The worldly artist Balkan Bump blends Eastern European music with electronic beats Dec. 2 in Bend.

Will Magid is a Californian, a talented trumpet player, an ambitious composer, a skilled producer and the core creative force behind the Bay Area global-beat sensation Balkan Bump.

He also holds a degree in ethnomusicology, which UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music describes as “the study of all kinds of music from all over the world, using a variety of disciplinary perspectives.”

Magid, who graduated from UCLA, describes it this way: “It’s essentially anthropology and music.” He emphasizes the word “and” when he does so.

Magid’s studies go a long way toward explaining his Balkan Bump project, which blends sounds from across the world — think bright, upbeat horns playing traditional melodies most commonly found in Eastern Europe, Africa or the Middle East — with the big beats and deeply funky grooves of contemporary electronic dance music. Last February, Balkan Bump opened for the like-minded Bay Area band Beats Antique in Bend; Central Oregon Beats Antique fans who missed that one would do well to attend Balkan Bump’s headlining show at the Domino Room on Dec. 2.

Recently, GO! caught up with Magid by telephone and asked him a few questions. He kindly answered, and here’s an excerpt of that conversation, edited for space and clarity.

GO!: Not every kid from California ends up making music that sounds like a Balkan brass band collided with the coolest new DJ on the scene. How did you get into this kind of music?

Will Magid: I think from a pretty early age, I never really made a distinction between the idea of Western music versus global music or “our” music and “their” music. I’ve always looked at all of that as more of a continuum and more of a conversation between people throughout history and the constant ebb and flow of music identities. That was really solidified when I went to college and studied ethnomusicology.

GO!: What did you learn through those studies?

WM: The deeper I got into learning about why people make music and how people make music and the role music serves in society, the more distinctions I found regionally, sure, but also the more I discovered the commonalities and shared histories.

It’s really hard to separate Eastern European music and Balkan music from Klezmer music, from Romani music, from Turkish music and Arabic music and North African music, to blues, to jazz and so on. It’s all really a continuum of multiple histories that overlap.

It inspired me to really dive into the history more and recontextualize these very old melodies in ways that, perhaps, would allow a person who otherwise wouldn’t learn about Balkan brass music to hear it in a fun way that’s accessible.

GO!: Did you go to college wanting to study ethnomusicology?

WM: I did. You know, I was a band geek, and I really wanted to continue studying music, but it was scary to think about studying at a conservatory or something, where I was just doing music performance. I wanted to get a little broader education, but I also wanted to do music, and when I found out about ethnomusicology, I was like, “Wow, this is so many of my interests overlapping.”

After college, I was so thrilled to apply not just the particular things I learned, but the mindset of the field right into my music producing and performance, as well as the way I listen to music and experience culture.

GO!: When you say “the mindset of the field,” what do you mean by that?

WM: As an example, a music historian might ask the questions, “What happened?” and “When did it happen?” and they would look at it through the perspective of a timeline and categories, like genres. An ethnomusicologist, on the other hand, would ask the question “Why did it happen?”

Fundamentally, when I go to see other bands, that’s what I’m wondering: How did this happen? Why is it happening? Why is it working or not working? Why are all these people here enjoying this, or why is no one here? Is this a religious thing or a purely economic thing or a ceremonial thing? Are people coming here because they’re part of a community and they’re reconnecting with it, or are they coming because that one musician is so good at their instrument, and they want to hear that person play?

Music isn’t one thing for everybody. It’s different things for different people, and throughout time it has served different roles for different societies in different moments. These are the questions I’m constantly asking myself about music.

What: Balkan Bump, with Bass Temple and Alovitman

When: 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, doors open 7:30 p.m.

Where: Domino Room, 51 NW Greenwood Ave., Bend

Cost: $22

Contact: midtownballroom.com.