d4vd is looking for the next d4vd

While other teens would trade stories of their first kiss or a particularly nasty friendship breakup in their high school cafeteria, 20-year-old singer-songwriter d4vd (David Burke) was being homeschooled, living vicariously through others by being on the internet. d4vd lost contact with his friends in Queens after his family moved to Houston following his eighth-grade year, so he spent much of his early emotional life immersed in video games. It was his obsession with video games – particularly his love of playing Fortnite – that eventually launched his music career: his mum suggested he start writing original music after he noticed that the songs in his game montages were receiving copyright strikes on YouTube. He took her advice and recorded his first song, Run Away, in his sister’s closet in 2021. “Nobody else had a walk-in closet but my little sister because she’s spoiled,” he says. “There was always chaos, and it was the only place I could lock the door and work on music.”

Making music came naturally to teenage d4vd: anything that the chronically online musician didn‘t already know was something he taught himself through YouTube tutorials. What followed has been a persistently viral and experimental early music career, opening for SZA on her ‘S.O.S. tour’, performing at the Valentino Men’s SS24 Fashion Week show in Milan and writing his song “Summer Uptown” live on Twitch with mega-streamer JasonTheWeen. Even after releasing his latest album earlier this year, Withered, d4vd continues to churn out songs on his phone – including his new single L.O.V.E.U with rising Australian indie artist Hannah Bahng. Although no longer from his sister’s closet, he still pulls threads of stories from online conversations and fantasy worlds and turns them into infectious tracks. 

Music and gaming are d4vd’s two main forms of escapism, both equally as impactful in his life. To continue to further blend these worlds, he recently launched Mic Drop, an American Idol-style music competition inside Fortnite. The multiple rounds of music discovery are underway, with videos of d4vd – his signature black bonnet and over-ear headphones on – smiling and dancing with fans already emerging across the internet. The Mic Drop polls will open on August 30, and the winner will be announced on stage (and live on Twitch, of course) on September 6 in Chicago. 

At the start of his Withered tour, and mid-Mic Drop competition, we spoke to d4vd about learning songwriting from narrative games, living vicariously through people online, using Fortnite for cultural discovery and inspiring the next generation of musicians and gamers. 

When did you start gaming, and what got you into it?

d4vd: I’ve been gaming since I was really young. I always had consoles around, and I was always looking for outlets to escape reality as a child. I never wanted to read a book or do anything extracurricular, and my mum always hated it because she thought video games would rot my brain, when really, I feel like that’s where my love of narrative and storytelling comes from. I played so many games that showed me the progression of all of these complex characters, so it’s always been part of my life. 

Apart from Fortnite, obviously, what were some of your favourite games when you were younger? 

d4vd: Crash Bandicoot, Uncharted, Life is Strange and Detroit: Become Human. I never played online games until Fortnite came out, so it was all narrative-based games.

How do you think playing these narrative games has influenced how you write lyrics and make music more generally? 

d4vd: It affects my music in a major way. I was so attached to those characters that I was a personality sponge. I would watch these characters and think they were so cool, so I’d base my personality off of the next game I played, and then the next game. I love living vicariously through people, like in video games, movies and TV shows. Now, with music, it’s like, how do I take everything that I’ve been exposed to over the years in video games and put it into my writing? My biggest song, “Here With Me”, is based on the movie Up. 

I’d base my personality off of the next game I played, and then the next game. I love living vicariously through people

Your latest album, Withered, explores grief, loss, love and confusion. What inspired the album? 

d4vd: The album was basically the last three years of my life. It’s me being vulnerable for the first time. I feel like I’ve never put my own life into music until this album, and it’s hard for me to get used to writing in first person instead of taking a concept and doing what I do best. That’s why it took so long to make this album, because I was getting over the mental hurdle of, ‘OK, this is real now and I’m gaining and losing friends, I’m dealing with love for the first time and how do I navigate this as a homeschool kid who’s never seen the outside world beyond like his backyard?’ 

What was it like being homeschooled? 

d4vd: I was homeschooled from the eighth grade to high school graduation. It was hell for the first two years, and there was a transitional period from being around all these people, having so much to do after school and having all these outlets to just being on a computer nine hours a day by myself. I had to learn to be my own friend because after I left public school, nobody hit me up. It was a learning curve, and I had to learn to be alone and become my own person. 

Post-Withered, who or what are you living vicariously through? 

d4vd: I’m watching a lot of anime lately, like Takopi's Original Sin and Demon Slayer. I’m culturally in Japan right now.

Do you have any advice for gamers who want to get into the music space? Or the other way around?

d4vd: I’d say experiment. I feel like people find a sound and put themselves in a box. I found my sound by doing a million different genres and seeing what stuck. 

Why was it important for Mic Drop to be fan-powered and open submission?

d4vd: The way I started making music was it being always in the back of my head. There are musicians out there who make music the same way I do and just need to be seen and heard, so I’m always looking for new talent.

The competition is being compared to American Idol, just on Fortnite. What type of judge are you? Or do you aspire to be?

d4vd: I only watched the seasons with Katy Perry. I think I’d be a Katy Perry-type judge. With America's Got Talent, though, I feel like maybe I’m Heidi. She’s not as mean as Simon, and she’s easily wowed by stuff. Her reactions are always genuine, and I love her for that. 

What’s the most exciting thing about the competition so far?

d4vd: Just hearing the music out there in the gaming world and bridging the gap between the two. Hearing so many people being inspired by how I paved a little bit of a lane is the fulfilling thing. I want to inspire the next generation of musicians and gamers. 

What are you looking for when it comes to the winning artist?

d4vd: Someone who I vibe with on a spiritual level musically. I’ve been listening to a lot of the songs, and there's so much great music out there; it’s been like opening my eyes to how many gamers are just like me. I’m excited to find a winner and perform with them in Chicago. An artist’s greatest strength is their performance and how they connect to the fans in real time and face-to-face.