We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Frank Dambra a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Frank, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

After a heavy music discovery phase as a teen I decided that I wanted to create electronic music. I had toyed with the idea of making music before that point and had maybe even sensed that I had some latent ability, but it was around that age that I became serious about it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a pianist and electronic musician from Houston, Texas. I took an interest in the more esoteric side of electronic music when I was a kid (Geogaddi by Boards of Canada and Selected Ambient Works by Aphex Twin were both in my iPod rotation as a 15 year old). I started learning sound synthesis and how to write music in DAW’s around that time.

Later in my early 20’s I took Jazz piano up after finding inspiration watching players at local jam sessions. Of course I had been playing the keyboard already as a teen, but I wanted to have more flexibility and not play the same chords/ideas/shapes over and over again. Learning Jazz theory was a good remedy to this.

Today the piano playing has taken on a life of its own and pushed me into some pretty ‘out there’ harmonic & formal concepts that might not easily fit into a single genre. The aesthetic of my piano compositions might be best described as being at the intersection of Modern Classical, Ambient, and Jazz.

My electronic music alias is Pure Land Infinity Reservoir (PLIR) , and I reserve output that is strictly piano for my name. All of my music is inspired by nature and philosophy.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Finding the flow state during the creative process & connecting to other people.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I was a late bloomer to Classical / Jazz piano and felt I had to play lot’s of ‘catch up’ in my early 20’s. I started learning Bach Inventions, practicing scales all day etc. I think this was easier for me than most people to get into the discipline of, but it was still trying at times. Today I’m fluent in Jazz Improvisation and am where I wanted to be when I set out. Moral of the story is that finding intrinsic motivation can take you to good places if you find something that interests and nourishes you along the way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://frankdambra.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frankdambra7/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@frankdambra
• Other: https://plirmusic.com https://open.spotify.com/artist/6FwXFlJdgGBfStSUHfQf3H?si=OIcU4FUdR2Oq0HgOHjJiYw

Image Credits
Zoe Kanan, Erika Sanchez, Katherine Dominguez, Neal Francis, Julian Palacios