Mark Balderas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mark Balderas | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Mark Henry Balderas |
| Born | September 10, 1959 |
| Origin | Encino, California, U.S.  |
| Genre(s) | Rock, Alternative Rock, Gothic Rock |
| Occupation(s) | Keyboardist, Musician |
| Years active | 1983 - Present |
| Label(s) | RCA Records Projekt Records Noise Kontrol Opcion Sonica (Mexico) Triple X Records |
| Associated acts | Newsbreak, The Spectres, Human Drama |
Mark Henry Balderas, born September 10, 1959 in Encino, California, was the keyboard player for the rock band Human Drama from 1986 to 1991 and again from 1993 to 2005.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Balderas was raised in West Hills, California, by Elisa Balderas, a housewife, and Henry Balderas, a manufacturer's representative in the electronics industry. He has two older sisters, Christine and Suzanne, and a younger brother, James. He attended El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, California, where he played varsity football. He went on to earn a associate's degree at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, California, in 1980, and a Bachelor of Arts degree at California State University, Northridge, California, in 1982, majoring in radio-television-film.
[edit] Musical career
Balderas started playing keyboards in Los Angeles with the band Newsbreak in 1983. The following year, he joined The Spectres. While playing with The Spectres in 1986, he auditioned for New Orleans, Louisiana, based Human Drama and became their keyboard player soon after. The band became a central figure in the L.A. downtown music scene which revolved around the now legendary Scream goth metal nightclub that helped bring other bands such as Guns N' Roses, Janes Addiction and Red Hot Chile Peppers to wider attention. Human Drama contributed a song, "Wave of Darkness", to the 1987 collection Scream: The Compilation on Geffen Records.
A record deal with RCA Records in 1988 led to the EP "Hopes Prayers Dreams Heart Soul Mind Love Life Death" recorded in Wales and the LP Feel, both produced by Ian Broudie of The Lightning Seeds.
In mid-1990, after recording the single "This Tangled Web" from the critically acclaimed album The World Inside on Triple X Records, Balderas left the group to team up with keyboard player James Osborn to start recording a collection of traditional Christmas songs which they arranged and produced using keyboard orchestration. Their waltz version of the classic "What Child is This" was released in 1995 on the compilation Excelsis Vol.1: A Dark Noel on Projekt Records. In 1991, Balderas joined up with Human Drama guitarist Michael Ciravolo’s new band The Congregation. The group recorded the song "Ride" for the Oliver Stone production South Central.
In 1993, with the release of Human Drama’s fourth album "Pinups" on Triple X Records, Balderas returned, this time for good. In 1994, Human Drama released the EP Human Drama on Projekt Records which included the first of five instrumentals songs, "Solitude I", written by Balderas. He also re-arranged "The Waiting Hour" from Feel with piano, strings and flute. The following year, Human Drama released Songs of Betrayal where Balderas added the remaining four instrumental songs "Solitude II-V". In 1996, Human Drama released Fourteen Thousand Three Hundred Eighty Four Days Later, a live, career-spanning retrospective released both on Hollow Hills/Triple X Records and the Mexican Opcion Sonica label. In 1997, Balderas recorded piano on Michael Aston's Gene Loves Jezebel album Love Lies Bleeding on Triple X Records. He then co-wrote, with Johnny Indovina, the popular "A Single White Rose" for the next Human Drama album Solemn Sun Setting in 1998 on Triple X Records and in 2000, Human Drama released The Best of Human Drama...In a Perfect World on Triple X Records. In 2002, Human Drama released their final album, Cause and Effect, both on Projekt Records and, in Latin America, Noise Kontrol Records.
Human Drama continued to perform live throughout America and Mexico until January 2005.
In 2008, Human Drama re-released "Feel" on Triple X-Hollow Hills Records with 6 bonus tracks.
[edit] Personal life
Today, Balderas lives with his wife Catherine (a former production manager for commercials and music videos) and their son Matthew in Simi Valley, California. He is currently working in sales and marketing in the defense/aerospace and commercial industry for Circuit Express, Inc. He and his wife are also real estate investors, building up multiple properties. He is currently writing new instrumental songs to be released at a future date.
[edit] See also
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
