“Creating this EP was our opportunity to take all the negativity in our lives and channel it into something beautiful,” lead singer Alex Magnan shares.
“It really goes to show that every bad situation is a song waiting to happen, and for us to be able to do so is heaven.”
It’s not often that a rock or punk band will make a hip-hop style mixtape just to clear their creative cobwebs. But that’s exactly what Albany-based four-piece Young Culture did. Formed by school friends Alex Magnan (vocals) and Gabe Pietrafesa (guitar), who have been playing together for a number of years, Young Culture put out their debut mini-album, You, in the summer of 2016. It was followed up with a five-track EP calledBlue. The former had a song, ‘Bedroom Floor’ that featured Derek DiScanio from State Champs – a fellow Albany band – on backing vocals. The latter was co-produced by him and Seth Henderson, who’s worked with the likes of Real Friends, Knuckle Puck and Sleep On It.
Young Culture – completed now by guitarist Troy Burchett and drummer Nick Cavin – toured those songs and began to build up a solid following, which remains strong today. But instead of working on new material for the band, the pair, fuelled by an inherent restless creativity, began to experiment, Pietrafesa sending Magnan different beats to write lyrics over just to keep their inspiration and creative juices flowing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ESkfhKCHdc&feature=youtu.be
A complete 180 to the music Young Culture had made previously, the band released them as a mixtape under the abbreviated moniker YC. The songs served as an important writing exercise for the pair to sharpen their skills when it came back round to writing ‘real’ Young Culture songs.
That influence is very much evident in songs like ‘Drift’, co-produced by Derek DiScanio (State Champs) and Sam Guaiana (Like Pacific, Coldfront). ‘Drift’ not only redefined who Young Culture is as a band, but also reshaped the perimeters of pop-punk - although it should be noted that they’re very wary of being confined to just that genre. As they should be, because there are many more layers to this band.
2018 ushered in a brand new phase of Young Culture’s existence, evident in the their latest single ‘21 Days’ as well as the rest of new EP (This Is) Heaven. They might now be just 20 years old, but both Pietrafesa and Magnan’s attitude and songwriting ability display a maturity way beyond their years. And while this isn’t an entirely new beginning, it certainly marks the start of something that’s thoroughly unique, electrifying and engaging.
Alas the band are not yet touring the UK, but Young Culture will be hitting the road across America with The Happy Alright later this month in support of the new release. For a full list of shows, please see below or visit facebook.com/youngcultureNY.
Hopefully see these guys soon… Either way, these are tunes to download for sure!