Sophomore music major releases first album

Music has always been a big part of Wyatt Fabyanske’s life. A member of the Denison Class of 2027, Fabyanske grew up in a musical family. He started taking classical violin lessons at age 4 and later took guitar lessons and taught himself piano.

Fabyanske’s stage name, Wyatt Delilah, contains his musical philosophy. In Old English, Wyatt means “brave at war,” while Delilah refers to “delicate, soft, and weak.”

“Wyatt Delilah, two words that are opposites, definitely reflects what I like to write about,” he said.

The idea for Fabyanske’s first album came to him in the fall of 2023. He was inspired by events in his life and wrote lyrics based on true stories about periods of growth in his life — but not necessarily happy endings.

“For this project, I tried to write about things that are hard to talk about,” he said. “It’s really redeeming and fulfilling to read your own words after you’ve grown out of that phase of your life.”

Fabyanske writes music by ear, without notation or lead sheets. “I don’t think about theory when I’m writing,” he said. “I normally start with lyrics, find a melody, and build chords by ear.”

He created a makeshift studio in his basement and spent four months recording the album, then hired a family friend to mix it.

This semester, he’s taking his first music theory class and composition lessons with professor Ching-chu Hu. Fabyanske hopes to learn theory techniques that he can apply to his music in the future.

“My goal for this semester,” he said, “is to be able to recognize what I’m doing when I’m writing music.”