Born into an atypical Christian household, Ben Willey’s (Days To Waste) life has been bookended by music written from emotion; whether that the Christian Worship music he grew up with, or the pensive Emo he’s known for now.

Diagnosed with ADHD in childhood and feigning interest in School, Wiley focused all attention on music, joining the Church band at 8 years old. Shortly thereafter he found rock bands like Relient K through Warped Tour before reaching fora guitar in his early teens. The Emo and boom of the late 2000’s opened a doorway for Wiley, where bands explored themes of emotion and catharsis, mirroring much of the music he was exposed to at an early age, but with a distinctly different edge.

By 14 Wiley started a YouTube channel, coining the artist name, Days To Waste and by 16 he would drop out of school entirely, focusing all his effort on music:“I remember looking at lifelike God had a plan for me. When that came crashing down, this was the only answer.”

Now, the 24 year-old bridges the gap between the Emo of yesteryear with forward thinking production backed. Compared to contemporaries like nothing, nowhere; or his closest collaborators, Braden Ross or Sad Eyes—Days To Waste has steadily carved out a fanbase through his relentless output of music. Choosing to work almost completely solo he says:“these songs aren’t products in my head, they’re real to me.”This authenticity has earned him over 10m+ streams and 45k+ combined online followers.