Jake Radano knew exactly what he wanted from a young age: to be in a band, to be a musician, and that’s exactly what he’s made of himself. 

As a music industry and business major at Rowan University, Radano now stands as the drummer of Blush Boy. But his journey with the band dates back to his middle school days, with Blush Boy’s guitarist Gavin Kim. 

Growing up in the same hometown, Radano and Kim played side by side for years. “In middle school, Gavin and I were in the same band class. We both played saxophone next to each other,” Radano explained. “All throughout high school, we were in and out of cover bands, and trying to write original music, but we couldn’t get anything really going.”

Then came the summer after their freshman year of college. After a Broadway reunion, they found themselves at the house of Blush Boy’s current guitarist and producer, Paul Luke Bonenfant, writing music. In Bonenfant’s bedroom, they created the first demos of what would soon become Blush Boy—yet the band was still incomplete.  

“Eventually we needed a singer, cause it was Luke and me singing the demos at the time. I can’t sing. They were a little rough,” Radano shared.

Kenna Heim soon joined as the vocalist, along with bassist Sid, who was part of the same music scene at Rutgers as Kim. However, Blush Boy recently parted ways with Sid in December 2025.

The band released their EP, Heartstrings & Other Things, in 2024. For many of the band members, the project was their first experience writing original music, as well as recording.

“For me, it was really interesting because I’ve never recorded drums before. It would take me like five hours to record one take because I couldn’t get the clip,” Radano explained. Their recording process splits them up into categories: drums first, guitar and bass together second, and vocals on top, all recorded separately, usually on different days. 

“Drums were the actual first instrument that I fell in love with,” Radano added. “I kind of know how to play the guitar; I can play a few chords, but drums are what I have the most passion for. I also just kind of like hitting it as hard as I can, which is fun.”

As Blush Boy approaches the release of their first full album, they are hitting a high with great gigs and a growing fan base. For many musicians, the dream is to grow and grow fast. For Radano, as much as he wanted it, he also took a step back to understand the truth of it all. 

“Realistically, you always got to be kind of like ‘This might be the biggest show we’ll ever play, hopefully there’s more, but I’m cool with this,’” Radano shared. 

Spoiler alert: there were many more shows, and there continue to be more. As Radano explained it, “We played the first show, okay cool, then the second, okay, suddenly we’re at ten, and it’s awesome!”

Now, he’s lost count. 

He concluded, “It keeps on growing on top of each other pretty quickly, but at the same time, there’s so much hard work that goes into it that it’s like, ‘Yeah, we should be playing this.’”

Photo courtesy of Blush Boy | Interviewed January 21, 2026