Baby Dayliner

Baby Dayliner forged a distinctive place for himself amid New York’s alternative rock and rap circles during the first half of the 2000s. His idiosyncratic cabaret-lounge delivery drew parallels that stretched from Frank Sinatra through David Bowie to Ian Curtis, while his own listening habits encompassed an even more eclectic range—’80s synth pop, underground rap, folk songwriting, ’50s rockabilly and pop, and Japanese kabuki theater music. By combining these typically unrelated idioms he cultivated a modest yet diverse audience.

Born Ethan Marunas in Manhattan, he graduated from LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts—the institution depicted in Fame—before earning his undergraduate degree at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. Discouraged by unsatisfying group projects, he abandoned bands and began writing, recording, and staging his own material. Audiences came to recognize him through a solitary performance format built around a single suitcase of equipment, a series of choreographed movements, and his own presence. He independently issued his debut album, High Heart & Low Estate, in 2002. After catching his sets, members of the indie rock band the National offered him a deal on their Brassland Records imprint, which reissued the album in March 2004.

During the same period Dayliner expanded his production credits, serving as executive producer for the 2003 comedy-rap release Let’s Get Serious by Def Jux duo the Party Fun Action Committee, contributing production to underground rapper Chase Phoenix’s Cut to the Chase in 2004, and acting as co-executive producer while also playing violin on Blockhead’s Music by Cavelight—an artist who had been a longtime childhood friend of Marunas. His more polished follow-up, Critics Pass Away, appeared in May 2006 and earned wider praise; having already shared stages with the National, he reached a broader listenership.