With the pop punk renaissance in full swing, the ones who choose to stay young inside are quickly revealing themselves. Proud to have never truly left the 2000s, Nashville-based duo davvn (pronounced "dawn") adopts an adventurous, carefree sound that resonates with several generations of fans. If you've come across the song "2002" - a viral, millennial-specific parody of Bowling For Soup's "1985" - while scrolling through TikTok, that'd be their work. Composed of lead singer McCall Bliss and guitarist Mike Nuzzolo, the band characterizes their niche as "the new nostalgia."
"boy next door," the band's most recent drop, offers a suprising twist on the "girl next door" trope. Plot-wise, it bears many similarities to a popular Y2K movie of the same name. Ladies, if you've ever had an ex that revealed more and more red flags as your relationship with them progressed, this one's for you. Recently, Playlists & Polaroids got to chat with davvn about "2002," "boy next door," and their overall artistic journey - keep reading for our full interview with them!
Image credit: davvn, graphic created by Karly Ramnani
YOU'LL LOVE DAVVN IF YOU LISTEN TO: Avril Lavigne, Linkin Park, Michelle Branch, Fall Out Boy, Hilary Duff, Charlotte Sands, Paramore
How did you guys meet and decide to call yourselves davvn? In what ways does the band name represent your sound and image?
MIKE: We both met in college our senior year after a Kesha concert actually! We hit it off immediately talking about all of our favorite bands that we shared, but we would've never guessed that a relationship and a band of 5 years would come out of it. We took about a year before we started trying to make music together, but once we dove in we never looked back. Our sound has definitely evolved a lot since then - it's way more rock and guitar focused than before. The name "davvn" was meant to represent the bittersweet feeling of watching the sun rise and set - our brand really revolves around the pink and blues of the sky colors in the same way.
Since it's pronounced "dawn," what's the significance of using v's rather than a w?
MCCALL: The v's in davvn were a little nod to bands like PVRIS and Alvvays, a fun twist on the spelling in an artsy way. We also thought it'd be super fun to have our fans put up the two peace signs to make the 'v's at a live show.
As your fans know, nostalgia plays a heavy role in what you guys do. What artists did you both grow up on, and who's on your playlist today?
MCCALL: It definitely does! Some of our favorite artists we grew up on are bands like Fall Out Boy, Boys Like Girls, and Motion City Soundtrack and then solo artists like Avril Lavigne, Michelle Branch, and Hilary Duff. Today we're listening to both newer artists like Charlotte Sands and LOLO, and keeping the older stuff alive as well. We're fans of all genres of music, and it really depends on our mood.
What are your favorite parts of MySpace culture, and Y2K culture in general? How do these qualities shape the way you guys look back on the "good old days"?
MIKE: The best part of the internet back then was how simple it was. It felt like a little escape from the drama of high school, where you could have fun and mess around with friends and be creative. The world these days is so over connected that you actually need to disconnect to get away from the internet. It's actually been so fun getting back into physical media like CD's and DVD's and vinyl. It really is a fun and de-stressing experience to get back into them.
Image credit: davvn
You've previously characterized your musical niche as "the new nostalgia" and "imperfect pop." What do these ideas mean to you guys, and in what ways do you feel they describe your music?
MCCALL: We've always been obsessed with pop punk music since we were kids going to Warped Tour back in high school. Popular music has changed a lot since then, but we've really found our writing style and what we love making in bringing back these 2000's and 2010's styles of music. There's plenty of nostalgia in it for sure, and we talk a lot about topics like getting older and how our relationships and our friends have changed.
What inspired you guys to write the TikTok-viral parody "2002," a play on "1985" by Bowling For Soup?
MIKE: We were actually inspired by a tweet we found in 2020, where someone had pointed out that if Bowling For Soup had released 1985 today it would be called "2002". We were both horrified that we were so old and inspired to create a fun version of the song for TikTok. We never thought we'd actually end up releasing the song a year later with the blessing of Jaret and the rest of the band!
What was your reaction when "2002" gained so much traction? What about when you guys eventually got to record it with Bowling For Soup themselves?
MCCALL: We were absolutely shocked! I think there must've been a lot of other people feeling as nostalgic as we did, and we never expected to get a DM from Bowling For Soup's singer Jaret Reddick about putting out the song either. The whole thing was truly a surreal experience that definitely will be something we'll be talking about forever.
As a smaller artist that built some of your fanbase on TikTok, what are your thoughts on UMG's recent decision to remove their entire catalog from the platform?
MIKE: I feel really bad for any of their smaller artists who had their catalogs taken down, it definitely makes it nearly impossible to grow your fanbase without that. I'm sure bigger artists like Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo are concerned as well. TikTok's virality has really been the key to launching new songs so it'll be interesting to see how this plays out over the next year.
Image credit: davvn
Switching gears a little bit, how did you guys approach the songwriting and production of "boy next door"?
MCCALL: We started writing "boy next door" with two of our good friends Andrew Gomez and John Harvie, who are both incredibly talented. I came in with a few concepts and "boy next door" was one that stood out when I pitched it to the room. The melodies are definitely very John inspired and I think they came out awesome. Andrew added in his hard-hitting and energetic production and the track just flew from there.
The cover art of "boy next door" literally looks like a movie poster! How did you guys conceptualize and create this visual?
MCCALL: The song was definitely a play off of the 2000's movie The Girl Next Door and also the trope with the same name, so we wanted to lean into that and create our own 2000s style artwork. We did most of it in Photoshop, taking out the background and then adding in the pink styling! I do some of our artwork myself for our songs, which is super fun.
If younger generations find "boy next door" or any of your music, what do you hope they get out of it?
MIKE: I hope that they enjoy listening to the music as music as we love making it and playing it! A lot of it is super high energy, music to dance to or scream in the car. Hopefully it can be songs that our listeners resonate with and help get them through hard times.
Finally, the P&P classic! What’s a lyric from “boy next door” that stands out to you? Walk us through the process of yourself writing it, and how does it speak to you personally?
MIKE: I think my favorite lines are in the verses personally, I love how McCall's voice sits in her range there and the lyrics are very playful. "I think my parents love you, but I don't think that Jesus does with the things you do" is a great example.
Bridging the gap between millennials and Gen Z, davvn effortlessly strikes an electric balance between playful and hard-hitting. As the band utilizes the nostalgic subject matter that they know best, an immense passion for what they do shines through. If you're in the mood for a little blast from the past, here's a playlist we've curated of davvn and similar artists!
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