Portland native alt-pop songwriter Days To Waste has shared his new angsty Myspace-tinged single 'Lilac', available to stream now on all major streaming platforms worldwide. The track comes just ahead of his upcoming East Coast tour with Epitaph Records standout sadeyes, which kicks off on August 10th.
Speaking about the single, Days To Waste, real name Ben Willey, explained, “I feel like most of my songs in the past play off of a feeling of being lost, with no direction and struggling to understand who I am and where I belong." He continued, “Well, ‘lilac’ explores the opposite side of that; finally feeling like I understand myself and where I’m supposed to be. Through a love I thought I’d lost I’ve fallen into a place of safety within myself.”
Born into an atypical Christian household, Ben Willey’s life has been bookended by music written from emotion; whether that the Christian Worship music he grew up with, or the pensive Emo he’s known for now. Diagnosed with ADHD in childhood and feigning interest in School, Wiley focused all attention on music, joining the Church band at eight years old. Shortly thereafter he found rock bands like Sleeping With Sirens and Pierce the Veil through Warped Tour before reaching for a guitar in his early teens.
The Emo and boom of the late 2000’s opened a doorway for Wiley, where bands explored themes of emotion and catharsis, mirroring much of the music he was exposed to at an early age, but with a distinctly different edge. By fourteen Wiley started a YouTube channel, coining the artist name, Days To Waste and by sixteen he would stop going to school entirely, focusing all his effort on music, “I remember looking at life like God had a plan for me. When that came crashing down, this was the only answer.”
Now, the twenty-four year-old bridges the gap between the Emo of yesteryear with forward thinking production backed. Compared to contemporaries like nothing,nowhere; or his closest collaborators, Braden Ross or Sad Eyes — Days To Waste has steadily carved out a fanbase through his relentless output of music. Choosing to work almost completely solo he says: “these songs aren’t products in my head, they’re real to me.” This authenticity has earned him over ten million streams and over 45,000 combined online followers.
Fans can expect more new music from Days To Waste this fall. For more information on Days To Waste, be sure to follow him at the links below.
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