Meet Dava Giustizia | Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dava Giustizia and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dava, what do you want your legacy to be?
I want to be remembered as someone who played and wrote music to understand himself and his beliefs better each time, as a record of my journey in my life trying to be a better person each day. Hopefully, my music may inspire others to be a better person for themselves and the world when they find me and my music.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My art is and will always be a mixture from my inspirations throughout the years. I started learning to internalize the sweet melodies and harmonies in my early days of learning European classical piano music. After getting bored of reading notation sheets for 9 years of my life (haha), I joined a band to experiment with the elements of the progressive rock & metal scene, especially the stuff from Dream Theater, which is also why I wanted to go to Berklee College of Music in the first place.

Having felt the freedom of playing with friends ever since, I got myself interested into the fusion jazz scene from Chick Corea’s music, and dove deeper into jazz and its roots and essence ever since I go to Berklee, where then I’ve met a lot of very inspiring friends and teachers, one of them being Billy Childs. Also at Berklee, where I’ve studied the culture of the local culture’s music and history, I’ve started to appreciate and want to learn more about my own cultures from Indonesia.

I realize I want to write music for myself, and not box myself into only a genre or another. Like my mentor Vadim Neselovskyi, I want to be a ‘story teller’, even a ‘free man’. A free man who expresses himself through the notes and harmony (or lack thereof).

I believe, the original part of an art is the artist’s way of thinking, background, and reasoning. Through my backgrounds and character, I identify my music as “bittersweetly energetic”,

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would often visit the Charles River Esplanade. With the beautiful skyscrapers and metropolitan view in the background, I usually sit there to hang out with a friend, or in other times just giving a space for myself to think and take a breather. Oh, and you should try to go to the Shah’s Halal Food near Berklee — for the price, it’s very worth it! 😀

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I thank God for always guiding my in my brightest and darkest times.

I thank my parents and family, for all the teachings and the love all this time which I’m forever grateful for.

I thank all of my friends that I met throughout the years where we met, talked, played and learnt a lot together.

I thank all of my teachers who taught me to have character and courage in life.

I thank Nathania J. Pasila for the recommendation to be able to have this opportunity.

I thank Anbiya Nawfal Alfina, the one that gave me the courage and passion to play in a band.

I shall dedicate this shoutout to my teacher and mentor, Harun Hasibuan.

Website: linktr.ee/davagiustizia

Instagram: @davagiustizia

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/davagiustizia

Twitter: @davagiustizia

Facebook: Dava Giustizia

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DavaGiustizia

Image Credits
Owen Nathanael, Andrean Rachman, Surya Lambang