From singing Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin in church basements to playing in front of tens of thousands at the Scotiabank Arena, Chiara Young’s music career has come a long way in a short span of time.
If you’re familiar with TikTok, you might recognize the Toronto-born musician.
She joined the platform on a whim last December, not expecting much. But to her surprise, the 27-year-old accumulated 25,000 TikTok followers and more than half a million views in only three weeks after posting what she calls a “build-a-beat” cover of Tones and I’s 2019 pop hit Dance Monkey.
But Young is more than just a social media presence: she’s toured some of the biggest venues in North America alongside some of Toronto’s biggest musicians, including Shawn Desman and Delaney Jane. She’s also opened for artists like Avril Lavigne, Simple Plan and Carly Rae Jepsen.
Though she found much success while touring as a session musician, Young has always known her musical calling was not only in writing, recording, composing and producing songs for other musicians and companies — which she does on the side — but in performing as well.
Now, Young is just three months away from releasing her first-ever self-produced EP, The DIY EP, which drops on May 3. To celebrate, she’s offered a taste of her upcoming work to listeners in the form of the lead single, One-Sided, released on Jan. 31.
Though she’s still in the midst of completing the EP, Young is already gearing up for the release of additional two singles: Love Like This on Feb. 28 and Save Me on April 3. Just before heading to Los Angeles’ 2020 NAMM convention, she found the time to stop by Global News to chat about her upcoming music.
“This is the first time I’ve ever released music that I self-produced, so that alone is a huge accomplishment for me,” Young said of the EP. “Overall, I wanted to write every lyric and produce every note, which is exactly what I’ve done so far.
“I’ve put every little ounce of anger, resentment, strength and energy — positive and negative — into these songs, and because of that, I’m going to make sure it’ll be everything that I want it to be.”
Young said she chose One-Sided as the EP’s first single because it talked about her personal growth.
“I write very personal songs, often about relationships, love and all that comes with it, but there’s also songs about being self-aware and growing as a person and an artist and being able to redefine myself altogether — which is what One-Sided is,” she said.
“Throughout my whole life, I’ve focused on myself and felt one-sided because of it. I’m on my own route towards doing what I need to do, but it’s OK to be selfish sometimes, especially after dealing with someone else’s s–t.
“It’s the perfect song to start the EP because it’s like, ‘Oh, she’s actually grown as an artist and is very focused. She’s driven.’ It shows what I’m capable of.”
One-Sided is Young’s first release since 2018’s Not for You, which came just after her most popular single, Fallout.
Though she couldn’t go into too much detail on the forthcoming DIY EP, Young was OK with sharing a little bit about her two next singles.
“Save Me is simply about saving me from myself because I’ve been through some really hard times. Without going too far into detail, it’s about a save-me-from-this-hell scenario that I ended up creating for myself,” she said. “Love Like This, on the other hand, is a love song that is so deeply personal to me.”
“I genuinely can’t wait to put these songs out there and for people to hear them,” she said.
In the midst of completing her EP, Young told Global News she has an impressive “bank” of 40 songs that she wrote waiting at home.
Though she is eager and excited to start working on them, Young stressed the importance of “living in the moment” and taking things one step at a time, which left her reflecting on her musical beginnings and the reason why she makes music today.
“I knew from a very young age that there was nothing else I could do other than make music,” Young said. “I do it simply so I can connect with people. That’s what I always looked for in the music I grew up listening to — a connection.”
Young also spoke about her late uncle, Josh, who initially inspired that driving passion for music.
“When my Uncle Josh passed away, I was absolutely devastated,” she said. “I was crushed. But from that moment, I thought, ‘You know what? I need to do this for him. This is what he would want.’
“He taught me everything I know about music,” Young continued. “He taught me how to play my first guitar chord, how to tune a guitar and how to write a song. He even took me on the road for my first time. He really just took me under his wing, and I always felt inspired at such a young age for that so I have to thank him for putting me onto music. But other than what he showed me on the guitar, I’m self-taught.”
Young added that she learned to play instruments, produce and record on her own. She learned piano in Grade 9 after deciding to record a song.
“I went to a private school, and you could say I was the rebellious type,” she explained. “So what I would do is intentionally get myself in trouble so I could go to detention and write music. It worked out because the detention room was a bit like a music room, too. It had a piano in the corner, and there was never anyone there, so I would just go in and play it. That’s where I taught myself how to play piano and, essentially, where it all started.”
She eventually wrote and recorded a demo of that first song and convinced her school to play it during the morning announcements.
“I just went up to them and asked: ‘Can you play my demo?'” Young recalled. “But it was terrible… I feel so bad for anyone in the school that had to listen to that at like eight in the morning. It was straight electro-pop and absolutely awful. But at the time I thought, ‘Oh, this is my first big break.'”
From there, she met her producer Anthony, and he produced her debut EP. It was the “tipping point” for her, as she found herself in a studio surrounded by like-minded people eager to help her in her career. For a while, Young put her own music aside and became a session musician.
Eventually, Young stepped away from Desman’s band to focus on her own writing. Then came Fallout and Not for You.
“Now, I’m in a phase where I want to redefine what it means to be an artist in 2020,” she said. “I want to start setting a new standard for the new decade.”
Young plans to do this, in part, by capturing the power of the TikTok profile.
“Through that platform, I, or anyone else, realistically, can showcase everything that we’re able to do and everything that we are, not just as musicians but as people,” she said. “Our personalities play into it, too. I can make hilarious video of me or I can do stupid bar sketches but then I can also do a serious song, a cover or an original. And because I’ve done all of that, there’s now a constant progression of people wanting more from me all the time.”
With her TikTok followership, burgeoning music career and evident self-sufficiency, Young echoed her desire to pave the way for the future generations of musicians to come.
“I’d really love to make a difference in the industry and set a new standard for musicians in the 2020s because I’ve been working really hard the last two years, and it’s taken a lot of dedication… and when I’m really passionate about something, I’m going to make it happen,” she said.
On her way out of the building, Young said her “ultimate personal goal” would be to earn her own gold record and hang it on her wall — for a song completely written, recorded and produced by her.
“That’s always been a goal of mine,” she said.
“But who knows what the future holds? As long as I can sustain my life on music and be happy, I’ll be happier than a pig in s–t.”
Though The DIY EP will be released on May 3, One-Sided is now available worldwide through all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.
The second single, Love Like This drops on Feb. 28, with Save Me coming on April 3.
For more content and updates, you can find Chiara Young on not only YouTube, Twitter and Instagram, but TikTok as well.