Introduction to D4VD’s Rise to Fame
D4VD has just blocked the second best debut on the Billboard 200 this week, and he did it almost exclusively on his iPhone. The rising alternative artist’s debut album, Withered, came in 13th place on the Billboard charts with 30,000 units sold between Billie Eilish’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? and Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwestern Princess.
A Successful Debut
It is a solid opening in itself when the 20-year-old, who has 32 million monthly listeners on Spotify and is signed to Darkroom/Interscope, lands a top 15 debut for his first album. However, it is particularly remarkable in view of his recording process. While home recording has become cheaper and of higher quality, it is another step further to make a successful commercial album on a six-inch phone screen.
The Recording Process
"I think it shows how everything has shifted where you can do it at home, and you really don’t need much," says D4VD. "You don’t have to overdo it anymore. You don’t have to book Westlake [the studio in West Hollywood] and put together all of these things, it is a different way to work now, and it works so well for people who don’t get such things early in their career."
Bandlab: The Music Production Platform
For years, D4VD – real name David Burke – has recorded his music on Bandlab, the music production platform that is most frequently used on mobile devices and has become increasingly popular with young music makers. Bandlab works with a freemium model, with many basic functions such as virtual instruments and vocal processing available for free. However, some functions, such as distribution of music for streaming services, are an additional fee.
Creating Withered
According to D4VD, the core of the album was built from beats that he was sent on his cell phone, and he went to London with a few producer friends to "lay the basis and to form some of the ideas for the record." Then he returned to Houston, where he fried the songs and most of Withered, doing vocal takes in his sister’s closet directly into the phone.
The Album’s Content
Withered contains songs such as "Crashing," featuring Kali Uchis, and the hit "Feeling IT," which was written for Amazon Prime Video’s Invincible and has been certified RIAA Gold. "Romantic Mordide," D4VD’s biggest song with 1.5 billion Spotify streams since its release in 2022, is one of Bandlab’s flagship hits.
A Milestone for Bandlab
For Withered, D4VD estimates that about 80 percent of the record was made on his phone. Bandlab tells The Hollywood Reporter that this is the first album that was mainly produced with its software to chart on the Billboard 200. Meng Ru Kuok, the company’s CEO, says the milestone reflects the broader goal of Bandlab, to serve a younger, digitally native audience who mainly use their phones as their computer.
The Future of Music Production
"I think the generation shift has already accepted that things start on your phone first, regardless of whether you use tools like Capcut to edit videos and be mobile or make music," says Kuok. "Desktop is the follow-up for you." Bandlab is not the only mobile-oriented music platform that has produced hits, with Steve Lacy, for example, speaking in detail about using GarageBand on his iPhone.
D4VD’s Background and Inspiration
D4VD grew up as an avid gamer and started uploading Fortnite videos on YouTube in his teens. He sometimes started making music for his videos to avoid copyright issues and to get into pop music when the gaming community took over his songs. He calls Withered a return to his roots, having started working on the album about two and a half years ago.
The Album’s Symbolism
D4VD describes the symbolism of the album as "when a flower grows, it also dies and returns to the ground from which it has grown out." Withered is more introspective than his past work and is based on his own life experiences, such as homeschooling, loss of relationships, and friendships.
Tour and Future Plans
With Withered, D4VD takes the tour on the road this summer. Will he continue with his DIY setup? He does not believe so and says that he wants to work on new sounds and try to innovate and see where his own sound is after the tour is over. "The internet moves so quickly," he says. "There is a million different genres every day. I will try to stay up to date and stay."
