young friend | Artist of the Month
Let’s welcome young friend as our PEAK Artist of the Month for October. Vancouver’s own has charm, charisma & the dreamiest melodies to sink your ears into all this month with his track ‘boyfriend material’
Vancouver’s JUNO-nominated artist young friend returns with a sexy, sleazy new song + video, “boyfriend material.” Songwriter Drew Tarves revives his buoyant, lovestruck crooner persona with this bluesy, slacker-rock song. At the heart of it, Tarves is grappling with his own vulnerability– afraid to really let someone in. He reunited with producer David Marinelli (FINNEAS, Ashe, Claud, Wallice) and told him, “We need to write something arrogant but somehow sexy.”
Tarves elaborates: “I play this character that is meant to be sleazy, and I confront the fact that I am not in fact boyfriend material, I’m really just a sort of fling before the real thing comes along.”
Drew Tarves’ music as young friend feels classic and immediate all at once, capturing the nostalgia of post-adolescence while diving deep into a pool of self-reflection. His next project is bursting with big feelings and perfect golden light. It feels messy and raw, like long summer nights piling into the back of a pickup truck with all your friends, sprinting to catch the last summer sunset, taking off your shoes and dancing in the grass, falling, getting back up.
A trained dancer for most of his adolescence, the 24-year-old Vancouver native switched artistic disciplines after spending time jamming with his musician friends. “I found out very quickly that I loved it,” he recalls. “It was my favorite thing to do.” Armed with a guitar and a laptop, Tarves started hashing out early songwriting attempts on GarageBand as he found his own style that suited him: “It was all about experimenting while trying to find what worked for me.”
In 2022, Tarves released his indie-pop debut EP HOW DID WE GET HERE?, and quickly followed it up with a sophomore in 2023 titled scaredy cat. 2024 brought in his first Canadian and international touring, as well as a JUNO nomination. Now, young friend is prepping his debut full-length that’s produced by friend and frequent collaborator David Marinelli (FINNEAS, Ashe, Wallice, spill tab). The album pulls inspiration from a multitude of places and artists, landing in this comfy space of new and familiar while also making room for self-discovery. It will take you along for the ride of your life. “This album takes notes from a lot of different artists and bands that I really love, and as a result, it is this sort of genre-bending fever dream album.”
Listen for young friend all this month on THE PEAK and listen to Boyfriend Material