Artist Spotlight: Davy
By April Izzard (@april.izzxrd)
Get to know Davy, a 19-year-old rapper and producer from Toronto. Davy describes his music as a mix of psychedelic and alternative sounds, claiming that he likes to branch out into other genres, too. I chatted to this highly confident rapper about his music, which led to him divulging an in-depth tell-all on his life.
Davy first got into music in around 7th Grade, after entering a school programme for gifted children. He leaned into rap music as a way to express himself and vent about how he felt misunderstood. In his eyes, Davy’s sound pushes various genres to their most extreme forms, so he can meld them together in unusual ways.
His main inspirations are close to home (literally), as, throughout high-school, Davy recorded upcoming rappers out of his basement for cheap rates. The constant rotation of people in-and-out of his house caused Davy to manifest a hedonistic lifestyle. Although very young, from 16-years-old Davy visually modelled himself on the stereotypical rapper. He also rebelled against authority, did drugs, threw parties in unofficial underground venues and slept with loads of young women. This lifestyle – understandably – became exhausting and over the past year-or-so, Davy has re-evaluated life’s meaning, finding solace in the music rather than the cultural stereotypes he once admired.
“Davy’s sound pushes various genres to their most extreme forms, so he can meld them together in unusual ways.”
Nowadays, the only artists that Davy finds inspiring are himself and JUGGER, another Canadian rapper. He explained to me that, although there are loads of artists he wants to support in their careers, ‘no-one else in the world makes the kind of music [he wants] to hear’.
Davy shared that, outside of music, certain cultures have inspired him massively. New Zealand ('glow worm caves were very trippy'), Amsterdam, Delhi, Boston and Victoria BC, have all had an exponential influence on his identity. Being a unique individual appears important to him both in his music and his persona.
In Delhi, he reunited with extended family and hearing their success stories amazed him. Whilst in Boston, living alone for 5-weeks at only 16-years-old to study electronic digital instruments was what motivated him to pursue an education in audio school.
Davy's self-confidence is not without the support of his close personal and friend, Lucas (Seq.), who he met at the Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology.
Seq. and Davy began collaborating at school, and Davy felt that 'as a rapper, he always admired the raw emotion of songwriters' like Seq. Something he felt required guitar training and a better-trained voice, whilst Seq. made it look easy.
'Fade Away' is one of many songs that Davy and Seq. have recorded together. Davy revealed that he released the song 'on a whim' because its romantic undertones held much meaning to him. And he didn't want it to 'disappear into the void like so many others' they have made.
They made the song after driving around London, Ontario, listening to EDM. This session inspired Davy to create a basic dance drum beat, which evolved with Seq.'s collaborative efforts. Davy describes the song as 'the idea that, while we can never erase the past, everything fades away in time. Our identity, love, memories in general. And this can be relieving and agonising.'
“the idea that, while we can never erase the past, everything fades away in time. Our identity, love, memories in general. And this can be relieving and agonising.”
Previous releases, 'Gravity' and 'Artificial Love' also explore notions of heartbreak and fresh-starts. So, it is clear that matters of the heart most affect Davy's creativity. Though, he says that his most recent creations explore new ideas, alluding to songs about human rights and people's ignorance on the matter.
Although Davy was secretive about when he will release his debut album, he made it clear that it won't be any time too soon. COVID-19 has impacted this, as he is desperate to perform the songs live and feels it would be an injustice to his fans.