Grey Daze Honors Chester Bennington in “Starting to Fly” From Their Newest Album The Phoenix

Grey Daze Honors Chester Bennington in “Starting to Fly” From Their Newest Album The Phoenix

On June 17th, Grey Daze (composed of Chester Bennington, Sean Dowdell, Mace Beyers and Cristin Davis) released their second album, The Phoenix, featuring the single, “Starting to Fly.” The release of the single was accompanied by a music video directed by Heidi Gadd, which is full of shots from behind-the-scenes footage from the recording of The Phoenix, mixed into a montage of scenes from extreme sports and beautiful vistas.

Watch the music video for “Starting to Fly” below:

“Starting to Fly” is, as songwriter and drummer Sean Dowdell states, “A new Rock Anthem that is about finding yourself and your true potential. It is realizing that you can make the world yours. It’s a song about hope. How High Can We Go?”

The Phoenix is a sequel to the band’s 2020 album, Amends, which reflected the band mourning the loss of Chester,

“We felt sad when we were writing it. Now that we’re a couple of years removed, it’s very clear what we were going through. We were at a different stage of grief. We went through the shock and the sadness.”

The Phoenix is a compilation of songs Grey Daze recorded during their initial run from 1994-1997. Two albums were recorded, and the songs from these albums were re-recorded for both Amends and The Phoenix so that fans could experience another side of Chester Bennington’s vocal power. 

After the release of Amends, Grey Daze states, 

“Now, we’re back to gratitude. The Phoenix is more of a celebration of our friend, his talent, and the music. It captures Chester’s angst and energy that people fell in love with. It’s much more aggressive. If you love Chester’s scream, you’ll love this record.”

As a way to pay tribute and celebrate Chester, Grey Daze also recruited Dave Navarro and Richard Patrick, as well as Chester’s daughters, Lily and Lila, to contribute on the album. Fans of Chester Bennington should listen to “Starting to Fly,” as well as The Phoenix, as it further showcases the dynamic range of his vocals. 

To see more from Grey Daze, check out their website, Greydazemusic.com, and their social media pages such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. You can also listen to The Phoenix below!