young friend

With songs that sound like the last few coveted days of summer, 22-year-old Drew Tarves’ hopeful and honest perspective on the highs and lows of youth are embedded in his lyrics. A trained dancer for most of his adolescence, the 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 Garage Band as he found his own style that suited him: “It was all about experimenting while trying to find what worked for me.” After releasing the buzz-building and rap-leaning mixtape yours kindly, in 2019, Tarves continued to refine his sound—drawing from the intimate indie rock of inspirations like Bon Iver, Phoebe Bridgers, and Andy Shauf—amassing millions of streams with a series of singles released over the last two years.