BESTiE was formed in Spring 2012 in East Vancouver when friends Andrew Janczewski, Tristan Orchard, Daniel Ruiz and Rob Cameron started jamming with the goal of making a fun accessible pop band. Soon after exploring their array of world and pop music influences, they began crafting their unique sound.
On January 16th 2013, BESTiE released their debut single, "Pineapple" , with a video shot and directed by lead singer Orchard, a Gemini nominated film maker whose documentaries have aired on Bravo! Television and short films played in festivals around the world. The tropics-inspired tune has had over 10k views and was featured in over 30 music blogs and media outlets in Canada, the US and abroad. The single also managed to reach the number 25 spot on the Hypem.com’s popular chart and earned the group radio airplay. Two months later they followed that up with a single release party for “Asleep On The Bus” with a capacity crowd at the Cobalt in Vancouver.
Both of these tracks were produced by Digory Smallz, an emerging talent known for his work with, Young Liars, Oh No! Yoko, Jasper Sloan Yip and Joshua Hyslop.
In June 2013, BESTiE were announced as one of the top 20 finalists in the renowned B.C. talent contest, The Peak Performance Project, competing for over $200,000 in prize money to further their careers.
Included was a week-long boot camp in Princeton B.C. in August, with record producers, agents, managers and songwriters in attendance, followed by an autumn showcase at Fortune Sound Club and a charity event with the bands
If this wasn’t enough, the group had a packed summer of festival dates at Sled Island, Music Waste, Khatsalano, The Vancouver Fringe Festival and Rifflandia in Victoria.
In September 2013 BESTiE organized #Safefest, an all-ages music festival with proceeds going to Safe Amp and The Music Tree to help fund the creation of a permanent all-ages music venue in Vancouver. These groups aim to draw awareness to the importance of the all-ages scene in Vancouver and the accessibility to music for people of all ages. The festival featured over 75 acts in all genres playing 13 events over 4 days.
BESTiE are now in the studio recording their anticipated debut LP "No Bad Days" with Howard Redekopp, a Juno award winning producer best known for his work with Tegan and Sara, Said The Whale, The New Pornographers, Mother Mother, The Zolas and more.
"Guitars that sound like a warm breeze coming off the Pacific ocean during a swaying-palm sunset."- The Georgia Straight
"Something awesome is definitely in the Vancouver water, and we want to drink it all up"- ION Magazine
"Pas très sérieux et sérieusement doués, on devrait entendre parler d’eux et de leur balearic-indie-pop dans les mois qui viennent !" ("Not very serious and seriously gifted. We expect to hear more from them and their balearic-indie-pop in the coming months!") -Le Discolab Blog (France)