Conversations with Dava Giustizia

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dava Giustizia.

Hi Dava, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in a family where nobody really played a musical instrument, but has a pretty big appreciation for the music itself. My late grandfather from my father, however, led a Hadrah ensemble (a traditional religious vocal ensemble, with iconic rehearsed clapping patterns) in his local neighborhood in Gresik, Indonesia. He and his ensemble made quite a name for themselves in the area, actually. Perhaps that is where my family’s appreciation for music and art roots came from.

In my childhood years, my parents introduced me to the wide variety of music ranging internationally, including — but not in any particular order — names like Queen, ABBA, Michael Jackson, Deep Purple, The Beatles, Ummu Kulsum, Ebiet G. Ade, Iwan Fals, Bon Jovi, Paul Mauriat, Vivaldi, and many more. This wide pallete of color grew in me and has inspired me ever since. Sometimes I unconsciously thought of the color of the melodies from those music when I write music myself — even to this day. I often associate the memories and the kind of melodies from the music I heard in these times in my life as “bittersweet”.

My parents offered me to join an institution that taught European Classical Piano techniques for me to learn the piano in the age of 4. Being someone in that age, you couldn’t really say no, you know? I just thought it would be cool and fun to try something new, and it was my parents that offered me the opportunity, so I said “sure, why not?” And I continued learning the piano in that fashion alongside with my academic studies for around 9 years.

Now don’t get me wrong, I thought it was fun. I met new friends and new mentors that inspired me. I cherished and enjoyed the moments and the lessons from those years — sometimes nowadays I even look back to it and wished I took it more seriously (haha) —, but I grew tired of it after a while. I felt like I was forced to learn songs that I didn’t really want to play, then it led to me not practicing my repertoires, and the lessons were not cheap either. I started to picking up more interest in the guitar as a distraction from the piano (and because I thought it was cooler). And so, with those factors in consideration, my parents and I decided to not continue the piano lessons, which led me to explore music by my own.

It was when I explored with the guitar deeper that I realized that, aside from the techniques specific to the instrument, the things I learnt in my piano lessons and repertoires were not a “fixed” thing only for the piano, instead it was the music itself and can be applied to other instruments. I developed a basic grasp and understanding how notes work with each other to create harmonies, and saw patterns of it in the music I listened to. It was at this time where my older brother introduced me to Dream Theater and Dewa 19’s music, while my friends and mentors introduced me to Avenged Sevenfold, Metallica, AC/DC, Paul Gilbert, Neil Zaza, Symphony X, and many more. I grew a liking to the rock/progressive metal world; I appreciate the “energetic” vibe that was going on in these kind of music.

Once I got more confident in my skills, I joined a couple of bands with my friends in junior high school, where I learnt to play in a group. I enjoyed discussing and practicing the stuff we all liked together. It felt more fresh and liberating, rather than having to learn from a piano lesson session. And there was this one friend of mine whom him and I would always share and “compete” with each other, resulting in a progress I’ve never seen before in our musical skills and knowledge. A healthy rivalry, I would say. It was also at this time in my band where I decided to explore playing with the keyboard/synthesizer, feeling that I would thrive and benefit more with it, also due to my prior piano knowledge.

When my friend introduced me to the music of Chick Corea’s fusion jazz stuff in my transitional year to senior high school, I was amazed. I felt the “bittersweetness” and “energy” that I felt from my previous influences but taken to the next level of exploration and virtuosity. I saw this as a fresh air, after when I felt like I was getting stagnant with my exploration of music. I was afraid to learn jazz and its language due to its high demanding and very wide nature, but I felt that I finally found the bridge that can connect me and my color with jazz. Naturally, my senior high school years then was more filled with my exploration in fusion jazz, and I took a deep interest in the music of Casiopea, Indra Lesmana, Al Jerrau, T-Square, Barry Likumahuwa, B.On.It Productions, and many more. I enjoyed joining band festival competitions with my school’s band and expanding my connections, sharing interests with new friends, and learning new perspectives.

While it is true that Dream Theater had inspired me to go to Berklee College of Music for my college to study progressive metal music, after I found out that Berklee has a very rich root in jazz (which was and still is my growing interest), my motivation to go to the campus to continue my study in music grew even bigger. I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to study in Berklee after auditioning and getting accepted to enter on January 2020. My exploration in music had expanded even more ever since, being surrounded in an environment where everybody is exploring music in their own way, exposed to even more different ideas and perspectives, experimenting and trying out new stuff, and so on. Now, I am taking more interest of the music from Indonesia’s native traditions, and from names like Chick Corea, Sri Hanuraga, Billy Childs, Maria Schneider, Mulgrew Miller, Vadim Neselovskyi, Bob Brookmeyer, Jim McNeely, Pat Metheny, and many more. I am fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to study with some of them.

I realize that I still have much more to learn, as I’m approaching my finish line in my studies. But I am happy and grateful that I have met good friends and people along the way that had inspired me to become a better musician and human being up until this day, and I am looking forward to meet and learn from even more in the future!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of the challenges I have faced in my journey was my parents’ initial disagreement when I said I am planning to find a living through music as my path, which is understandable because neither of them were musicians, and musician’s life were often seen with hesitation for its unstable nature of lifestyle. I understand that the worry and initial disagreement from my parents came from a place of love, and it’s because they care for me and my well-being. But after I matured enough and explained my life’s vision and principles to them as a musician nicely in a discussion, we then came to a mutual agreement.

Another challenge was more of a personal one, where I sometimes feel like I lose my color as a musician or don’t know where I’m going with my music or art. The feeling tends to come when I compare myself with others too much. I believe this is a common challenge for us musicians and artists, or even as a person in general. I remind myself and others that may need the reminder, to create or do something for yourself and yourself only first. It is the only most honest way to create something. Writing with the intention to please other people’s judgement will never satisfy you nor public opinion. What I’m trying to say is we can’t please ultimately everyone, so might as well create something that you are satisfied with to the fullest.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
As a musician, I specialize as a composer, arranger, and performer. I enjoy writing music like writing a story or a journal for myself as a reflection on concepts or things that happen around my life, and if others are interested to hear the story or my thoughts on those things via my music, I am grateful.

My compositional exploration right now can be more on the Edition of Contemporary Music (ECM) style, writing episodically; or it can be in a shorter fashion of standard “AABA”-ish or “Verse-Chorus” thing, for a small or big ensemble, depends on how I see how I can express the thing of interest at the time. Although I would consider my recent musical works fall more on the fusion side, my influences range from progressive metal, Indonesian traditional ethnic music, swing-bebop language, and even pop. I don’t like to categorize what my music is, to be honest, because it’s a result from a mixture of the things that sparked my interests at the time of creation. I can say one thing for certain though, it will have a story.

As a performer, right now I enjoy playing funk, fusion, and swing, although I am always open to learn new things to play. I have had experiences playing as a keyboardist in rock/alternative/progressive and pop settings in the past. I’d like to get back and refresh my European Classical roots sometime soon when I have the time, though, haha.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
A memory from my childhood that occassionally springs out in my mind from time to time is when I was in one of the group piano lesson sessions in my first year of joining said institution. I was four years old, and my mother was there to accompany me. I saw my teacher played this one song as an accompaniment for the class to sing to, which I thought was a very amazing and beautiful performance. I remember I asked my mom: “Will I be able to play the piano like that in the future?” My mom smiled and said: “Of course, as long as you put in the time to work on it.” That was very inspiring for me, and now it’s a very warm memory to look back to.

Contact Info:

• Website: linktr.ee/davagiustizia
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davagiustizia/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dava.giustizia.9/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davagiustizia/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/davagiustizia
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DavaGiustizia
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/dava-giustizia

Image Credits
Surya Lambang, Andrean Rachman, Nabil Rizki