Following a summer of touring, Yukon Blonde got straight to work on their next album.
Brandon Scott, guitarist and vocalist, caught up with the Western News in Saanich where they are recording their latest work.
“We wrapped up our summer festivals and totally got into writing mode. We just really wanted to get something out, we’re shooting for fall,” Scott said. “Which would be great for a release, but we’ll see.”
The band is three songs deep into the follow up to 2015’s On Blonde and Scott said so far things are feeling pretty good. Band mates Jeff Innes and James Younger took a holiday to Europe, coming back with some songs.
“It’s come together really well, I’m really happy with the songs so far,” Scott said.
Since their inception, Yukon Blonde has weaved their way through genres from indie rock sounds to their almost disco-infused On Blonde. Their upcoming album does not deviate from their curious nature.
“We’re always exploring interesting ways of making pop music. We’re really obsessed with writing a well-crafted song. Just pulling them apart and re-structuring songs and what kind of sounds you can manipulate certain things with,” Scott said.
They currently have a lot of toys to play with. Fellow west coast musicians Black Mountain recently lent the band rare analog synthesizers.
“We’ve had a lot of fun playing with those. I don’t know, we have a lot of influences being four or five band members, so there’s a lot of input, but it all seems to work out really well,” Scott said.
Yukon Blonde formed in Kelowna, where Scott met Innes and drummer Graham Jones, forming in 2005 under the name Alphababy.
“It was fortunate to meet those guys, it was great,” Scott said. “Our first show was on Halloween or something like that. It was good because we would always throw shows there. The OK Mission Hall, we used to put a Valentine’s Day show on, it was kind of our thing, and it just went from there. It was a lot of fun to put those shows on,” Scott said.
It was a good scene to birth Yukon Blonde, he said, with other acts supporting each other and a real energy around the music being made in the mid-2000s. Relocating to Vancouver around 2009, Scott describes Yukon Blonde’s rise as “gradual,” which he is thankful for.
“We worked hard at it, met a lot of cool people and always tried to play as much as we could for the first few years. Maybe over-toured ourselves a little bit, but it was worth it, we toured everywhere,” Scott said.
Everywhere includes Europe, where Scott is eager to return to tour.
Scott wouldn’t describe Yukon Blonde as a political band, but noted their philosophy is fairly leftist. The band teamed up with Newfoundland indie rockers Hey Rosetta! to perform Land You Love, a politically-motivated effort to encourage votes against another Harper government.
Watch: Land You Love by Hey Rosetta! and Yukon Blonde
“It’s a scary time right now with the current situations in the world. We’ve never been a massive political band though,” Scott said. “Doing that thing with Hey Rosetta! last year fuelled us a little bit touching on that kind of stuff.”
Scott put out his first solo EP in February of last year. He said it was something he needed to do, something therapeutic.
“I’ve always wanted to do it,” Scott said.
Recording in Toronto with former Yukon Blonde bassist Jason Haberman, with pedal steel contributions from City and Colour’s Matt Kelly, the project has a bit of a country feel to it.
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“It felt really nice to just have a couple songs and dive into it for a few weeks in Toronto,” Scott said.
He was able to explore areas that don’t exactly fit with Yukon Blonde’s sound.
“I normally write singer-songwriter, folkier songs. It’s always sort of come naturally to me. It’s kind of a slight country twang to it,” Scott said.
Scott said it’s important for band members to have the outlet of independent projects.
“I think it gets you out of the head space of the band when you need to. I think it’s extremely helpful, just creatively to do something different, mix it up with different people,” Scott said. “I think it’s really important to do so.”
Yukon Blonde comes to The Mule Concert House on March 31 with openers The Belle Game. Advance tickets are $15 and available at The Mule, the Grooveyard and Mosaic Books.