young friend on their new release, ‘motorcycle sound effects’

young friend is a JUNO nominated, Vancouver-based indie project by Drew Tarves. With his debut LP, motorcycle sound effects, releasing this past April, and a show at Edmonton’s Double Dragon set for June 28, The Gateway sat down with Tarves to chat about the new release and upcoming show. 

The overall aesthetic of motorcycle sound effects, like the title, surrounds motorcycles. Tarves said he was inspired by a photo from Danny Lyon’s 1967 photobook, The Bikeriders.

“I have a motorcycle of my own and I love the culture,” Tarves added. “I was really getting into what it was like to own a motorcycle while we were writing the record. It just felt like the right thing.”

The record was recorded half in a cabin Tarves grew up summering in, and half in a studio. He said it was a “no-brainer” to record at least partially in the cabin because of the history and memories he has embedded in it. It was a “really inspiring and nurturing place,” he said. 

While cabin-made records usually lean on the cabin experience for reflection and introspection, Tarves leans towards riding motorcycles as his aesthetic vessel of self-reflection. 

“I’m doing the wrong thing. I need to be back in Vancouver. I need to be focusing on music,” he says

“For people who ride motorcycles, as soon as you get on and start riding, everything else goes quiet. You’re very present in what you’re doing. That’s one of the biggest themes on the record,” Tarves detailed. 

On the final track of the record, “boyfriend material,” Tarves said that he wanted to end the record “open-ended.” He said that “the record is also about growing up and learning more about yourself through the things that you experience. We ended on a note where it’s like, ‘yeah, I’m still figuring things out. I’m still learning, and there’s never going to be a point where I’m [fully] sorted.’”

Tarves said that he hopes the record makes listeners also reflect on their own lives. “Maybe [someone’s] been through similar situations that I talk about on the record and it helps them learn something about themselves. But I also want it to be fun. I want it to be something people enjoy listening to.” 

On his show at Double Dragon on June 28, Tarves said that he is excited. He’s played in Edmonton once before, at The Starlite Room, where he opened. 

Tarves added that he actually lived in Edmonton at one point. He attended the University of Alberta for four months in 2017, living in Lister. He said that Lister had a “crazy vibe” and “felt like jail,” but said that his roommate “was amazing and such a sweetie.”

“I got there and was getting into music and starting to write and learn how to record in my dorm room and immediately, I was like ‘I’m doing the wrong thing. I need to be back in Vancouver. And I need to be focusing on music,’” Tarves explained.

His decision to go back to Vancouver to begin his music career came from knowing people there within the industry, and having support there.

Tarves’ recent release as young friend, motorcycle sound effects is available on streaming platforms. His show at Double Dragon in Edmonton is on June 28.