Interview By: Chris Savoie
During Nocturnal Wonderland this year, I was lucky enough to sit down with SAYMYNAME on Day 1. Check out the interview below to get to know the artist better.
Chris: For our readers, could you please introduce yourself and tell us about where you’re from?
SAYMYNAME: Ya no problem, my name is Dayvid. I grew up in Santa Monica, CA.
C: What got you into music?
S: I was raised around music. Not many of my family members played instruments, but I grew up in a musical family. I was influenced by hip-hop and played instruments in elementary school. Then I pursued it professionally.
C: What instruments did you play?
S: I played the violin and the trombone.
C: Which instrument was your first love?
S: The trombone was the first instrument I fell in love with.
C: What got you into EDM?
S: In high school one of my friends, she suggested that I listen to DeadMau5. It was super random and she was like check out this song. That song was “Ghost ‘n’ Stuff.” After that song it was like whoa this is crazy because up to that point I was listening to mainly hip-hop and some pop but nothing like EDM.
C: Who was your favorite hip-hop artist growing up?
S: Oh that’s tough, I would say Pharrel.
C: So DeadMau5 got you into EDM. Talk about your journey to become a producer and DJ.
S: I was DJing first then got into producing. I started my live shows and live sets in college doing on-campus events, nothing too crazy. Then after college is when things started moving professionally for me.
C: What was the first festival you played at?
S: The first festival was actually the discovery project at EDC 2013.
C: Do you still get nervous to go out on stage?
S: It depends on the show. For today, I’m not really nervous. But it will be random shows that I get nervous for, for no reason. Like today, no I’m not nervous but sometimes out of nowhere ya I will be.
C: What is your vision for SAYMYNAME?
S: I just want to keep climbing. I think my next move as SAYMYNAME is to start producing for other artists, other vocalists like outside of EDM. I will still always focus on EDM and dance music but want to sharpen my tools and my production outside of EDM. That is why I mention Pharrel too because he inspired me to get into beat-making. I want to get into beat-making for other artists and vocalists other than just producing for SAYMYNAME.
C: Would a dream be to produce a Pharrel track?
S: Ya definitely or something crazy like a track for Billie Eilish or with someone totally outside the box.
C: What’s been your favorite festival that you’ve played so far?
S: Honestly, Nocturnal is up there for sure. So I played [here in] 2016 and 2019, and both sets, it’s a different feeling. A runner-up would be Creamfields [in] Chile, that was a very unique festival. Crowd-wise it was all love, it was crazy.
C: What is one festival you want to play that you haven’t yet?
S: I would have to say Tomorrowland. I haven’t been there yet either so I want to go attend and also play.
C: Outside of music what do you like to do?
S: Outside of music I am very active. I work out a lot, jog, and play sports, mainly basketball. I also love to draw and big into art. I have been drawing since middle school doing street art, sketches and painting in general. It’s a passion of mine.
C: Random question, with your love of sketching and street art, are you into any anime?
S: Not really but I was super into Dragon Ball Z.
C: What can we expect from you going forward? What teasers can you give us?
S: I am working on new SAYMYNAME solos but also two side projects. One with Nitti Gritti called SAYMYNITTI and one with Riot Ten called Bloodsport. I am actually going to premiere a new SAYMYNITTI record during my set tonight. It’s a banger — it goes hard. Super excited about those two projects.
C: What inspires you or drives you?
S: What inspires me is good vibes, good energy, good people, art, fashion, food, outdoor activities.
C: To touch on fashion, is there anything you want to do with fashion?
S: I would love to design my own clothing line outside my own merch. I have a crazy perspective of fashion and art. I would love to design my line.
C: For our readers who don’t know you, what is something you would like to know?
S: I want them to know that for one if you don’t know who I am, [I’m] the godfather of hard trap and created the genre. Also, with that I love to play everything during my sets. So when you come to a SAYMYNAME set expect to hear the hard stuff but to also hear everything.
C: Thank you so much for the time. I appreciate it a lot.
