Mark Balderas
Background information
Birth nameMark Henry Balderas
Born (1959-09-10) September 10, 1959
OriginEncino, California
GenresRock, Alternative Rock, Gothic Rock
Occupation(s)Keyboardist, Background Vocalist
Years active1983 - Present
LabelsRCA Records
Projekt Records
Triple X Records
Noise Kontrol (Mexico)
Opcion Sonica (Mexico)
The Orchard
Fonarte Latino (Mexico)
Sunset Blvd Records

Mark Balderas (born September 10, 1959, in Encino, California) is the keyboardist for the rock band Human Drama[1] from 1986 to 1991 and from 1993 to 2005 and has been currently active with the band since 2012.[2]

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 attended El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, California, where he played varsity American football. He went on to earn an Associate of Arts degree at Pierce College in Woodland Hills in 1980, and a Bachelor of Arts at California State University, Northridge, in 1982, majoring in Radio-Television-Film.

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. 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 at the famous Rockfield Studios 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.[3] In 1991, Balderas joined up with Human Drama guitarist Michael Ciravolo's new band The Congregation.

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[4] on Triple X Records. The song “Lifting the Vale” was later on the series Everwood Season 4 Episode 9 “Getting to know You”. 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.

References

  1. ↑ "Human Drama Cause and Effect CD". CD Universe. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  2. ↑ "Mark Balderas Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
  3. ↑ "Various Artists". Projekt. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  4. ↑ "Mark Balderas". discogs.com. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
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