From Toronto to Tāmaki - day13n Opens Up About his Past on Raw New EP ghost town.

Following the success of day13n’s most recent single 'smooth.' his EP ghost town. hits all platforms May 22nd, celebrating NZ Music Month by recounting the circumstances that lead to his immigration to Aotearoa.

ghost town. is a snapshot of a very specific point in day13n’s life. The first chapter of the journey that took him to Aotearoa, and started his sobriety, and music career. Across 4 songs, created alongside Andrew Meyer and Muks Mailei, at BigPop’s Drake St. Studio, this EP explores themes of addiction, mistreatment of romantic partners, social isolation, new love, and new beginnings.

Growing up in East Toronto, day13n watched his neighbourhood, and the whole city become more and more gentrified, and lose the culture and character that defined it, as the communities who built it were pushed out of the city, and into the suburbs. This gentrification horror story is not unique to Toronto, and those who grew up in Auckland have their own identical tales to tell. day13n recounts old rhyme books filled with lyrics about Toronto becoming a “ghost town”; imagining a mass exodus of the wealthy that would allow a reclamation of the city by the people who created its culture. That fantasy is where the name of this EP comes from.

ghost town. will be released during NZ Music Month. with so much anti-immigrant rhetoric in NZ right now, day13n’s newly received resident status, the EP telling the story of the beginning of his immigration to NZ, and its title directly referencing immigrant communities being pushed out of their cities, day13n decided to release this EP alongside an interview series with NZ Immigrant musicians, discussing the impact of migrants on Aotearoa’s music culture, and their experiences within New Zealand’s music community.

Celebrate Aotearoa immigrant music this NZMM! Listen to ghost town here.

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Photo credit: Lachlan Kirkwood