Today we’d like to introduce you to David Preston.
Hi David, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started my life out in the church my father was a pastor so I am a PK (Pastors Kid) I first knew I loved music when I heard the choir singing and the way the musicians played their instruments I knew then that was something I wanted to be a part of in my music career but not the singing aspect. Definitely the playing instruments part. I also was three years old pulling pots and pans out of our cabinets and using utensils to play on them making the pots become drums and keeping tempo and making a beat out of the items, I found so much joy out of doing this and my mom would hear me and she would start singing gospel songs with the drum beats I was making. My parents finally saw how passionate I was about the drums and they purchased me my first drum set for Christmas but they forgot to get me drumsticks to play on the drums but me being me I was so excited that I ran to the bathroom and took toothbrushes and started playing on the drum set and my dad kept telling me “hold on boy I’m gonna go and get you some sticks from the church” but that didn’t stop me. I was never taught how to play a drum set; I just watched other drummers and picked up some of the tricks they would do from me watching them. I feel as if I was self-taught and kept playing throughout my years because my passion and anointing ran so deep for music that I didn’t let anything stop me. fast forward I took learning music to another level in my career and joined the band at school I didn’t play the drums but I picked up a low brass instrument called the Tuba and boy does it take a lot of air to blow into that horn. I started off in concert band at Marshall Middle School in Beaumont Texas then transitioned to be in the concert band as well as Marching band at West Brook Highschool (SoundPower) of Beaumont Texas, I Marched at West Brook for all four years.
After that, I wanted to take an even deeper dive into my career and Went to Thee Illustrious and Incomparable Prairie View A&M University of Prairie View Texas to study Music Education and joined the best band in the world “Thee Marching Storm”. I am still attending the college but my first semester started off pretty rocky to say the least. I lost my grandmother due to breast cancer she had it before in 2015 but it came back worst in 2018. She and I share our birthday together which is on Nov. 18th and sadly she passed on Nov.9th, 2018, I went to Prairie View in July of 2018 with a mind ready to be molded into greatness but my life took a turn for the worst in my opinion. For my grandmother to pass away right before our birthday, it definitely hurt me and I am still yet recovering from it with the help of Jesus. Fast forward now, as I am recovering from the passing of my grandmother, I discovered a hidden gem inside of me that has taken me even deeper into my Musical journey. I discovered within myself that I can hold a note and sing and I am also now a songwriter. I have to thank Jesus of course as well as my sister (Brianna Preston) and a Houston rapper named Jordan Thomas (713 Jumpman) for helping bring the music out of me that I didn’t know existed. My beautiful mother (Shalonda Jones) always told my sisters and I that we could sing but we have always been too shy to really sing out to the world. My sisters have only sung in the choir at church and me being on the drums was enough for us.
My first song I wrote In 2020 was entitled “Mama I See Your Pain” with the help of Brianna Preston (sister) and Jordan Thomas (713 Jumpman) we wrote the hook in our garage. They heard me sing before we wrote the hook and they said I definitely need to use my voice and start singing in a studio. They asked me what did I want to sing about and I said my life, how I was raised and brought up. I was raised in a single-parent household with two sisters (Brianna & Kaylynn Preston) my parents divorced when I was about four years old and for me to see the struggle my mother went through the tears she cried and the way she prayed and cried out to God for help it made me want to write something very heartfelt and passionate like” Mama I See Your Pain”. My father was not a deadbeat father but a lot of things slipped through the cracks with my mother being the custodial parent and keeping my sisters and I as we were growing up. She couldn’t afford many things that we wanted as well as needed at times and that is why my mother believes in Jesus so much because if it weren’t for him, I do not think we would have made it it was truly nothing but his grace that kept us. after we wrote the hook and I wrote the verses the music just kept coming night after night hook after hook verse after verse it was like an awakening inside me. The music has drawn me so much closer to Jesus for good reasons as well as bad. I come from an area where it is like a crab in the bucket environment. I truly love my hometown Port Arthur Texas which is where I grew up before moving to Beaumont as well as my hometown Beaumont.
There are so many talented and dope artists in these areas but there can be so much hate that can overshadow all of the talent and anointing these young men and women have. Music is truly my life and I take the good with the bad and put it all into the music my passion runs deep for this music. Many roadblocks have shown up in the midst of this journey like me losing my father (Ronald Preston) on Sept. 20, 2021 to suffering with health problems. My father was a very good man and a Power House preacher I love and miss him every day. I’ve also lost many other family members but it has drawn me closer to God now more than ever and has made the music I have been writing so impactful and life-changing, I pray my story touches someone and shows them yes life is full of ups and downs highs and some lows but just know the storm won’t last long. I am living proof that it won’t. My life will be a living testimony to show any and everyone that no matter where you are in life God will find you and show up like you have never seen before. there is no heartache or heartbreak that Jesus can not mend. Always remember to keep your head up and stay true to yourself there is greatness in you be blessed.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have been many challenges along the way with being an independent artist. It is definitely not cheap trying to get your music out to the world; it is not at all easy. It can have many setbacks that is why I commend all upcoming artists that are grinding to see a change in their life. It takes a lot to write a hook, a bar let alone a 16 and put it in the booth and pour your heart out and put all of your soul into the music. My heart goes out to them but only the strong-willed and determined artists can see it through to the end and make lemons out of lemonade.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My foundation is gospel music. I grew up around it and I love artists such as Kirk Franklin, Marvin Sapp, Rueben Studdard, Dedrick Haddon, Yolonda Adams, Mary Mary, Tye Tribbett, Fred Hammond, Jekayln Carr, and so many more. I love the way they embody the gospel genre and their not afraid to be different and stand out from the rest, and also to connect with the younger generations but still get the gospel genre message across. My style of music is different to me because I keep my foundation as gospel but I also venture off into other genres such as R&B, Pop, Hip Hop, Country, Afro Beat, Zydeco, etc. Some of my songs they wouldn’t be considered traditional gospel songs, but some may accept it, others may not. I just pray the message of being an overcomer gets across to anyone who listens to my music and that most of all, you’re never alone. I’m most proud of my Authenticity. I love that I don’t mind staying true to myself and that I’m not trying to go out of my way to be anyone else. I love being me and doing what I do because no one else can do what I have been gifted to do.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I am definitely an introvert. I am not a big party person. I don’t mind going out to parties or being around new people but I prefer to be at home to myself or being with my family. I enjoy other’s company don’t get me wrong but I just rather be to myself a lot of times It is nothing against anyone that is just how I am at times it’s for my mental sanity but I do love a good time with friends and family I live for it!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/music_is_mylife18/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.k.preston/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/musicis_my_lyfe
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTXV9AIrJDeKzPjzuB1Wi8w/videos
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-371080319
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0aDmRT3DCX1aAUcowiy6FL?si=X_9hL4s3TmGiWTsguWOfWA
