NYC Scene Report – Lila Blue, Wildstreet, & Don’t Believe in Ghosts

This week’s NYC Scene Report features singer-songwriter Lila Blue grappling with emotions on “Half of It,” rockers Wildstreet wanting us to be who we’re “Born To Be,” and indie pop band Don’t Believe In Ghosts pondering what it means to be “Living Like This.”

* Earlier this year I caught Lila Blue’s set at Rockwood Music Hall Stage 1, and she impressed with crowd with both her vocals, and her songwriting. One of the songs that especially stood out was “Half of It,” which Blue recently released as a single.

Explaining the song in a statement, Blue said, “I wrote ‘Half of It’ after running into an ex who I truly believed I would never see again, and never gain closure with. We happened to run into each other two years after the split, and in mere minutes we were able to clear the air. While the whole situation was overall relieving, I remember being taken aback by these deep waves of sadness for who we were and how young we'd been. I went home, sat down on the piano, and out came the song.”

Check out the video for “Half of It,” and get to know Lila Blue.


* NYC rockers Wildstreet were in the midst of their Kings Of The World Tour, with dates through mid-July, when the world decided to cancel everything. While it's a bummer we'll have to wait to see them live, we can still rock out to their music.

Wildstreet can be as wild as their name implies, but with their latest single, “Born To Be,” they’re rockin’ an inspirational vibe, telling listeners to take a leap of faith and go after their goals.

As Wildstreet sings, “You will become who you’re born to be,” one can’t help but want to kick some ass in life.


* Indie pop band Don’t Believe in Ghosts has a heck of a message with their latest single, “Living Like This,” and it may influence you to log off Instagram … at least for a few minutes.

Frontman Steven Nathan explained the inspiration for “Living Like This” in a statement, saying that in this social media driven world, “Everyone is trying to present these exciting versions of themselves, which we all know are not real. Yet, we sometimes feel compelled to compete. This mindset is very distracting.”

The band’s name represents another aspect of their outlook on life, as Nathan notes Don’t Believe in Ghosts means, “Don’t give energy to the ghosts of your past.”

Click play on “Living Like This” and I have a feeling you’ll believe in Don’t Believe in Ghosts.


For more of the best of NYC’s indie music scene, come back next Wednesday, and check out the archives for previous columns.