Q&A: Desmond Walks on Breaking Out of Fear With New Single “Daybreak” and Upcoming EP
WRITTEN BY GINGER
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After a brief stint of guitar lessons recommended by his parents at the age of 10, Desmond Walks found himself wanting to produce music at an early age.
He first found himself DJing at middle school dances at the age of 12 and by the age of 16 found himself producing electronic music and was signed on by Armin Van Buuren’s label.
At the age of 18, he was then signed on to R&R Digital, creating singles such as “Onlysmokecigsontheweekend” and remained at the label for 4 years, now rebranding himself to Desmond Walks, the indie-rock artist is releasing his new single “Daybreak” followed by an EP dropping in August.
“I’ve kind of put away the electronic music and brought out this more songwriter side that I love with guitar,” states Desmond.
Life on Jupiter had the pleasure of speaking with Desmond Walks on this new release.
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LIFE ON JUPITER: I noticed you had produced an EP during 2022 on Soundcloud. Was that your first attempt in the new genre?
DESMOND WALKS: I made all those songs probably two weeks after my mom had passed and I was looking for an outlet. I think I made like 12 songs in seven days and those were my favorites. There's just always a lot of fear, especially with this new genre I’m starting with, so I wanted to just put it on Soundcloud since it was low stakes to get it out there and it did really well.
What about with this new single and the upcoming EP, when did you start getting into that?
DESMOND: My roommate and best friend, Mike, who also co-produced “Daybreak” with me, we love getting together and writing. So we went on this writing trip with our buddies and made a single in 2024 called “World is Ending,” but we didn’t touch it for eight months until one day Mike came up to me and said, “I lost all the files.” We technically made “Daybreak” on the same trip and it was also lost on the laptop.
Sorry to hear about the corrupted file. How do you feel about the final piece?
DESMOND: Obviously, it was pretty tough to mimic because there’s always something special with the moment you create something in the space, even the air in the room could change how something sounds. So I was really nervous about the remake but at the same time found the sound that I really wanted to go with.
How did you write “Daybreak”?
DESMOND: It was one of those days where you’re thankful that you’re roommates with your best friend, who is also a musician. We were sitting on the couch and just went, “Let’s make a song right now.” Mike played the guitar in the intro of the song and I just started scatting some stuff on top of it.
The moment I sang the first line of the chorus, ‘she started doing cocaine,’ it felt like the song just came together.
But throughout it all, I still think I am slowly learning and figuring myself out throughout all of this.
I think you could probably hear it throughout the EP as well. Some self-questions like “Who am I as a person? As an artist?” I don’t necessarily know if I got the answers overall, but I think “Daybreak” is probably the first step to it all.
What do you think the themes of “Daybreak” are as you learned them throughout?
DESMOND: Coming of age is really the easiest way to put it; there probably is a breakup in there and some drama as well.
You said you had had this since 2024, so why pick now to release it?
DESMOND: I have the best friends and the best dad - my dad is my biggest fan. They jokingly said they would shoot me if I didn’t release the music. Everyone has been so encouraging, telling me to put it out there. Obviously, I’d love to just be able to sit around and make music all day, but they made me realize that nothing happens if you don’t do anything. The people in my life have just pushed me positively.
Most importantly to me, I want to get it out and be able to say I’m proud of something and hopefully other people like it too.
You mentioned you were previously signed on for a music label for four years, do you think that experience really helped in making music?
DESMOND: I love the guys at that label so much and they are so good at being the taste makers for what is cool and they signed on so many amazing indie artists that have created such a great impact on culture such as Mt. Joy, Dijon, Mk.gee and more.
With that, I want to say it probably gave me a bit of imposter syndrome because I was an 18-year-old who was making future bass electronic music, but it helped me change my perspective on how I want my music to feel and to be perceived as an artist.
You said that you mix a bit of personal but also some emotional detachment when songwriting. How do you balance between the two?
DESMOND: I think similarly to my fear of releasing music, there is a lot of fear in really being myself, too, but with all of these songs, I want to break out and really say everything that is on my mind. I think that becomes a great lead-up to another single in the EP.
What’s next for you?
DESMOND: With the full EP coming out in August, I am hoping to do some sort of release show in LA. My dream would be to do it in the Silverlake Lounge, but I hope to see myself at venues across the country, like in New York as well. The reason I love music is that I love playing shows.