Eagle-eared music fans will notice a fresh face has been dominating the airwaves this week. Since its release last Friday, Chicago-native David Kushner’s new track Daylight has become a surprise contender for Top 10 chart success, and is now emerging as one of the main challengers who could dethrone Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding’s single Miracle from hanging onto the top spot in the UK Singles Chart for a third week running.
As well as being in line to potentially usurp Harris and Goulding, Kushner is competing with one of his musical inspirations, Lewis Capaldi. Hot on the heels of what could be a huge week for the star, 22-year-old Kushner admits the response has been unexpected.
“It's so hard to explain,” he says. “It's everything I've wanted and more. It just reminds me of where I started, where I came from, and why I'm doing what I'm doing.” He tells me he doesn’t want to get too caught up in the numbers, but concedes that the response has driven him to keep pushing boundaries musically. ”I just want to make an impact,” he says.
Daylight isn’t Kushner’s first venture into the UK Singles Chart – his initial breakthrough came with his track Miserable Man, which managed to just about crack the UK Top 40 (it peaked at number 39). Undoubtedly though, his latest release will be his biggest chart success in the UK so far, currently sitting at number two on the midweek UK chart update.
Kushner recently returned to the US following a string of shows in the UK, marking his first venture on this side of the pond. He tells me he’s grown fond of the country already.
“I love the UK. I was just there for the first time actually, touring, and it was just the biggest blessing. I just love the culture. I love the people. It’s just the biggest blessing in my life to know that people all the way across the world appreciate me as an artist.”
Kushner tells me he had various different passions growing up, but his musical interests were established from a very young age. “All throughout my life, my brother was in a band growing up, my sisters all did piano lessons, and they were all very musically inclined. I eventually got vocal lessons once I graduated 12th grade, and I was gonna go to uni.”
The singer eventually opted for the musical route instead, steadily growing his now-massive platform to reach over 3 million followers on TikTok. Though he started out taking part in dance trends and lip-synchs, he slowly began teasing his own music on the platform over time, and letting fans in on the behind-the-scenes processes behind his songs.
“I was able to get better and better at writing. I was passionate about art, and making people feel something; just making the world a better place one song at a time.”
While he lists the likes of Capaldi, Hozier, Bon Iver, Mumford and Sons, Novo Amor and The Lumineers as key inspirations, he also admits to having to unlearn his early impulse to try to fit in with the crowd. “When I first started writing songs, there was a lot of artist development – I wanted to sound like a lot of my favourite artists, to a tee. I had this distorted view”
Working with a vocal coach gave him a renewed perspective on developing his own sound, something the singer remains grateful for today. “I give a lot of credit to him in understanding what makes an artist an artist,” he says. This musical exploration set Kushner in the direction of finding his own voice. “I just was my authentic self,” he says. “I realised that you need to first be authentic, but having inspirations is great.”
Kushner is now challenging one of his heroes, Capaldi, who released his track Wish You The Best last week, for the top spot in the UK charts.
Despite the added pressure and media interest this may bring, Kushner seems to be pretty grounded, spending most of his free time taking the heat off with one of his other passions – basketball.
“I love basketball. I grew up playing basketball; I was on my varsity team in High School,” he tells me. Kushner avidly follows the Chicago Bulls, famously the home of sporting great Michael Jordan. “I’ve always just been loyal to the hometown. My city Chicago,” he says with enthusiasm.
Kushner also spends much of his time outside of the studio playing video games, namely Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which has been a favourite of his since childhood. He loves it so much, in fact, that he had ambitions to take up gaming as a career.
“I wanted to be a professional e-sports player for Counter-Strike, the game that I grew up playing. I was on teams growing up with my friends and we would play in tournaments.”
There may not be much spare time for Counter-Strike right now, though, as the singer speaks to me in the midst of a writers camp in LA. He’s stationed there with The Lumineers – another of his heroes – who are working with him on the finishing touches of his debut album. As well as the band’s Wesley Schultz and Lumineers collaborator David Baron, Rob Kirwan – who also collaborated with Hozier on his biggest hit Take Me To Church – is set to be involved.
Of their upcoming collaborations, he says: “I just can’t wait to release that, and be able to see the impact that it has.” There’s also room for some exciting projects with other artists, as he describes what’s to come.
“I’m working with a lot of amazing artists that a lot of people would know,” he hints, delightedly, “for potential collaborations coming up in the future.” He hopes all the work will eventually lead back him back to the UK, which he is missing already.
The album release will be the next big step for the breakout star, which he hopes to release at some point this year, as well as touring ambitions. For now, though, with a UK top 5 debut almost certain, and the number one spot within close grasp, all eyes are on Kushner and this week’s UK Singles Chart.
Regardless of where Daylight ends up, the singer is well placed for a massive year. As he puts it, “A lot of stuff is happening. It’s really exciting and I can’t wait for all those things to come to fruition.”
