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Daniel Seavey<\/u><\/a> leans back while tanning on a lounge chair, the bright blue Los Angeles sky framing his highlighted hair. As he moves the phone during our video call, pool water and lush palm trees peek through. \u201cI\u2019ve had one day back home off tour and it\u2019s the perfect day,\u201d he smiles, rarely shifting from a grin and breaking into fits of laughter. <\/p>\n \u201cChoosing optimism\u201d at the start of every day is Seavey’s strategy for living a full existence. \u201cChoosing to take your day on as the glass is half-full can change your life,\u201d he says. But as he digs further into his story \u2014 after a decade in the music industry \u2014 it\u2019s obvious that Seavey’s countenance doesn\u2019t always reflect his experience. \u201cThere was so much going on for a little bit there,” he recalls, “it was really insane.\u201d<\/p>\n When Seavey was 15 years old, he made it to the Top Nine on American Idol <\/em><\/span><\/em>before returning back home to Portland after the loss. He never gave up music, though \u2014 something the homeschooled preacher\u2019s kid had loved since picking up the violin at age eight. That\u2019s when fate called: a life-changing opportunity in 2016 to co-found the five-piece boy band Why Don\u2019t We. <\/p>\n What happened next was a whirlwind: six billion Global Career Streams, two RIAA Platinum-certified singles, five RIAA Gold-certified singles, two Top 10 albums on the Billboard 100 and sold-out tours across the country. But then things took a turn for the worse.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n COVID hit; Seavey\u2019s parents divorced; he witnessed the death of his friend Corey La Barrie in car accident; his mom was diagnosed with cancer. Seavey’s one escape \u2014 music \u2014 even came under fire, as Why Don\u2019t We was publicly pulled into legal disputes. Why Don\u2019t We accused<\/u><\/a> their manager David Loeffler of “mental, emotional and financial abuse” in a lawsuit aiming to remove his managing abilities. The band broke up without ownership of their music. Seavey filed for bankruptcy. He tried to work on his own music, but the looming legal situation even seeped into his solo potential. <\/p>\n Then in 2023, the star took to Instagram<\/u><\/a> to share that he was finally \u201cfree\u201d of the legal battle with his former management, and by September of the same year, the Why Don\u2019t We contract officially came to an end. \u201cWhen the band split up or went on hiatus at the time, it was really because of all these lawsuits that had stacked up on us,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd we didn’t see them coming.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, against all odds, Seavey is back to making and sharing his music again. He released his full-length solo debut, Second Wind<\/em> in early March \u2014 a 12-track collection that dips into his rock and pop propensities, written straight from his experience. His headlining tour just kicked off in Dallas, Texas, and fans have been singing back every word of his songs like \u201cGateway Drug,\u201d<\/a> \u201cThe Older You Get\u201d<\/a> and \u201cOther People\u201d<\/a> that he shared live while touring with Benson Boone. <\/p>\n \u201cI feel now more than ever I understand everything happens for a reason,\u201d he says. \u201cI also understand fully that anything can get better. Any scenario can flip on its head at any point.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How has your tour been? How are you feeling?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s been unreal. I’m not going to lie, I was very in my head about everything. This is my first go-around doing this alone, the whole solo career thing. I\u2019m still getting used to the ebbs and flows. You have these big moments, then you might go quiet for a week. It\u2019s been tougher than normal to get used to riding the wave of how entertainment flows. The second I got out on the road, all of that completely dissipated. It\u2019s the best, most obvious reminder of why I actually do this. I just released my album a couple weeks ago, and I think when you’re in the middle of that, there’s so much stuff to do \u2014 so many random tasks that it was the best refreshing reminder of what we really do this entertainment thing for. There’s no better feeling than that connection in a room with fans, and they have been showing up and showing out. The shows have been so loud, packed and amazing. No complaints.<\/p>\n That\u2019s such a good point. I always feel that way when I finally go to a great show or have a great chat with an artist, and remember it\u2019s not all about emails.<\/strong><\/p>\n That is the biggest gift of all time that you can’t take for granted. The other day, even right before I hit the tour, I asked myself, \u201cWhat would you be doing this minute if you weren\u2019t in the middle of an album release?\u201d I was stressed out with everything and nothing sounded better than what I’m doing right now. So who cares about the workload of it? And anything you do in life is going to require that. I feel really blessed to do what I love.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Let\u2019s chat about <\/strong>Second Wind. <\/em><\/strong><\/em>There are so many levels in the title of the album itself, reflecting the place you are and were in your life. Can we time-travel a bit to the moment you decided to pursue a solo career after having been in a band?<\/strong><\/p>\n I don’t think I ever honestly had that moment. I was making a lot of my own music while I was still in the band, more as a hobby. I know it’s clich\u00e9, but it was just a journal entry for my own fun, weird, quirky music that would never see the light of day. When the band split up or went on hiatus at the time, it was really because of all these lawsuits that had stacked up on us, and we didn’t see them coming. We didn’t have time to plan our own solo endeavors. For me at that moment, I asked myself, \u201cDo you want to keep doing this?\u201d And, of course, I\u2019d do just about anything to keep doing it. <\/p>\n I felt lucky enough to already have some songs I had made that felt good enough to put out. But if I’m being honest, even when I released my first songs, I was so critical of my own music that I didn’t think much of it. Part of that was honestly the industry we grew up in, the side of things we saw. I really did not have any confidence when I put it out. I can’t even put into words the amount of validation that first release gave me. It was existentially insane for me to see. It flipped my whole world upside down. And from that day forward, it felt like a totally different job. Both jobs were fun in their own regard, but being in a boy band and being a solo artist are two completely different journeys and jobs, and I loved that. I have grown to really love being a solo artist as well for different reasons. It’s been so therapeutic to actually put out songs. <\/p>\n Can we chat about that first song? The one that made you feel like you were on the right path? <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cCan\u2019t We Pretend That We’re Good?\u201d was definitely the song I was the most proud of. It was also a bit weirder, sonically. I personally loved that about it. I actually remember right before I dropped it, having a couple of conversations with the label that it was too weird \u2014 just the classic \u201cit’s not pop enough\u201d conversation. I remember saying, \u201cI would rather bet on myself and all the weirdness that comes with that, than let my personal music become something other than what I am.\u201d I honestly saw that as a selfish move for myself. Something I’ve always wanted to do is put something out I personally love \u2014 void all other opinions. My expectations were that this wasn\u2019t going to amount to anything, but it’s going to be really therapeutic for me, and that’s all I wanted or expected it to be. I wanted to connect with people, but I didn’t expect it. And the fans ate it up and did so many amazing things with it that I didn’t expect at all. It was such a magic moment in my life. It felt like my mindset did a complete 180. I was really down in the dumps about myself, and it was so validating.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Let\u2019s talk about the process. You’ve talked about what was going on behind the scenes legally, b<\/strong>ut I\u2019m curious about how you protected your drive while going through that? <\/strong><\/p>\n My admiration for music allowed me to separate it from everything else. It\u2019s the place where I can detach from reality and have fun. You can hear that on a lot of this album. It\u2019s funny, because my life was probably in the worst state it had ever been in, and this album feels like a light summer breeze. This album feels like a kid being forced by life to grow up and still trying to hang on to just being a kid. It\u2019s really important for me to make my music fun and light, and that’s who I am as a person. Making music has allowed me to hang on to that side of myself in a lot of ways. While my life was going completely crazy, I had the gift of still being able to go into a studio every day with awesome writers and producers, and enjoy making a song for a couple of hours.<\/p>\n There are a couple of moments that were hard enough experiences in life that I couldn’t avoid not writing about them. There’s a song on there, \u201cIf I Ever Get To Heaven,\u201d that definitely deals with some harsher reality, and even \u201cThe Older You Get,\u201d talks a bit more introspectively about my viewpoint on life, and getting older and the hardships of it. The initial start of the album, I was making a lot of sadder songs. But that didn\u2019t feel like Daniel, it didn\u2019t feel like me. The next day after I came to that conclusion, I did start telling myself, \u201cTake this day at the studio as a selfish moment for yourself to just have fun and let loose again.\u201d That\u2019s my favorite part of music and I know my fans also love that about my music. They like to have a good time. I’m really proud of where the album landed.<\/p>\n Of the new songs that you are sharing live, which are resonating the most?<\/strong><\/p>\n I have been having so much fun performing \u201cSleeping With The Lights On.\u201d That shocked me, because it felt a little less obvious as a single. It felt like an album song and it\u2019s become a fan favorite. Our first show was in Dallas,and I had no idea how much they really loved that one. The second it came on, the volume doubled. They were screaming that one. That makes me really happy because, personally, I love leaning into more of a rock sound, and it\u2019s a little less pop than a lot of the other songs on there.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What were some of the more emotional challenges and blocks when it came to sharing this album with the world?<\/strong><\/p>\n I was really blessed growing up to have a good upbringing. My dad was a pastor and my mom’s amazing, and they both raised me well. I had a problem-free childhood up until obviously joining the band, things got bumpy. In that whole interim of the band, when it came to my personal life, things were very intact. There was such a solid foundation. No one had passed away, no one was ill. And right around when COVID hit, it was almost like things every year were stacking up and they all decided to spill out in that one period of two years. My best friend Corey passed away in a car accident, and I actually pulled him out of the car, which was… I had never experienced anything like that. Then my parents divorced, my mom got cancer, my band broke up. We were in lawsuits. COVID is happening, and the list just kept going on. I went bankrupt. It just felt like everything was falling apart.<\/p>\n The silver lining in my life became my music, and that really was my opportunity to escape and feel good for a second. I was going through my day doing one big breathing exercise. It was a lot to take on. I would even call my mom to talk through some of it and figure it out. She knew to tell me to go sit at my piano for 20 minutes. And sure enough, that really would calm me down.<\/p>\n That\u2019s unimaginable. How do you feel now? Has life gotten more balanced? Or do you feel like you’ve just learned to flow through it?<\/strong><\/p>\n I can’t believe how much better things have gotten. It excites me because there’s so much more to write about. Now seeing the other side of things I feel blessed to have so much of a story to tell and so much to talk about now, and genuinely be an example for other people of: look, it really does get better. It\u2019s really exciting for me in a weird way, now that I’m past it. I feel oddly grateful to have all that hardship and experience, to be able to relate with someone when they tell me what they’ve been through. Prior to that, if a fan told me they were anxious, I’d be like, \u201cGet over it, you just gotta play the damn piano for 10 minutes. I’m telling you, you’ll feel better.\u201d And it’s so much more than that. Now more than ever I understand everything happens for a reason. I also understand fully that anything can get better. Any scenario can flip on its head at any point. I also understand that a lot of life is out of my control, and I’ve been trying to \u2014 in every facet of my life now \u2014 accept that there’s only so much you can control. Choosing optimism at the start of your day can change your life.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Second Wind<\/em><\/strong><\/em> has been out in the world for almost a month and you\u2019re about to head back out on tour so more fans can experience it live. When people hear it for the first time, how do you hope they feel on the way home?<\/strong><\/p>\n The title really says it all. I hope they gain a second wind from the music \u2014 that\u2019s what it gave me. I want to give that right back to them. I want them to leave feeling light as air, warm and happy. That’s what I want to do with my music. That’s what I’ve always wanted to do. This album was a big reminder of who I am and always have been. I just want to spread love and joy. I don’t care how tacky that is. That’s what I want to do and love to do.<\/p>\n What are you most excited to share with fans next?<\/strong><\/p>\n I haven’t stopped writing since the album came out. One of my favorite songs I’ve ever made I finished a week after the album was already turned in so it didn\u2019t make the album. It’s called \u201cEden.\u201d I’ve been in the back of the bus just writing every night, like I always do. So definitely a lot more music to come, a lot more shows to come. Honestly, I am just hoping to do this as long as I can. It’s what I love.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Photography: Elinor Kry<\/a> Photo assistant: Tyler Wu<\/a> Editor-in-chief: Justin Moran<\/a> Daniel Seavey leans back while tanning on a lounge chair, the bright blue Los Angeles sky framing his highlighted hair. As he moves the phone during our video call, pool<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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Styling: Marissa Pelly<\/a>
Grooming: Ryann Carter<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n
Styling assistant: Jordan Kennedy<\/a>
Production assistant: Kaiya Lang<\/a>
<\/em><\/p>\n
Managing editor: Matt Wille<\/a>
Editorial producer: Angelina Cant\u00fa<\/a>
Story: Erica Campbell<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"