Social media increasingly displays a falsely accessible version of perfection – one that doesn’t show the work (or filters) involved in getting there.
It further shrouds any pain the subject feels or experiences, instead putting on an effortlessly positive and often deceptive sheen.
Singer-songwriter Thomas Day dissects this dichotomy with this latest track “Wildflower.” Out on Arista Records, the song is aimed at all who feel alone and lost, no matter how perfect or effortless their life appears.
Now with 7 million social media followers and over 25 million global streams, Day has seen his music career take off somewhat recently. His interest in music started at the age of 9, when he began performing in music theater productions.
While his interests as a teen shifted toward football – he even received a football offer for college – he didn’t lose sight of a career in music.
Posting covers to TikTok helped him get signed to Arista in 2021, and he followed that with original works like “not my job anymore” and “The New Me.”
With “Wildflower” further establishing him as an artist, we had a chance to speak with Day about this track and his career:
Your upcoming track “Wildflower” is about feeling alone. What inspired you to write about this topic?
This song came to me in the most interesting way. I was in New York City for a songwriting trip. It was Thursday morning, and I was leaving my hotel and I noticed this very pretty girl sitting on a park bench.
As I was walking, we both noticed each other and smiled then she trailed next to me going to her location. At one point, we stopped at a light and she was listening to music, and I saw she had a sad playlist on.
Which made me think, no matter how pretty or amazing your life can look from the outside, you never know the pain people are dealing with inside. This is my song to help anyone who feels alone.
How did the music video concept – a field of wildflowers in Tennessee – come to be? How do you think it adds to the song’s vibe?
I think it matched the sound of the song, and it complimented the concept of the song itself.
While you started singing in musical theater as a child, how did you transition to singing and songwriting as you got older?
I started getting into it when I was in 5th grade. I started using songwriting to process things going on — in fact my first song was almost about this girl I met that I was going to title “I Love You,” haha.
More recently, you had to make a difficult decision: Go to college on an athletic scholarship, or pursue music. Why did you choose the latter?
It was a tough decision because I had put so much time and energy into football, but at the end of the day, I knew that I needed to pursue music. Music was by far my truest passion.
A couple of years ago, you appeared on America’s Got Talent. How did this help your career?
It was my first time performing in front of a big live audience, so that was exciting. It was overall a very fun experience!
You’ve also used TikTok – singing covers – to bring in more fans. How do you think this platform has helped you?
It allowed me to grow a family throughout the world. It’s been helpful to post my original songs on there and get feedback from my fans on which songs they’d like me to release.
For your original songs, what has been your approach to songwriting? What inspires you?
It all depends on how I’m feeling. How I’m feeling at the moment dictates what type of song I’m going to write.
What do you have planned to follow “Wildflower” and for the rest of 2022?
I have a whole bunch of music coming throughout this year and next year.
Ivan Yaskey is a Philly-born EDM and synthpop enthusiast and interviewer who recently relocated to beautiful Boston, MA.