whitesnake, while also bringing in acts as diverse as Beyonce, Justin Bieber, The Cure and Muse.

There's no sign of Muniz slowing down and when asked what's next he says, "The same as these last 30 years … I go right back to my desk to work like a dog… a happy one."

OTHER VOICES...

Sergio Affonso, President, Warner Music Brazil : I’ve known and worked with Muniz for over 25 years. We first met when he was starting in the entertainment business, and I particularly remember that 1989 tour by Sigue Sigue Sputnik, really crazy guys that hardly anyone knew, but it was a success! Since then we've done Madonna, Laura Pausini, Alanis Morissette and Linkin Park among others. He is always audacious and utterly enthusiastic for his work.

Rod MacSween, ITB : Prior to working with Muniz, all I was doing in South America was the Rock In Rio festival. I did Pearl Jam's first big stadium tour down there (2005) with Time For Fun, and it did phenomenal business, with Jose at the forefront of those dates. He's great company, good to go out to dinner with, very easy to work with and he knows his market.

Barry Dickins, ITB :
In twenty years of working with Muniz, we've done Dylan, Diana Ross, Jamiroquai, Seal, John Fogerty and loads of others. One thing I love about Muniz is that his shows always look good. Even if they only sell half the tickets, he makes sure the venue looks full. He actually cares, wants the artist to be happy, doesn't just book the dates and hope they sell. He works it.

Rob Markus, William Morris Agency :
I first met Muniz around 2004, and since then we've done Incubus, Nine Inch Nails, Faith No More, Sebastian Bach and others. Brazil's a tough region for a lot of people, but he's built a great set of alliances in less-travelled places like Guatemala and El Salvador, and his way of handling things instills a lot of confidence in managers. They feel he'll take care of them.

Dennis Arfa : Muniz is one of the world's most tenacious promoters. It used to be when you would tour in South America it was like going to a third world continent but Jose has helped revolutionise the experience.