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<\/p>\nCalling David J (Haskins) a bassist is technically correct, but doing so ignores his myriad other artistic pursuits. Singer, songwriter, playwright, film scorer, director, poet, author and spoken-word artist are all labels that apply to the Northampton, England-born artist. He has a rich and creatively varied background, with notable work as early as 1978; nearly a half century later, his present activities are no less interesting.<\/p>\n
And while some artists draw sharp lines between their varied pursuits, most everything that David J does is intertwined with his other creative activities.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe Germans have a word for it: gesamkuntswerk<\/i>,\u201d he explains. \u201cLiterally, it describes everything under one umbrella, all the types of art that one does collectively being one big piece of work.\u201d He says that that idea has always appealed to him, even while he might bring different mindsets to different creative activities. \u201cThere\u2019s a resonance that you can find from paintings to poems to songs,\u201d he observes. \u201cIt all resonates, and I do see it as one big dollop of work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Against that background, it makes sense that on his current tour, audiences experience both David J\u2019s spoken-word pieces, his music, and a hybridization of the two forms. He\u2019s touring in support of The Mother Tree<\/i>, his new album released in June. The Mother Tree<\/i> features J reciting from his latest book of poetry, Rhapsody, Threnody & Prayer<\/i>, with musical accompaniment on some tracks by RAQIA, an instrumental trio featuring violinist Gregory Allison, keyboardist Jon Bernstein and guitarist Tad Piecka. It\u2019s an engaging, evocative and contemplative work that conjures its own atmosphere.<\/p>\n
And atmosphere has always been a key component of David J\u2019s work. He first came to public notice in the late 1970s with post-punk band Bauhaus. That group\u2019s \u201cBela Lugosi\u2019s Dead\u201d was a highly influential track that helped launch the goth-rock movement. One of David J\u2019s original tracks for Bauhaus, \u201cWho Killed Mister Moonlight?\u201d would provide the title for his well-received 2014 memoir. The group released five studio albums, five live releases and placed ten of its eleven singles on the UK charts.<\/p>\n
Bauhaus broke up in 1983, though they\u2019d reunite several times, most recently in 2022-23. After the initial split, David J and two Bauhaus band mates formed a new, more mainstream oriented group, Love and Rockets. That group also came and went multiple times over the years, releasing seven albums along the way and landing the same number of its singles on American charts.<\/p>\n
Tenures in those two groups would be enough to keep most musicians both busy and creatively fulfilled. But David J has written for theater three times, and composed scores for four works. In 2024 he released Tracks From the Attic<\/i>, a three-disc, 37-song collection of home demos. Those recordings were made, as he says, \u201cwith only the help of [my] Muse, a recorder and a lit candle.\u201d Tour dates to promote that lavishly-packaged release were notable for their recreation of his writer\u2019s room at home: David J alone, with a lit candle.<\/p>\n
Concerts in support of The Mother Tree<\/i> are nearly as spare, helping to shine the spotlight on David J\u2019s lyrics and subtle \u2013 yet always evocative \u2013 music. He says that the album \u201cis a launching pad for the type of presentation I\u2019m doing: the first half hour is just me standing there reciting these spoken-word pieces over pre-recorded music. And then I pick up the acoustic guitar and play songs.\u201d For the San Jose date, he\u2019ll be joined by multi-instrumentalist John Courage.<\/p>\n
The vivid imagery in David J\u2019s poetry often ventures well beyond the traditional boundaries of rock and roll tunes. One recent single \u2013 and a regular fixture on the current set list \u2013 is \u201cExit El Hombre Invisible.\u201d The work centers on William Burroughs in Mexico City, the period during which he fatally shot his wife. The musical backing is equally outr\u00e9, featuring guitarist Steven Brown from Bay Area experimental group Tuxedomoon.<\/p>\n
Onstage, David J\u2019s music and poetry connects and engages with the audience. In the process, the metaphorical wall between performer and audience dissolves. But David J doesn\u2019t make a conscious effort to make that happen. \u201cThat tends to happen naturally,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m naturally inclined to do that. And the longer that I\u2019ve been in this game, the easier it is to do that, and to be comfortable in any given live situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
David J\u2019s collaboration with RAQIA \u2013 on The Mother Tree<\/i>\u2019s title track and select others \u2013 came about through a happenstance encounter. \u201cI was going to see my musician friend Nora Keys play at a little place in downtown L.A.,\u201d he recalls. J had planned to leave after Keys\u2019 set, but in the moment he changed his mind. \u201cThis band took the stage, and I thought, \u2018I\u2019ll stay and see what this lot are like.\u2019 And I was completely arrested by it.\u201d He describes RAQIA\u2019s improvisational music as \u201cinteractive\u2026 they were listening and responding to each other in a jazz kind of way.\u201d<\/p>\n
That spontaneity would carry over when the group joined David J in the studio. Ahead of time, he had shared a recording of his spoken-word, but once they all gathered in the studio, there was no further discussion nor preparation. \u201cI gave them carte blanche to come up with whatever they wanted,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd then we all went in [to the studio] together at the same time, and recorded it in one take.\u201d<\/p>\n
While some of his poems \u2013 like the Burroughs-referencing piece \u2013 are observational, much of David J\u2019s work is drawn from personal first-hand experience. \u201cSongs and poems are like diary entries, really,\u201d he says, emphasizing that the recalled memories inform his performance. \u201cI remember the circumstances \u2013 where I was, what I was doing, who I was with \u2013 and then I tap into that. And it\u2019s all given the perspective of moving on, of evolution. All of that comes into play.\u201d<\/p>\n