A melodic and introspective pop-punk combo from Albany, New York, Young Culture revolves around the creative team of singer Alex Magnan and guitarist Gabe Pietrafesa. A series of well-received independent releases including an exploratory 2017 mixtape — billed simply as YC — showed a band interested cross-pollinating various genres and soon led to a label deal with Equal Vision , which issued their 2019 EP, (This Is) Heaven.

Friends and occasional bandmates since their middle school days, Magnan and Pietrafesa began releasing music as Young Culture in 2016 starting with the eight-song mini-album You. Working loosely under the pop-punk umbrella, but also demonstrating an acumen for a more varied pop sound, the duo tested their boundaries later that year by releasing a smooth, beat-driven R&B and hip-hop-influenced mixtape under the banner YC. After testing the waters of what Young Culture could incorporate, they returned to their guitar-based pop-punk style with a new perspective for 2017’s Blue EP and over the next year began touring as a four-piece with the addition of new members Troy Burchett and Nick Cavin. The band signed with Equal Vision Records in 2018 and released their label debut, the (This Is) Heaven EP, early the following year.