“What am I most proud of? The growth as an artist,” says d4vd with an air of humble self-assurance. When NME last spoke to the 19-year-old indie pop-rocker for the debut issue of The Cover, he was on the cusp of releasing his debut EP, ‘Petals To Thorns’. Created entirely on his phone, the project was a showcase of impressive range and raw talent from an artist who, just two years prior, had only started making his own music to soundtrack Fortnite videos on YouTube.
Since then, d4vd has hit his stride and continued to reach new heights – from selling out shows across the US and Europe and supporting SZA on tour to writing music for TV and gaming. Now, he’s working on a debut album, which he says will introduce a mature new side that fans have never seen before. “I’ve lived some life now. So it feels very personal,” he explains.
Making the transition from recording songs in his little sister’s closet with the app BandLab to working on a full-length record means d4vd is feeling a whole lot more confident about where he’s headed these days. [Editor’s note: BandLab and NME are both a part of Caldecott Music Group.] “I feel like you have to reach a certain point where you can call yourself an artist, where you’re not just a musician,” he says. “Once this album drops and the tours happen next year, I feel like that’s gonna solidify me as an actual artist.”
For the latest instalment in NME’s In Conversation series, we meet d4vd in London on the UK leg of his ‘My House Is Not A Home’ tour as he reflects on a bumper year of success to talk collaborations, inspirations behind his forthcoming debut album and why he loves a British accent.
We’re chatting to you in London today – is it true you’re such a fan of an English accent that you’ve even adopted it in some songs?
d4vd: “I’ve used it in so many songs. Listening to Arctic Monkeys was just a game-changer for me when I started out in music. I just want it to sound like that so bad. And I kind of just forced it, and then it worked. So shout out to Arctic Monkeys for that.”
Do you have a favourite British phrase?
“I love saying bruv. ‘It’s not your time, bruv. You’re not my supervisor, bruv!’”
You recently sold out three shows at The Fonda in LA. As an artist with very DIY roots, how have you found adapting to the live aspect of your career?
“Prior to performing my first-ever show last year, I had never been to a concert myself. I never went to concerts or festivals or anything of the sort. So it was kind of like I was letting the audience perform to me as I was performing to them. I didn’t get nervous. I didn’t have a mental breakdown backstage. It’s super easy; I love performing. When you’re performing to people that know your songs, it’s like an energy transfer. They give me energy, I give them energy and we’re both having fun. Having fun on stage is the most important thing to me.”
You opened for SZA in arenas around the US last year. What was that experience like and what did you learn?
“Insane. I can’t even begin to describe it. The first show we did was in Miami, and then it just all clicked from there. She’s so nice, and her fans are great to me as well. They knew all my songs. It was almost like two headliners, like a mini festival. It was amazing.
She has these different elements in between songs and during the songs that I added to my show as well. Because I love when I listen to a song and I go to the concert, and it sounds different. Why would I pay to see the same thing? So I have different versions of my songs now that I’m performing on stage, and they sound much different than the studio version.”
After creating your ‘Petals To Thorns’ EP entirely on your phone, how has it been making the transition into a more traditional studio setting?
“It was interesting, to say the least. I remember coming to LA last year on a recording trip, and I was kind of speed-dating producers, trying to see what worked and what didn’t. And I found the best process for me personally was to find people that aren’t known like that. I’ve been listening to an artist named Scott James for a long time, since 2017, and he’s opening for this tour. He’s a great producer, and I was like, ‘How about we just start making music? And now he’s executive producing the album with me. I like the DIY, do-it-yourself kind of mentality. It’s always stuck with me. It’s always been like the way that I’ve made the best music. So I’m going to just keep doing things the unconventional way and see where it gets me.”
What’s the process been like so far working on the album, and can you share anything about it with us?
“I wrote a couple songs on tour last year and this year. I’m working on a bunch of songs right now. I’m not very precious with music right now. I feel like after dropping two EPs last year and dropping a couple singles earlier this year, it’s kind of the end of the experimenting phase for me. And I’ve kind of found my niche again with the sounds I’m choosing on the album. And I’m doing a little bit of quantity over quality right now, but it’s going to go back to quality over quantity very soon. Because I finally found the topics I want to talk about, how I want it to feel and what the motive is. So it’s all coming together.”
What are you most proud of on the journey so far?
“The growth as an artist. I feel like you have to reach a certain point where you can call yourself an artist, when you’re not just a musician. I feel like I’m still in the musician phase. But once this album drops and tours happen next year, I feel like that’s gonna solidify me as an actual artist.”
You were in the studio with Dominic Fike recently. What have you guys been working on?
“You never know what’s gonna happen with Dom, he’s all over the place all the time. But we locked down a studio session. And that’s the first song that I’ve ever made where we made it all together. He was playing the drums and the guitar, and his friend Henry was doing different things on the bass. And we recorded the song completely in a live room. It was the first time I ever did something like that – very experimental. It’s very rough right now, but we’re going to be working some more soon.”
And you’ve also recorded with Lil Nas X as well…
“I have like four songs with him. He’s also a hard one to lock down. I don’t think those songs will ever come out with the way he’s going right now. But his rollout is about to be amazing.”
‘Romantic Homicide’ recently hit one billion streams. Can you even comprehend that number?
“I wish it was dollars! It’s amazing to see the impact the music has worldwide, how many people relate to it, and how many meanings it has to different people. It means something to me, but also means a different thing to this person or that person. I feel like that’s the goal I want for my music, is for people to interpret it however they see fit.”
You previously collaborated with Laufey on your track ‘This Is How It Feels’. How did you two connect, and do you feel like there’s a musical kinship there?
“I found her music as I was finishing high school, I think maybe June 2022. She had just released her project ‘Falling Behind’. I DM’d her on Instagram like, ‘Oh my gosh, I love your music’. It wasn’t even about a collab or anything because I was still playing Fortnite and making music in the closet. But then fast forward six months later, I dropped ‘Here With Me’ and ‘Romantic Homicide’. I’m working with her producer on ‘Sleep Well’ and ‘Worthless’, and through her producers, she found me and DM’d back, and she was like, ‘Oh my goodness, my producer just told me about you, you’re amazing!’
I was like, ‘Let’s make a song. We’re working with the same producer, how about we just connect?’ We were like, ‘Let’s create a song about whatever comes to mind.’ And we both wrote our verses in five minutes each.
In October last year, you collaborated with 21 Savage on ‘Call Me Revenge’ for Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Why is that connection between music and gaming important to you?
“I love it because music and video games have been together for so long. I love video game soundtracks, the iconic sounds, the memes that come out of it too. [I’m] such a video game nerd and such a music nerd at the same time. Me starting music because of video games is such a poetic thing in itself, and I just want to keep that going no matter what I can be involved in – Fortnite, Call Of Duty, FIFA, Madden, anything I can. I just want to keep bridging the gap between music and video games.”
What are some future projects that you’d love to do a soundtrack for?
“I’m a big fan of Skate. I want a song in the next season of The Boy and the next Spider Man movie.”