Today we’d like to introduce you to David Treviño.
Hi David, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am not sure when I started. Big voices caught my ear. Dolly Parton, Chavela Vargas, Nat King Cole, José Alfredo Jiménez. Those were some of the voices I wanted to sound like but outside the house my neighborhood played rock, blues, and polkas, and at school we listened to early 80s hip hop, R&B, electro, and pop. I wanted to write songs then, but I didn’t know how. I wrote down ideas obsessively, tried rearranging songs by recording snippets and squishing them together on cassette tape in a not so cohesive arrangement. I wanted to play guitar but a friend of mine saved up their lunch money and did odd jobs to buy a Hondo Les Paul and told me that I couldn’t play guitar because they needed a drummer. I started on the suitcases and then after a couple years, found an affordable set in our church newspaper ads. While I was skipping the needle trying to learn beats, I found an old Melbay beginner guitar chord book in the office drawer posing as an audio cabinet. I started learning chord shapes and getting calluses on my fingers. I would come up with song ideas or pieces but I didn’t complete a song or at least I didn’t know when to tell myself that this was enough.
I have been playing drums in bands since around age 16. I was lucky to tour with punk bands from 1995 to 2006. My partner and I started having kids in 2008. All this time I had been trying to be a songwriter but I usually only had the capacity for necessities and being a drummer. Nowadays, I find that I am able to do it.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road looks smooth from far away. I had no idea what I was going through until now. I was simply functioning for the system because that fear was put in me.Trying to navigate life with a reserve of damages in a place that tells you aren’t allowed to feel or express your true self is cruel. Your church breaks you and then the system breaks you further until there is barely a penumbral glimpse of any happiness in the foreseeable future. That’s where art comes in to lessen the struggle. I am grateful that I am able to write songs and sing them from time to time.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I have played drums in bands of various styles since I was a teenager. We usually tried to record in some format. These days I focus on my songwriting and collaborating online with friends.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love the atmosphere that people create for art. I don’t like people who dehumanize others.
Contact Info:
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@davidtrevino2743?si=hDBW5Hhc8ACt4eaO
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ellocodelmate
