D4vd Interview - Withered Album, Songs, Romantic Homicide

D4vd (born David Burke), who recently turned 20, has emerged as a fresh and cutting-edge music artist. He combines modern pop, R&B and indie rock for a unique blend and sound. Interestingly, he can write and record many of his songs while using innovative tools and apps on his iPhone.

First breaking through with his hit “Romantic Homicide” in 2022, d4vd has built a strong following online and he’s becoming known for his dynamic live performances (he recently got excellent reviews for his performance at the Coachella festival). This week (April 25) he is releasing his debut album, Withered (on Darkroom/Interscope Records).

Withered contains 15 songs, and it shows d4vd’s range as an artist and songwriter. There are melodic pop/R&B songs, ethereal ballads, edgy electronic tracks and funky uptempo cuts. Highlights include the fast-paced single “What Are You Waiting For,” the ballad
“One More Dance” and “Crashing” (featuring Kali Uchis). Also, a key part of d4vd’s distinctive sound is his expressive, soulful lead vocals.

D4vd’s new album is the culmination of a fast rise for this talented singer/songwriter. Born in Queens, New York, he moved with his family to Houston, Texas when he was 13. He subsequently became skilled at using technology to create music, to play video games, and to build a large online audience.

When he was 18, he had his first hit with “Romantic Homicide,” which reached #34 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was certified multi-platinum. He then followed up with his chart hits “Here With Me” and “Feel It“ (from the animated TV series, Invincible). Remarkably, d4vd has learned to create high quality recordings while using his iPhone.

In addition to his singles, d4vd has released two popular EPs: Petals to Thorns (in May 2023) and The Lost Petals (September 2023). And his other notable cuts include “Call Me Revenge” (with 21 Savage), “I’d Rather Pretend” (with Bryant Barnes), “Sleep Well” and “Worthless.”

This summer, d4vd will be launching a major concert tour of North America, headlining shows in many cities including Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Toronto, Boston, Dallas and Chicago. After that, he’ll be traveling to Europe to play shows in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Poland, Sweden and other countries.

Here’s the video of d4vd’s’s single, “What Are You Waiting For.”

We are pleased to do this new Q&A interview with d4vd. He tells how he got started as an artist & songwriter, how he can create professional recordings on his iPhone, and the making of his new album, Withered.

DK: I read that you’re originally from Queens, New York, and then you moved to Houston when you were 13. How did you get started with music and writing songs?

d4vd: The way I got into music was very unorthodox. I was never very musically inclined my entire life. I didn’t focus on music or have a passion for it. I was in church choir when I was 7 or 8, and then my mom put me in piano lessons for about a week, and I quit after that. Then fast forward to when I was in Houston, and I was in the middle school band and played the flute in 7th grade, and after that I got homeschooled, so I didn’t really have any musicality after that. It was mostly just video games and doing schoolwork.

But then I wanted to be a streamer, to be a YouTuber and a content creator. I was playing a lot of video games, and I was making a lot of montages and putting them up on the internet in different places and platforms. And I was using other artist’s music in my little videos. But then I would get copyright strikes, so I couldn’t make any money off of it. So I told my mom, “I can’t make any money off it, what do I do?” And she was like, “Make your own music for the videos.”

So the next day, I looked up how to make music with an iPhone, and this app called BandLab comes up, So I thought…let’s start here. I started learning how to engineer and program my voice, and how to make beats and how to sing, too. I started making songs the next day, and then I released my first song a month later and put that in one of my Fortnite videos, and it took off. My friends were using it in their videos, and everybody on the internet was like, “Yo, this is royalty-free music. We can use it and make money off of it because we use the d4vd songs. So basically, it all came from a video game.

DK: When did you put out your early song “Romantic Homicide,” and is it true that you wrote and recorded the song on your iPhone?

Here’s the video of d4vd’s single, “One More Dance.”

d4vd: Yeah, I recorded “Romantic Homicide” straight off my phone and it took me 30 minutes to write it. I was like in a flow state when I wrote that song. I wanted to convey the emotion of sadness and grieving and I tapped into this emotion that I hadn’t done before, and it came super easy to me. I released that song around July 2022. I posted it on TikTok and it blew up instantly. It was crazy.

DK: How did you create such a good quality music recording, just on your iPhone?

d4vd: I use just earbuds, and normal headphones, and then I have a lot of presets on how to mess with EQ and compression and stuff like that, to make it sound good on the phone. Yeah, it sounds pretty professional.

DK: After “Romantic Homicide,” you had a follow-up hit with your ballad, “Here With Me.” Can you talk about writing that song?

d4vd: That song was even more special because I wrote that song after watching the Disney movie, Up. When I make music, I draw inspiration from different things, I get inspired by movies, television, and life things in general. But for that song in particular, it was the Disney movie. So I was looking at Carl & Ellie’s relationship, and when Ellie dies and Carl travels to Paradise Falls, I was like…I need to encapsulate this movie into a song. I instantly got into the closet and I was working on that song and thinking about the entire movie in the process.

DK: What is your songwriting process? Do you usually start with the track or beat, or do you like to come up with the lyrics and melody first?

d4vd: It’s definitely with the track and the beat first, because I’m one of those artists that likes to let the instrumentals speak to me. I like to let the pianos talk, let the guitars talk before I say anything. Because the instruments have so much more to say than we do sometimes, and when the production is lacking, then the lyrics are lacking. So I like to make sure I get everything in order with the structure of the song and how it sounds before I sing on it. Then afterwards, I get the melodies out of freestyle and let everything conjure up lyrically.

Here’s the video of d4vd’s single, “Feel It.”

DK: You’ve released two EPs: Petals to Thorns and The Lost Petals. Can you talk about those EPs?

d4vd: Those two EPs are like the staples of the beginning of my career, showcasing the music I make, the artistic vision I have, what the visuals are looking like, what the aesthetic is, what the sonic identity is. And it’s introducing myself to the world in a way. So those two projects are the foundations of what this album is going to be. It gives you an insight to the bedroom pop side. I’ve got some post-punk songs, some rock songs and some pop songs. So these two EPs are the introductory projects that I have to my sound.

DK: You’re about to release your first album, Withered. Can you talk about the making of this album?

d4vd: The making of this album was kind of crazy. I used to do a lot of different projects with different producers, and I went through five or six different versions of this album. But the most recent version, the one that I’m very happy with, I made in a total of four weeks. I went to London with three of my friends, and we made a song every day for two weeks. I love London because of the gloomy aesthetic and the gloomy vibe and environment that London has. There’s barely any sun there and I love that because the music I make is really sad. So in those two weeks I made a song every day and I came out with half the album, and then I went back to Houston for another two weeks. Then I made the rest of the project on my phone just off of a piece that people sent me with some things that I made. So I spent two weeks in London trying to get myself a different mindset, then I came back to Houston and put myself in the same mindset again and made everything by myself. So I wanted to see what it looked like or how I worked with different people and how I worked with myself.

DK: You’ve already released two songs from your upcoming album, “One More Dance” and “Where’d It Go Wrong?” Can you talk about those songs?

d4vd: “Where’d It Go Wrong? is like that perfect segue into the new era. My fans know that sound from me the most, and that’s the sound that I emerged with on BandLab. It’s that classic d4vd indie rock bedroom pop sound, and I want to bring that back after being away from it for so long. I did a couple of songs last year for different TV shows that have a different sonic or sound, and I wanted to bring that old sound, that old fresh sound back with “Where’d It Go Wrong?” Then with “One More Dance,” it’s that perfect transition into something more evolved and more mature a sound that I haven’t really explored yet. which is that super-structured, very intentional song, which is what the contrast of those two songs are.

Here’s the video of d4vd’s first hit, “Romantic Homicide.”

DK: On your album, I also like your songs “Atomic Land” and “Somewhere in The Middle.” Can you talk about those songs?

d4vd: “Atomic Land” is one of the ones we’ve made in London. I love that song so much. It was the craziest process to make that song. We have it all documented on video too, which is literally messing around with a bunch of different instruments in the studio. Then my friend, Scott, who was playing this melody on an organ, and I started riffing over the organ. I wanted it to feel like it was a song from a theme park, like the melodies you hear here at a carnival, like Ferris wheels and carousels.

“Somewhere in The Middle” was a song that I made for my love of the Cranberries. It has a very big, deep sound, and I love them and take inspiration from them. I wanted to bring that into my world, too. “Somewhere in The Middle” is encapsulating that and embodying the spirit of the Cranberries.

DK: Besides the songs that we’ve discussed on your new album, what are your other favorite songs?

d4vd: “Friend Again” is one of my favorite songs. It’s has a garage band chorus mixed with the slower, somber R&B-like verses. Another favorite is “Afterlife.” That song is one of my best writing pieces ever, so poetic. I love the melodies I have on there and the overarching orchestral themes too. It’s like a perfect dramatic song.

DK: I want to ask you about your live show and touring. You’ve opened shows for SZA, and you’re headlining your own tour. What’s your live show like?

d4vd: My live show is a mixture of a rock show, a pop show, a little bit of somber indie rock. It makes you realize how many ranges in music and how eclectic and how much music I have. It gives a moment for each side of my arts history to shine. Especially when I was on the SZA tour, you see a lot of people listening to my lesser known songs and when I get to the big songs it was like, “Oh my God, that’s the guy that sang that.” So my live show is a mixture of a vibe that anybody can rock with and resonate with at the same time. And touring with SZA was amazing. I’m so honored and blessed to have toured with her. She co-signed me very early on and was a fan of my music, so it was awesome to get on the road with her.