Who: David Wilson, a 20-year-old electronic music producer from Las Vegas who goes by David.cuf (CUF= Creating Unlikely Futures). The name was forged by a young creative rebelling against the mundane life others had planned for him. His music is heavily influenced by his Filipino-American and Native American heritage.
Sound: Wilson’s multidimensional sound is reflective of Flying Lotus and Com Truise. The intricate beats and organic sounds—he has recorded birds chirping, chimes and his own vocals—are meant to reflect a collection of distant memories and experiences, crafting stories for listeners to interpret. “I hope when you listen to the music that you can just kind of escape into your own world and create meaningful experiences with it,” Wilson says.
Vegas vibe: Growing up in a tourist destination helped Wilson see life from a global perspective. “People from all over the world come here to just experience things. I guess that has influenced me in music, because I try to take into consideration things beyond just what’s in front of me.” Wilson recently played UNLV’s mini-music festival RebFest, alongside local acts and headlining Brooklyn indie band Caveman.
Influences: Wilson name-checks Flume, Toro Y Moi and Mr. Carmack as three favorites, although … “I love electronic music, but my all-time-favorite band is Switchfoot. Although they were a religious band, I liked their lyrics, because a lot of it spoke to me and was relatable.”
Up next: Look out for the Thea EP, set to drop in early summer. “This is [my] first legit EP that’s going to be distributed through Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music,” Wilson says. The trippy music video for his latest single, “Amen,” is up now on YouTube. You can also catch David.cuf playing around town with the Rabbit Hole collective of local music producers.
