Portland, Oregon alt/pop singer/songwriter Days to Waste (Ben Willey) has just released his newest angsty melodic rock track, “Daydream.” The song is out now via Passion Eight Records and available on all streaming platforms. The track comes on the heels of a busy 2023, highlighted by a tour with Epitaph Records standout sadeyes and the release of “lilac” and “Wait for Me.”
“I wrote ‘Daydream’ from the perspective of someone who feels stuck,” says Willey. “Stuck in a never-ending loop of feeling like nothing around them will ever feel like it used to, having to grow up and move on but never actually getting to one hundred percent. Living life on low battery and accepting the missing pieces. In my songs I constantly touch on the subject of missing something or someone or a certain time in your life, always playing off feelings of nostalgia. ‘Daydream’ is about just that, daydreaming of a time where life felt full and complete, but never being able to feel that again.”
Listen to “Daydream” from Days to Waste below.
Born into an atypical Christian household, Willey’s life has been bookended by music written from emotion; whether that be 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 8 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 2000s 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 14 Wiley started a YouTube channel, coining the artist name, Days To Waste, and by 16 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 24-year-old bridges the gap between the Emo of yesteryear with forward-thinking production. 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.”
Fans can expect more new music from Days to Waste this spring.
