Artist Spotlight - The Human Experience Interview and Video

We met with David Block of The Human Experience at the Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles to see what he’s been up to. He shared his inspirations, and also some of the meaning behind his work. With the transformative power of music, David aims to catalyze a shared sense of humanity.

Videography and Editing by Megan Stone (www.meganstoneproductions.com)

For those of you not familiar with the ear candy of David Block, it can be described as an electronic symphony live on stage. His performances are brimming and layered with human emotion, world exploration, and sacred sounds.

[LIS] How did you get to where you are today?

[Block] It’s been a long journey. I started playing piano and guitar as a kid and always loved music, I had a very musical family. At a certain point, I was doing a lot of singer/songwriter stuff and traveling around the world, playing street music and exploring. I wanted to have a band, but I didn’t have enough people who were dedicated enough to my project. I played multiple instruments, so I just learned to produce. I taught myself and ultimately met a lot of other people along the way who have helped me out quite a bit.

Who are your biggest inspirations?

I guess it depends. There are so many genres and types of people. Everything from Stevie Ray Vaughn and Jimi Hendrix, to Bob Marley, Sublime, George Martin, to… There’s so much, there’s so many amazing musicians and people in the world to be inspired by.

How would you describe your music?

I’m a big collaborator, so I work with a lot of different artists in different genres. I use a long string of adjectives which usually sounds something like sensual, organic, cinematic, electronic, blending folk music traditions from around the world – everything from dub to bluegrass to funk to jazz to classical. So, taking all of that and blending it over a more minimalist electronic background.

What have you been working on?

I’ve been working on a lot of stuff recently, which seems to always be the case. I always have like five or six projects on the back burner. I have a new collaborative EP call Wavs. That’s going to be a live band called Gone Gone Beyond. It’s horns, strings, stand up bass, a singer named Danny Musengo. I am really excited about that. I have a side project called The United, which is a lot of music I’ve done for Lucent Dossier, a performance/avant garde/circus group out of Los Angeles. Really incredible. That’s more world, bass music.

I have several new singles. One with Grouch, an amazing classic hip hop artist. One with Quixotic. Some stuff with Rising Appalachia, which is like fiddle, bluegrass, soul. A side project called the Cat’s Pajamas. It’s like The Human Experience but deep house rendition. I’ve been working with a good friend named Android Jones who’s doing some really incredible stuff with his 360 immersive dome project. I have a new song with Phutureprimitive on his upcoming album. I’m working with an amazing new vocalist named Nadine Cassanova. There’s like thirty or forty songs that I’ll be releasing, between one and five per month for the next year.