Tune In: The Balance King

Every Thursday night at MOCA Jacksonville, we host local musicians and performers in the MOCA CAFE for Happy Hour Live. Since we are unable to provide this program at the museum right now, we are going to be celebrating these amazing performers here on the MOCA BLOG. Performing artists across the world are taking a hard hit right now, and we can all do our part to support local performing artists by downloading their music, participating in live-stream performances, or following them and sharing their posts on social media. 

Today on the MOCA Blog, we ask DJ the Balance King to share with us a bit about his work and how this current crisis is affecting him as an artist.

Describe your journey to becoming a musician.

Ever since my formative years, I have had a visceral fascination with dismantling the conventions of genre and sound. I explore as a classically trained pianist, composer, trumpeter, and sound curator. Along with my curatorial + music partner, Zaiche Johnson (New Company), we are excavating channels of expression, to nurture the sound yet to come.

Who or what inspires you as an artist?

The multiverse, the ecosystem, my children and all children of the world, my wife and muse, African and Indigenous cultures, and our adaptability as a species, to discover peace in the most tumultuous times.

Why Jacksonville?

Geography is a peculiar topic, because we are often conditioned to form an identity, based on the cultural idea of territorial proximity. Jacksonville possesses a magnitude of potential, in terms of being an international port city, coupled with a rich and criminally underpublicized jazz and blues history. There is also a plethora of brilliant artisans, who are longing for structural support, from the municipal sectors. The inevitable creative explosion is on the outer perimeter of the preexisting notions of art and commerce.

What does MOCA mean to you?

It is an epicenter for the fascinating possibilities of how we can redefine contemporary art. It is a cocoon of diverse conceptual reasoning and a refreshing oasis of communication with our peers like our developing collaboration with the mercurial Kedgar Volta (Project Atrium Artist, November 2019 - March 2020), Joash Brunet, and Joseph Provenza ( The Castaño Group), is a testament to this. We would be remiss, if we didn't extend our extreme gratitude, to MOCA Director Caitlín Doherty, Director of Communications and Marketing Nan Kavanaugh, Director of Education and Public Programs Matthew Patterson, and Community Programs Coordinator Cassie Derickson, for their support!

As an artist, how have you been affected by the current health crisis?

The most critical impact is our physical disconnection as a community, along with the complicated health and financial devastation for many folks around the world. Fortunately, my team and I are in good health at this time. We are immensely thankful for the front-line medical, logistical, service, clinical, and social workers around the globe extending and risking themselves in the face of danger. We are eagerly anticipating the moment when we can all be together again.

Can you recommend a song or album to shake off the quarantine blues?

Zaiche and I have curated a Spotify playlist called Home Cookin, which we hope will warm the hearts of all who hear it. We love you all!

To hear more music by The Balance King and for more information on his work, follow him on Facebook at @thebalanceking and on Instagram at @thebalancekingreigns . To learn more about his collaborations with his co-curator Zaiche and other projects follow @newcompanypresents on Instagram.