WAVID INTERVIEW: Stepping out from the shadow of his former alias, WAVID (fka DAVID) is marking a new era with the release of his transformative mixtape, High Highs & Low Lows. The project is an arresting collection that channels the energy of his best year alongside his worst, using bouncy, jumpy beats to unify lyrical content across a spectrum of emotions—a testament to the power of perspective. Get familiar…
What five words define your sound?
High Highs and Low Lows.
Tell me something unique about your creative process.
I never listen through beats before I record on them. I need about 10–15 seconds to decide if I like what I hear. I can’t listen for too long because the idea comes to me quickly and leaves just as fast. I’ll load everything into Logic for my first full listen and freestyle an amalgamation of melodies and barely intelligible words, then write around that. The number of times I’ve had a sick hook in my head and forgotten it by the time I’ve got everything loaded up in Logic is painful.
Which song of yours would you like people to hear first?
I really couldn’t say. Music isn’t one-size-fits-all and I dabble in a range of sounds. I think it all makes sense when played together. What I am sure of is that it all sounds good — even if you don’t like the style of a particular song, at least the quality can be recognised. I have a song for everyone, so just shuffle through. I’d start with something from my most recent work though — the ‘High Highs & Low Lows’ mixtape.
What inspired you to make that tape?
I had the best year of my life in 2022 and the worst in 2023. I made the bulk of the tape in 2024 and I’m releasing it now in 2025. The songs were all made harnessing that energy. I packaged it so that my perspective in those times can be felt, meaning you hear the effects of highs and lows rather than the causes. I opted for jumpy, bouncy beats so the highs and lows sound like one regardless of the lyrical content. I hope this translates to the listener — that perspective is everything and can change how you deal with whatever you’re going through. Personally, through all life’s high highs and low lows, I can still smile and laugh. I might even appreciate the lows more than the highs.
What’s the most vulnerable you’ve allowed yourself to be when writing or making music?
Probably on the songs ‘I’m Not’ or ‘Running on E’. The first is about my dating experiences. They tend to all end differently but for the same reason when it boils down to it, and I touch on that in the first verse. I go on to do some introspection and retrospection in the bridge and recognise that it’s an issue of pride that I try to disguise as drive. ‘Running on E’ is really a manifestation of that same drive and pride I talk about in ‘I’m Not’ and how I feel about it not paying off — yet.
What’s the best or worst experience you’ve had on stage?
I’ve only performed once, so my answer for both will be that one performance. It was my worst because my set-up wasn’t working — I came to find out afterwards that no one could hear me. At the same time, I’ve seen footage of it and I had good stage presence. I even did one song a cappella with the crowd, so that was cool. I have a few more performances coming up this year, so that’s something to look forward to.
What is your favourite song to perform?
I think it’s ‘Skelly’ — that’s the one I did a cappella. The energy from that really turned me up. There are a few songs I still need to perform, so we’ll see if that changes.
Which artist, song or album made you want to make music?
I couldn’t pin it down to just one person or piece of music specifically. In a way it would be everything I’ve ever listened to and liked. I work off feeling. I started making music because I’d hear a song that gave me a feeling and wanted to try and make something myself that would give me that same feeling. I think that’s why my music has such a wide soundscape — almost an impossible task, by the way. I think I’ve only managed to do it with my debut song ‘Bingo’. My music definitely evokes feeling in me, but that’s the only song where I’ve felt something I’ve felt listening to someone else’s music — even more so.
What’s the meaning behind your name?
My name simply is my name. I’ve never had a tag or nickname that I would still like to go by. I couldn’t think of a new stage name that wasn’t too random, or one I could imagine being addressed by for years to come. I’ll always be David. That said, the searchability isn’t great and a lot of other people’s music gets mixed up on my page, so I’m going to change it to Wavid. I’ve been calling myself that in the music since my very first release anyway. It’s a name I gave myself back in 2017 whilst taking a Snapchat video. I had waves at the time, so it was just a funny pun to me, but it actually makes sense — I’m really wavey for real, even without the hairstyle.
If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing instead?
I would’ve started a clothing brand for sure — that was my initial plan — and I’ll still get around to it. At the time I thought a music-to-fashion pipeline made more sense than the other way around. It would be that and Creative Direction/Brand Strategy. I’m going to start treating the music as a portfolio for that; I’ve already started actually. I’ve taken a conceptual approach to the tape and tried to be as creative in the theme and marketing as possible. Music isn’t the be-all and end-all for me and I want to maintain that stance. At one point, I was being told that I couldn’t think that way and shouldn’t be saying that to A&Rs and label executives if I wanted commercial success. So I had to trick myself into thinking it was the be-all and end-all — but I can’t do that.
What’s success to you?
Success to me is freedom and favour. Freedom to do whatever I want whenever I want, and to experience favour to the degree that it spills over to the people around me. That’s when I’ll know I’ve achieved all I want to. Until then, success is simply executing my ideas and bringing them to fruition as close to how I imagined them.
I love when artists approach their music with eras, with each one being distinctively different. That can feel like a right you have to earn at times because, what does it matter if eyes aren’t on you? I’m going to abandon that thinking though. You can sometimes feel like you must do things tactically as part of the game, but the reality is there are no real rules to any of it — especially today. Commercial success sounds nice, but not at the cost of the freedom to create and express how I want to. If I want to put out a body of work rapping throughout with an ‘underground’ approach, followed by a tape of straight R&B and me singing, I’ll do just that. As long as I can execute my concept how I want to, I’m happy.
What moment in your life or career forced you to change direction?
It was 2023 for sure. Life really humbled me that year and I was forced to let go and just put my trust in God. It felt like I was trying to climb out of quicksand, but doing that only makes you sink faster. With that I learned to let go of a bunch of other things too — one being a lot of music I was hoarding. I’d have songs that I thought were the one — the best thing I’d ever make or that had to be released in a certain order — so I’d make new things as a buffer until I thought it was the perfect time to release. I’ve actually had two or three full tapes that never released because of this. It was only when I let go of all my old work that I was able to make ‘High Highs & Low Lows’ and start making actual progress again.
Where can people keep in touch with you?
I’m @a1david8 on literally everything. I’ll post different things on different platforms, but Instagram is like my central hub — you’ll hear and see everything there. When I change my artist name, that’ll be @wavidnotdavid. I already use those accounts as spam, but I’ll switch them around soon. You’ll find me on either one.
