Meet David Hudson Berger | Musician, Singer-Songwriter, Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with David Hudson Berger and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi David Hudson, do you have any habits that you feel contribute to your effectiveness?
I’m not sure if this counts as a habit, but I continually evaluate and reestablish my mindset. Perhaps it’s the habit of self-critiquing. Also I like to constantly reshape my own idea of success. When do I actually achieve that? It always is evolving, and sometimes means looking back and saying to myself, “what you just did or are doing is most definitely a form of success. It’s your definition, not anybody else’s.” I try to be consistent with the practice of stepping back and getting the bird’s eye view of what I’ve been doing and where I’m going. Sometimes this is on the micro level when I’m writing a song where I have perhaps been overworking or am getting burnt out, I try to recognize that and take a walk, do something else totally unrelated, then return to it. I think in the Western mindset we often feel over-pressured to work ourselves to death. I think to wrap all this up into one idea it seems like: awareness. I’ve spent too much time in my life and work as an artist being tunnel visioned and charging straight forward with no real plan, realizing I just needed to zoom out and get my bearing. That’s a habit I’m focusing on more moving forward. Just like getting to a vantage point on a good hike, you have to know where you came from and where you are to know where you’re going.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m not much into astrology, but I am definitely a stubborn Aries. My first real phrase as a child was, “I will do it.” With this kind of headstrong personality, I’ve continually pushed forward as a musician to try to carve out my own path. This influences the way I write music in a less conventional way to especially my live performances. I play with a live-looping setup as a solo artist, which translates to using guitar pedals to record myself on the spot and create layers to sound like a group. This means I not only have to wear a lot of hats on the stage as a performer and arranger, but I GET to express all these ideas in my idea right there in an off-the-cuff kind of way. Looping is becoming more popular, but it’s still such a personalized art form. Everybody approaches it differently. I really like using looping as a tool for arranging, trying to discover how I can execute these plethora of musical ideas in my brain in an interesting and engaging way to the audience. I think people really enjoy watching the process of me building up beats by banging on my acoustic guitar, getting some harmonic textures down, and then taking them on a journey for a few minutes with all these elements of soundscapes and songwriting. Was this an easy path? Definitely not. Being a solo musician means you have no bandmates/coworkers, and means you do all the work. Especially off stage that can be a big workload. And on stage, you have no camaraderie. What I’m working towards with my project, Willowspeak, is a union of unique songwriting, storytelling, and collaboration with visual artists to create an interesting and expansive engagement with art. I like the element of surprise.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’ve only been in Los Angeles for a couple months (very fresh!), but I’ve been here several times. I tend to hang out on the east side in Echo Park, hitting up the smaller venues like Silverlake Lounge and others on Sunset for great intimate music. I enjoy spending a lot of time outside, going for long walks in some beautiful parks like Elysian, or sometimes snaking through interesting neighborhoods grabbing a coffee and a good treat from say, Valerie’s. I can’t resist occasionally diving into downtown and hopping between the cultural neighborhoods, because I find it so fascinating to experience such a diverse range of people, food, language, and sounds in one city. As far as food goes, I’m definitely a street food guy. I love supporting the small businesses who are hustling and cooking because they love it. Bootleg tacos over near Venice. My favorite ramen spot by far is hakata ikkousha. Incredible.
I also spend a lot of time by the shore; I busk on the boardwalk in Venice usually once or twice a week, and cruise up to the Malibu area to get away from the business of LA. When I have access to a car I for sure get up into the mountains like Santa Monica or Angeles NF.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
No matter how commonplace this shoutout might be, my family and friends are central in my journey of being an artist. Without their love and support it would be an incredibly lonely and arduous trek. As someone who is overly self-critical and a perfectionist, it’s really easy to fall into these feedback loops in my own head about how I’m doing. My support group has been there since the beginning to give me encouragement in ways the kept me afloat. From things like being at as many of my shows that they could be, or all the livestreams, to telling me what they think of my music without bias, to the financial support, it’s been crucial to have that kind of love in this kind of a lifestyle.

Website: https://www.willowspeakmusic.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/willowspeakmusic

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/willowspeakmusic

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/willowspeak

Other: https://www.patreon.com/willowspeak

Image Credits
Photo #1: Lauren Garrison Photography Photo #2: Emery Becker Photography