Vancouver indie rock/pop band Yukon Blonde have been busy hunkering down working on new music.
But they are excited to shake a little dust off and hit the road for a quick tour including Average Joes, April 6 where they will be joined by fellow Vancouverites the Belle Game.
“We’ve been playing a few gigs here and there. We played an awesome New Year’s Eve show with the Sheepdogs and we played a great show in Fernie at the ski hill, By now we’re a pretty well oiled machine,“ said Yukon Blonde guitarist Brandon Scott. They had a huge hit last year and an accompanying quirky video for “ I Want to Be Your Man” and other hits like “ Saturday Night” also get quite a bit of airplay.
“We’ve spent the past six months working for us. It hasn’t been as hectic as usual because we tour a lot. But a couple of the guys went to Europe and came back with a bunch of songs. So we‘re throwing a lot of songs into the pot,“ Scott said, noting the new CD will likely be released in 2018.
“I’d like to release it earlier, but we don’t want to rush these things, he said.
They have been working with two producers on the new songs.
“We recorded with Colin Stewart who produced our last couple of albums. He lives on Vancouver Island. And Steve Bays from Hot Hot Heat,” Scott said.
“Working with Steve was really cool. It’s been cool to get a different perspective on songs,” he said adding they haven’t played any of the new songs live before.
He noted the new music continued Yukon Blonde’s experiments with keyboard sounds.
“(Vancouver based psychedelic rock band) Black Mountain lent us some vintage analogue synthesizers. So we’ve been playing a lot with those sounds,” he continued.
They are excited to bring the Belle Game, another west coast band along for the tour.
“We’re excited to take the Belle Game with us. They‘re fresh off of playing South By SouthWest (in Austin). They have two female singers who both sound really good together,” he said, adding he remembers Yukon Blonde enjoying playing the popular Texas music festival.
“We didn’t play it this year because we’ve been writing, but we’ll probably play it in 2018 when we have the new album out,” he said.
They enjoyed their last Lethbridge visit so much that they are making a point of returning.
“We had so much fun last time we were at Average Joes. Everyone was so nice to us and we sold a lot of merch, so we’re coming back. Hopefully get a lot of people out,” he enthused.
They haven’t released any more videos since “I Want to be Your Man.”
“I love that process. Mac Boucher ( the director) is so talented. So I hope we work with him again,” he said.
They have been enjoying working with new keyboardist Rebecca Gray who joined Scott , Graham Jones, Jeffrey Innes and James Younger for their 2015 CD “On Blonde.”
“She still plays keyboards and has added vocals. She’s a solid player and is so easy-going. She’s added a whole lot to the sound,” he said.
Tickets for the April 6 show are $15 in advance, the show begins at 8 p.m.
