Five boys with insane amounts of talent are forged together by one dream, propelling themselves into fame thanks to the power of the internet. It’s the perfect formula to create the next pop group sensation of this generation.
RELATED: Back Alright? Why The Backstreet Boys Are Better Than Ever
From their love of music, Why Don’t We members, Daniel Seavey, Corbyn Besson, Jack Avery, Zach Herron, and Jonah Marais were rising individual artists who found their way into each other one fateful fan meeting event in 2016. With their own following and fandom on social media, the boys (who instantly clicked) thought, “Why don’t we join forces?” Little did they know that they were going to change pop culture history in their own way.
Now, over two years and a full-length album later, WDW is at the top of the charts and is currently on a worldwide tour. The next stop for their 8 Letters tour is in Asia and WDW is making a Manila comeback on November 18, 2019, at the New Frontier Theatre.
MEGA Man spoke with Daniel Seavey on the phone prior to their incoming show. He talks about the tour, the story behind their music, and adjusting to the other side of fame.
How is the tour going?
Daniel: “It’s been amazing and it’s been a while since we’ve been in Europe, it’s going well…What we’re doing in Europe right now, we might not be doing in the Philippines, so let’s see about that.”
The process of choosing songs for the setlist is pretty interesting.
Daniel: “As a band, we’re all pretty on the same page of what we want to perform and what we don’t. I do know that we have a lot of fans who talked to us about this one song we don’t perform from our 8 Letters album. And when we first set the show, it was really hard to kind of put the song because it was a slower song.”
What song do you think had a different sound or vibe wherein you felt kind of hesitant in releasing?
Daniel: “With the wide range of songs we have, Don’t Change, I think, was maybe a little—I wouldn’t say behind for us, but something not really good for our soundtrack. But I’m not sure if we would normally come out with that kind of song. It sounds kind of a little young for us. As artists, you wanna be as honest as you can, but I don’t dislike the song—we never come out with songs that we don’t like…We wanna make sure our fans like everything we’re putting out, but at the same time, we don’t want to put ourselves in a box.”
How did it feel when the band was asked to be part of a movie soundtrack for Ugly Dolls?
Daniel: “That was a crazy moment. It felt like yesterday we were playing in front of 30 people, just trying to make our first single, Taking You out there. We had our little fan base, but it was just like, we were just gonna get to anywhere we could. Then to have a movie production reach out, saying they’d love to have us to be part of their project…Yeah, it was a surreal moment. Like it was a big stepping stone in our career. It was the first time that has happened to us and it’s an honor. And just to see the other people on the lineup in the soundtrack too, it felt like we didn’t belong in any way.”
What song do you enjoy performing live?
Daniel: “100 percent, Big Plans and What Am I is really fun because it’s the first song where we gotta play the instruments live because we have three guitars, a cello, and a piano out on stage. That’s just really fun.”
Talk about [the song] Come To Brazil.
Daniel: “Honestly, we have so many songs that kinda got tucked away that comes down to what we want to come out with. For a while, we were kinda not really planning on coming out with Come To Brazil, because a lot just didn’t really want it because it kinda pushed the barrier, and luckily, they really do respect our opinion and our sound on things which was really amazing and so that came around, and said “you know, if you guys do believe in the song and you know that’s the right thing then we will back you up,” and that was really cool. You know, not everything is perfect in the world. And we are hoping to do a video in Brazil, which we may do one day when we have the time to go to Brazil.”
What genre do you guys want to explore more?
Daniel: “When we started the band I think we were more R&B than we are now, so I could see us bringing that back ‘cause that would be interesting too, and I think we are trying to find our middle ground on what we wanna do and honestly see what the future holds. But definitely R&B and kind of like hip-hop music.”
Name a few things that happened in the LA mansion that you want to relive?
Daniel: “Honestly, the thing about big houses and that whole thing is like, it’s fun for a little bit but when you live in that kind of scene for too long, it kinda like, the listing brands start to go away, but it was really fun. And you know, a lot of good memories in there because that’s where we first started out as a band and we lived there. Just getting to know each other is like, one of the best stuff about our friendship but it’s better and happier to stay home with family.”
What is your message to the Filipino Limelights?
Daniel: “Just wanna say a huge thank you to all the Filipino Limelights because we see them literally everywhere online and those types of things. They’re who we see the most active. And a huge thank you for everything they’re doing for us, like, we see it all and it means a lot.”
Why Don’t We is coming back to Manila this November 18. Presented by MMI Live and Live Nation, you can purchase your tickets here.
The phoner with Daniel Seavey was by Arianne Harn.
