Self-Taught Producer, Singer, and Songwriter: who is idkgreek?
Welcome to Ones to Watch, a weekly article series that highlights emerging artists who are on the brink of blowing up. Each of the featured artists is very talented and has a unique artistic direction worth your attention. Our goal is to provide background on the up-and-coming artists who have consistently released great music. Links to find these artists will be included below, so you can discover and support them as they make their mark on the music scene.
See I’ve been dead in the water
I feel like I’m chasin’ my karma
She caught me like Midnight Marauders
I know the best is yet to come
Christopher Chance (@madeintheurl) welcomes us to the first episode of his new interview series, “talkintheurl”. He walks us through a hallway and into a room off to the side. The viewer sees a blue bedroom cluttered with waterbottles and music equipment. Drawings on the wall hang above the window. Outside it’s pitch black. A young man with long hair is sitting in front of his computer, interrupted by the entrance in a intro played for laughs.
This is Michael Davie, better known as the artist ‘greek’.
greek faces the camera in a blue sweatshirt and a yellow beanie over his long hair. Opposite is Chance reflected in the standing mirror, behind the camera and holding a Midi keyboard. The sounds and rhythms he’ll play throughout is a source of laughter, soundtracking a lighthearted and lax interview between friends who share a passion for music.
“What’s your most played video game of all time?” Chance asks. “When I was fourteen or thirteen, the Call of Duty scene was popping”, Davie says. “Sorry, but Black Ops 2. I made so many private montage videos that are cringey as fuck. I was a no life until I was probably around 17, when I found other interests.”
Michael Davie is 21 and hailes from Vermont. Dynamic vocal range and layered harmonies, a musical ‘cinematic’ style, and a creative production. His personality may be nervous in front of the camera, but you can see the enthusiasm underneath. greek loves what he’s doing and it shows.
His first song to hook me was safety. Produced by Davie and Max Vossberg, safety is a slow song that conveys the pain of lonely nights, looking for someone special and finding that safe harbour. Horns swell at the end of the chorus, bringing the listener down to gentler acoustics, until the drums lead us to a electric finale.
Phenomenal.
When this song comes on, you know what time it is
greek’s dedication to keeping his creative curiosity in tact, a willingness to expand into sonic experimentation, makes him a talented artist to watch.
Davie was born in 2001, in the state of New Jeresy. Davie grew up in a upper-working class family, meaning they could afford dialup Internet. From a young age, he was big on the Xbox 360 online scene.
“I don’t know how many Xbox friends you had. I met this guy in a GTA message to a recent player. He joined my party, and we became homies for three years. I talk to him occassionally, even now, 5–6 years later. I can name a dozen people who have been a inspiration or good friend of mine [met online].”
greek is an Internet Era child and artist. His career was almost destined to get its start online.
Michael started high school, and around 2015, got into music. A Tribe Called Quest, Kenny Beats, and Daniel Caesar became his influences. In his senior year of highschool (2019), greek released ‘Lavendar Lullabies’, a collection of songs over hip-hop/lofi beats, culminating in a celebratory performance at his graduation party.
greek initially took the path of community college, on his way to university. But after his brief stint, Davie returned to his parents house that year and began to make music. And that beginning period, as always, was hard.
Everything greek does currently he had to learn. Youtube tutorials of FL Studio, songwriting, stringing together melodies and playing instruments, even singing. Making music nearly every day in his room, all self-taught.
“Covid is a tricky one. Obviously its a horrible thing. In my case, it did give me a different working environment. Just being able to sit down here and make music all day, really benefited me. I would just be making a beat a day in my room.” — interview with Voided Party
After 3 projects, greek felt his music had improved by his 4th, Bayside. And for the most part, this is true; vocals, production, everything had stepped up a notch. But for the internet, “When the World’s on Fire” caught everyones attention.
Finally, in October 2022, we got the first greek LP — EXTC. An interplay of synths, electric guitar solos, acoustic indie-songwriter songs, and layered vocals transport the listener into greek’s world. And that’s a lot of descriptors, but it’s simply because this man cannot be pinned down to one genre.
While greek draws inspiration from artists like Daniel Caesar, he interlaces his own style of production that makes the music something special. Synths, electric guitar, soft acoustics and maybe some harp, and layered vocals transport the listener to something from the 80s, a synthwave-indie songwriter vibe that could only be born out of the internet.
The album is big on beat switch ups — I counted at least 6 throughout the project. It was around always that I took note. However, incredible vocals and stellar / varied instrumentation keep the project from getting stale.
There is so much to enjoy. Safety is on here. You got heavy hitters like hmu, which plays around with two genres of music. A track with Marco Luka, who delivers a serviceable verse that meshes well with greek’s style. Bnb has a great guitar solo near the end that transports us. And the aforementioned best is one of my personal favourites, with a more intimate singer-songwriter vibe.
At the end, when greek ends the album with bones, it can feel like the album leaves the listener on sad note. But in my interpretation, bones leaves us wanting more as greek wants more from his lover. EXTC is a snapshot on love from a talented artist with a long career ahead.
Real quick, lets do a run-down of these awesome music videos for EXTC:
greek’s creativity stems from the freedom he has. To produce, write, and sing however he wants to fit his vision gives him an edge. In 2023, he’s headlined and sold out two shows in LA and NY, proving popular coast to coast.
And its good to see a young artist carve out a lane for himself, whether in rnb, pop, or even hyper-pop. This is what indie music is about; balancing that freedom for experimentation with eventual quality. And greek is on the verge of making some truly spectatular music.
Back in his bedroom, greek states he has been influenced by a majority of people in his life. On his wall, drawings above the window are made by friends who enter his space. Despite starting as a bedroom artist, greek does not isolate in his ‘creative echo chamber’.
So, where will greek go next? Currently, he is managed by Elektra Records mgmt. One of his dream production projects is to work with Smino. And he is already messing with hyperpop. “I made this one last night” greek laughs as he hits play. A proto-version of ’idk’ comes on, and it sounds just as realized as the final product.
‘Here’s the thing with my music. I won’t be making the same shit forever, it’s just not going to happen. I feel like hyerpop is the next wave…but I don’t want to alienate my base with new sounds until I’ve gone through this sound. But in the future, maybe I would like to make that jump.”
You can check out more greek downbelow:
Thanks for reading. Stay tuned and drop in next week for another ‘Ones to Watch’.
