25 year old musician David Bock, better known as Bockman, has been DJing at all of the local hot-spots in the Greater Trenton area. Performing at places such as Trenton Social, Joe’s Mill Hill Saloon, Galicja Lounge, Champ’s Bar and more, Bockman has made an effort to spread music throughout all parts of the capital over the past five years.
“My escape just in general is music. I never really had any other intentions other than to just play for people and see where it takes me or where it takes other people. It’s not only about me, it’s about what people feel from it,” said Bockman.
Growing up on the boarder between Trenton and Lawrence, Bockman attended Lawrence High School. As a skater kid, he never intended on getting into music until his dad bought him a guitar that he used as decoration in his bedroom.
He said, “It was funny, because my dad bought it, obviously thinking that I was going to play the thing and that it was going to be my own little calling card to music. I never wanted to do it. We used to get into fights about it all the time.”
To avoid confrontation, Bockman decided one day he should try and learn the instrument for his dads sake. “I had just had it and I was like, alight. I literally pick the thing up just so he’d shut up to be honest and it was game over. I fell in love with it ever since,” he said.
Since then, Bockman has been in a variety of different, small punk bands. After a fall out with his last and final band, Bockman thought he was going to “quit” music. It only took him a week to cave and realize music had become a part of his passion. He said, “I convinced my dad to buy me a little PC laptop and then I started producing. The rest is history.”
Currently, Bockman has had a slower couple of months as the COVID-19 pandemic progresses. However, he hopes to keep uplifting the Trenton community through his music once social events start to open back up.
For Bockman, Trenton has become an important and beloved city. With the constant controversy over the city’s well-being, he hopes to shed light on his hometown through entertainment.
Bockman said, “There’s always some kind of negative connotation when it comes to Trenton and I never understood that, because it’s like, when you go to these parties it’s nothing but a loving community.”
He continued, “There’s a sense of community and I think there’s a lot of special energy and stuff that comes from the city; from music, to art, to just community. It’s really a nice place to be from whether people want to believe it or not.”
