I was 10 years old when I bought my first two CD’s ever at Mardel. The first: TobyMac – Welcome To Diverse City. The 2nd: Hawk Nelson – Smile, It’s the end of the world. This catapulted me into a world of music and community that was built on something so positive and spirit infused that I am proud to look back on and have been a part of.

When I learned the opportunity for a Jason Dunn (The OG Voice Of That 2nd CD Purchase and My Favorite Songwriter Ever) feature was actually a possibility I went to the drawing board for writing a song that was an ode not only to that Hawk Nelson Record, but also an ode to the community I (and many of us) grew up loving music with.

I actually wrote the chorus on a lunch break at a marriage conference in San Antonio, TX. What came out of the later full writing and producing session, with Cory Brunnemann, was memories of misfit friends who are now killing it in adult life as business owners, parents, and so much more. As well as remembering some that are no longer with us for different reasons.

The final version of “Smile Ft. Jason Dunn” is a unique high-energy, nostalgic pop-punk summer anthem celebrating its 20th anniversary legacy. It is also the lead single for the upcoming 6-song EP from The Daytime Rivalry who has its Debut live performance on The Subculture Stage at Audiofeed Music Festival on July 5th, 2026.

For fans of Hawk Nelson, Relient K, and MxPx.
(Disclaimer: No Ai was used in this process — just pure raw nostalgia.)

– Tim Robinson

Bio:

Nostalgia, Faith, and the Search for Something Real

The Daytime Rivalry spent his adolescence in the Wind and Flat Lands of West Texas, obsessed with the liner notes of Tooth & Nail CDs and the raw energy of early 2000s alternative. After a decade spent performing in theaters and writing hundreds of songs in the margins of a corporate career, Tim reached a breaking point: was the music for him, or was it for the world?

At 30, he decided God had given him a gift to share with the world.

Blending the heart of a worship leader with the grit of nostalgic emo, His music is a bridge between the spiritual and the cinematic. It’s a sound built on trading Johnnie Walker for an Epiphone Les Paul and finding the divine in the distortion. He isn’t chasing the numbers—He is chasing the same feeling he had as a kid ripping and burning CDs in his bedroom: the hope that these words might finally mean something to someone else.

Visit The Daytime Rivalry Website