Young Heartbreak: Man of the (Emo) People

All photos courtesy of Young Heartbreak // @yhbmusic

“You know what they say, he may not have invented the wheel, but he knows how to drive a Ferrari.” 

This statement rings true for 28-year-old Jeff Freedman, the voice behind this quote and the face behind his emo-alternative project he calls Young Heartbreak. Young Heartbreak is a man of the people, especially the emo people. A longtime fan of rock music and an enjoyer of pop, hip hop, and alternative, Freedman organically captures the sound of the same music he loves while adding his own take to it. He’s always wanted to make music that feels like something you can lean on. Although his project name may make you think he’s wallowing in lost love, the artist said that the death of romantic love is included, but not limited, to his namesake: “Heartbreak could be something like realizing you're getting older, watching a friend move away or realizing life isn't what it was cracked up to be.”

In middle school, Freedman began belting out “Dirty Little Secret,” by All American Rejects after being dared to sing for the video game Rock Band. His friends were pleasantly surprised, telling Freedman that his voice was “pretty good,” and from there decided to start his trek into making music. Freedman was in and out of bands throughout high school, but in college landed himself in a metal band known as Zoume. Composed of four kids from Brooklyn, Freedman was on backup vocals and played bass from 2014 until 2018. Zoume had gained some local and nationwide success while Freedman was still a part of the band – playing sold-out shows, opening at Webster Hall, and headlining for Gramercy Theater. New York City was feeling their sound, as metal was a musical landscape that had been somewhat dead for a while. Additionally, the band also saw success on their small tour in 2017. Taking note of the momentum, the band entered a contest to play a set on a mainstage for the last national, one and only, Warped Tour in 2017. Zoume played a set at the Jones Beach Amphitheater on Long Island. Headlining on the same stage were bands Neck Deep, I Prevail, Attila, and Andy Black of Black Veil Brides. Their performance was well received by the crowd with some special onlookers, like the lead singer from post-hardcore band Hawthorne Heights. 

“I was walking around and saw their tent and went to get a selfie, and they actually said to me, ‘Weren’t you in the opening band on the mainstage?’ and I was like, ‘Yeah,’ and they said, ‘We actually saw your set and that shit was sick!’ That was insane to me because I listened to Hawthorne Heights in middle school. That's fucking crazy, one of my favorite emo bands, they're legendary," Freedman said. This was a full circle moment for Freedman, as Warped Tour was the very first concert he’d ever attended back in 2009. It was there that he realized he was set on being a part of a band and making music.

A year after riding this high, wants and needs began to change within Zoume itself. Artistically and personally, the four began to differ, causing Freedman and the guitarist Farhan Tanvir — now known as a producer by the name of Tnvr — to leave. Tnvr and Freedman have remained close and continue to work together.

After leaving Zoume, Freedman decided to not allow his departure from the band stop him from doing what he loves most; officially riding solo gave the artist a newfound sense of freedom.

“After my experience in a band, I do like being solo. There is a certain satisfaction. I think there's also a lot more pressure to be on your own ass and to stay on top of things. When you're in a band, you have four or five other people that you're working with that kind of keep you in check if you start slacking, and vice versa. [With] a solo project, it's all on you. If you start slacking and not putting out music, that's on you.”

In 2019, Freedman put out his first single as a solo artist, called “One Man Drinking Games.” With about 23,000 plays on Spotify, the track is quite soft, lined with a trap-inspired drum beat and a simple guitar line. In the beginning of his solo career, Freedman was eager to promote his music online. It started small with Soundcloud reposts and paying bigger artists to promote his songs on their pages, but what really boosted him was submitting his music to Biteki, a YouTube channel that puts people on to new, lesser-known artists and songs. 

“Back when I first started making solo stuff, [Biteki] would accept a lot of my songs. Because of that, a lot of [his content] helped me get views and streams. ‘Therapy’ was one of the last songs he accepted that really popped off. His channel has grown a lot since. When I first started submitting music, he was at about sixty thousand subscribers. For five songs, he charged me a hundred bucks. By the time ‘Therapy’ got on there, his channel had almost one hundred and fifty thousand subscribers and it was a hundred [dollars] just for one song.” 

“Therapy” is the artist’s biggest achievement thus far, as the song has almost a hundred thousand plays. Freedman describes the success of the song as having given him “bittersweet hope.”

“I think ‘Therapy,’ in particular, conveys a lot of what I was feeling over the last few years. I definitely want to dive deeper into the rock and metal influences because as much as I like pop music, I think my heart really did come from rock and metal. Naturally, I think it is more authentic to me. I think when it's done well, people really appreciate it,” the singer said. 

As for Young Heartbreak’s music, he is the one writing his own songs, and Tnvr is the man behind helping the artist execute his vision to the fullest extent. 

“The first year of Young Heartbreak, it was literally just my producer's bedroom, just his speakers and a microphone. He would track the guitar and bass himself, directly through his computer and into the program because we didn't really have the space to live track drums anywhere. His ‘studio’ was just – like a living room. It wasn't anything fancy like a recording booth.”

Since then, the artist has shown growth in lyricism, production, and sound. Young Heartbreak’s earlier sound is a mixture of emo-rap and elements reminiscent of Nu-metal bands from the 2000s. As of late, though, you can hear some of Freedman’s favorite bands’ influence on tracks like “Butterflies.” The build up to the chorus is similar to sounds that arguably belong on an All Time Low album. 

His latest single, “Butterflies,” has the perfect formula for a 2000’s pop-punk song. From the build-up in the beginning to the energetic release of the guitar line and the electric vocals, it feels quite true to pop punk. 

“I think ‘Butterflies’ is fun, it's definitely my take on pop punk, alternative rock music I grew up with when I was a kid, like older All Time Low, Mayday Parade, State Champs, Neck Deep; those types of bands. I definitely want to make more songs like that too – it is a super fun one. I kind of wish Biteki had posted it or I could find the right channel for it, [Butterflies]  can also get up there with ‘Therapy’ in terms of popularity, for sure.”

Another single released last year called “Adoro” showcases the singer’s Mexican-American heritage as he declares his love in Spanish over a darker-toned melody. He’s had the desire to incorporate some more Spanish into his songs as well.

Seeing non-Hispanic artists like Drake and Ed Sheeran incorporate Spanish into some of their music, Freedman thought that he should do the same, especially because he can actually speak it. “I thought it'd be kind of cool to showcase an emo, alternative pop song [by] someone who actually has a Hispanic background. ‘Adoro’ was like a test run for that. It's definitely a fun one to play live and whatnot,” Freedman said. “A lot of people aren't expecting it. I think it’s cool to incorporate cultural background and language into my music too. Especially in the emo world, where there's a lot of Hispanic kids that went to Warped Tour. I think it's cool to show where my family comes from.”

His song “Olvidar” (Spanish for “forget”), actually samples fellow Mexican-American artist, Pierce The Veil. The beginning of “Olvidar” is the guitar intro from Pierce the Veil’s “The New National Anthem,” pitched down. He collaborates with the lead singer Ian Taylor from the band Emensia, a rock band also based in New York City. Freedman proposed the collaboration because he liked Taylor’s voice. 

“I told him, ‘I've heard your vocals on your rock stuff, but have you ever done vocals for poppier stuff? I think it would fit well.’ I feel like nowadays you gotta be pretty versatile. So I told him to give it a shot and he nailed it. I think his part shines through and I think the sample idea was cool. I would definitely love to incorporate more samples in the future.”

If there’s something you should know about Young Heartbreak, it’s that he cares about his craft.“I don't want to just crank out songs. If I'm gonna do this, I want to make sure I'm doing it right. Being busy between work schedules, balancing [my] first relationship in a long time, and trying to find my routine in life – it gets busy. With the world being more open now, it's a life that I didn't really get to enjoy over the last few years.”

Working full-time as a Starbucks shift manager, Freedman doesn’t lose sight of the reality of what he has to do to support himself. 

“I think a big thing you hear is all these stories of people that quit their day jobs to music, or ‘I got a face tattoo because I won't have any choice to do anything about music.’ And listen, I think that's awesome. That's admirable. The stories you hear about people who dropped out of high school and quit their day jobs, risked it all and used it for commitment – I think to do that and be successful is possible, I don't doubt it,” Freedman said.

 “But I also think that there is no shame in working a day job to pay the bills while you work towards your music. Everyone kind of has their own balance. A lot of musicians don’t tell you that they worked a day job because that’s the boring part of the story, but it's what we did to fund our career and I think ultimately, if anything, it just motivates me to work harder. I think it comes down to being authentic to yourself and I think when you do you, people see that, and when you try to be something you’re not, people see through that.” 

The artist is quite humble for his successful past and continued evolution as an artist.  Freedman is dedicated to staying true, modest, and presenting the best version of Young Heartbreak. His music is a breath of fresh air for pop punks, former emos, and those who appreciate a good genre blend. 

Keep on the lookout for new music from Young Heartbreak: @yhbmusic on Instagram, Young Heartbreak on Spotify, Apple Music, and Soundcloud.