Livers is an artist to watch. Hailing from Toronto, his indie artist, multi-instrumentalist, and moniker for Danny Webster makes music that celebrates life in its darkness and grief.
Raised in a small town in Ontario, Danny was raised on his mother’s love of classical music and his father’s of 80’s metal, becoming fascinated by music from a young age. Almost completely self-taught, he started writing songs as a therapeutic activity after his mother passed when he was 14, leading him to release his first album a few years later. After graduating high school, Danny attended a prestigious jazz program in Toronto but dropped out after a year to put more time in his own creative pursuits. Since then, he has released many singles, EPs, a second album with a third on the way exploring folk, indie rock, country, and pop styles. His lyrics tend to focus on loss, love, grief, fear, and anxiety, listing his main influences as The Beatles, Tame Impala, ABBA, Bon Iver, Radiohead and The Beach Boys. Aged 22 now, he intends to continue exploring different genres in his writing and continue to perform with his backing band.
Tomorrow, Livers shares his newest single, “Anyone”: an indie pop anthem with a dark underbelly of loneliness and grief and Glide is premiering today (below). With shades of Mitski’s “Nobody,” Livers’ “Anyone” captures that feeling of isolation so profound that it overcomes nearly everything, but sings about it with a nonchalant blitheness and levity. Swirling guitar melodies and a wash of dreamy harmonies create a rose-tinted soundscape that feels entirely separated from reality, capturing the disassociation at the heart of the song. It’s a stunning track.
We’re honored to be premiering such a special and deeply personal track at Glide. We sat down with Webster to chat about what prompted his change of name (going from his birth name to “Livers”), what inspired the single, sonic influences, and what’s next for this up-and-comer.
We’re a huge fan of this project — if we may ask, what prompted the name change, from Danny Webster to Livers?
Thanks so much! I was thinking about changing my name for a long time. I’ve always been a little self-conscious of it and was intrigued to have a separate artist name from my own, to create a bit more of a balance. I also think it’s cool when artist names are plural and sound like a group/band, but are in fact a solo artist. The name Livers comes from the loss of my mother when I was a kid. She had cancer which led to her liver failing. That obviously had a major impact on not only my personal life but my creative life, and I kind of wanted to honor her with my name in a way, ‘cause everything I create was made with love that she gave me. Additionally, I like the second way of reading the word livers, as kind of a made-up word for someone who lives; I am a liver through the trauma of that loss. Once I noticed those two meanings I really enjoyed the juxtaposition or irony of sorts between them. I ended up sharing it with some friends and they all dug it so I decided to switch to it for my next releases. It’s been quite well-received so far which is great!
Well, we have to say we’re excited to be premiering your newest single “Anyone.” Could you tell us a little bit about what inspired the song?
This song was written when I was feeling super bummed and lonely. I found myself alone at night wishing that I could be in the presence of anybody romantically, not really caring who. Those moments can be so profoundly desperate that you search for anyone to be around. It’s also about feeling burnt out and feeling like you need to take time to relax, something I have a hard time doing! Sonically, it was inspired by Tame Impala and Mac DeMarco’s phaser-effected guitars and Beatles-esque harmonies.
So who (or what) might you say are your main sonic influences?
I’m heavily influenced by the sounds of Tame Impala, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Mac Demarco, Supertramp, ABBA, Def Leppard and so many more. In terms of songwriting, those artists heavily influence me, but as do Andy Shauf, Elliot Smith, Frank Ocean, Adrienne Lenker, Soccer Mommy and more.
Now that this single is out in the world, what comes next?
“Anyone” is my fourth and final single for my upcoming album The Late-Night Social Escapade! which comes out April 29. It’s my third full-length album and I’m super excited to share it! It’s my best work. I would say that it’s in the realm of indie-rock, but has a lot of classical chorale influences in its arrangements. Beyond that, I’d like to get into a more electronic and dance sound, which is something quite out of my comfort zone. There are definitely some talented pals I’m hoping to collaborate with this year too! If you have any further questions, feel free to email me at dwebster1999@hotmail.com 🙂
Take a sneak peek at the track below (out on all streaming platforms tomorrow), and keep an eye out for Livers’ upcoming album, The Late-Night Social Escapade!, out April 29th. It’s not one to miss.
