Photo by Vanessa Heins
Yukon Blonde are a synth-heavy indie rock band from British Columbia. Over this past summer, they released two songs, “Crazy” and “Emotional Blackmail,” part of a slew of new music they’ve been working on as they gear up to release a follow-up to their 2015 album On Blonde. We sat spoke with Jeffrey Innes, the band’s guitarist and vocalist, about their tour and upcoming projects.
Allston Pudding: Jeffrey, thanks for taking the time to talk to us. How’s your tour with The Rural Alberta Advantage been so far?
Jeffrey Innes: It’s been awesome so far. We just got started and only played a couple of shows on the eastern coast of Canada, which were very, very nice. We played the nation’s capital last night, and it was a bit of a sleeper, but it was still okay. Rural Alberta are really nice people.
AP: Have you known them long?
Jeffrey: No, which is actually a bit different for us in terms of touring. We’ve typically gone with bands that we’ve sort of met here and there. Two years ago, we did actually go through the States with a band called Lieutenant, which is Nate Mendel’s side project. He plays in the Foo Fighters and they had people from Fleet Foxes in the band. We went out with those guys, and we had never met any of them before. Some of them were our heroes.
AP: You’ve had a single called “Crazy” out now. Is that leading up to a new full length?
Jeffrey: Well, yes. Those songs aren’t going to be on the record. We had been spending so much time recording this record. It’s done now, thankfully. It’s being mixed currently by Tony Hoffer, who did Air and Beck and our last record. He’s fucking wicked. Oh, sorry for swearing. He’s so good. We sent him On Blonde, and I talked with him for a little while.
Air was one of my favorite bands growing up, and he told me a bunch of stories about recording that record [10 000 Hz Legend, 2001]. Then we got into the brass tax of what we were doing, and I felt like, “Jesus dude, I sent you garbage.” We’re talking about this record that I hold in such high regard, and then he’s like, “Well I’ll do your guys’ stuff.” Anyways, he turned around and made our record sound so good, that we were like, we have to work with him again.
But the whole process took so long that. We recorded so much music. Once we finally got what we wanted to do with the record, we basically mixed some songs that we felt like weren’t going to be on the record. Instead of putting them out as post-content, we were like, “Let’s see if we can shoot for some pre-content, some singles that won’t be on the record.
AP: Those are kind of bygone days. There used to be a lot of bands who would release singles that never ended up on an album but are now considered some of their best singles.
Jeffrey: Yeah, New Order! Every record.
AP: So what are some of the things you discussed with the producer regarding what you want to do with the new album? What’s been new in the band’s life since the last album that might be informing the new music?
Jeffrey: We did a European leg of the On Blonde tour, and I met a girl in Spain. Classic story. So I ended up spending most of the year in Spain because I was with her. I ended up having a freakout. I live in Vancouver- well, I don’t anymore, because I’d be in Madrid so much. When I’d come home, I didn’t really want to be in Vancouver. So I moved to Galiano Island. The majority of the record is written there and in Madrid. It’s weird, because it’s sort of a relationship record. I met this girl, and the song “Crazy” is sort of about that.
But writing and recording the songs took so long that at one point it sounded like a really lovey record. But then we broke up. So there’s the whole thing, the beginning- it’s almost like a concept record [laughs]. It’s like, I’m here, it’s wonderful, checking out new things. Then we start to struggle, then we break up, then that’s it. That’s the end of the record. It’s kind of funny. I don’t think anyone intended for it to be a record about that. But it’s kind of about the journey about making the record with this person in your life, and then not.
AP: Well, sorry about that, but it sounds like it left you in a productive space to make the record. Was that breakup part of the reason you wanted to get out of Vancouver?
Jeffrey: No, that sort of happened at the same time I met this girl. We were just touring a lot and I was spending a lot of time in Europe. I’d go into Vancouver and I didn’t have a place. I had no place to write, I had no place to think. The rent in Vancouver is insane. It’s so much money. It’s happening to all these places that are, I guess, sort of tech hubs.
AP: Yep, calling from Boston, and we’re going through that, too.
Jeffrey: Yeah. It’s insane. The rent in the metropolitan area, for any artist or songwriter or anybody who kinda wants to do something but you don’t have a conglomerate billionaire paying you to work and live there, it’s almost impossible to survive. It’s almost impossible to do your own thing and survive. I was getting really disheartened with trying to make music in a bedroom that I was renting from a friend of mine. It just started to piss me off. I’d go on tour and come home excited, super inspired to write music. But I’d be in this bedroom on a computer. I was like, “I hate this. I can’t even play my guitar through an amp.”
So I found this really cheap place, right on the beach, and it’s been amazing. I can have all my gear setup. I have a drum kit setup in my bedroom. I’ve been recording with that lately. It’s been really nice. I feel like a positive effect of that is we ended up recording a lot of the record ourselves just because I have the space to do it now. I think that moving forward, we’re going to record a lot, if not all, of our stuff. Just having the space to be able to create is suck a life-changer. It’s amazing.
I feel like having physical space just to work on paper, just to have a room all to yourself, and you can think out loud. You can talk to yourself. You can be totally weird! There’s no fear of somebody hearing you in the apartment next door. Your environment is so crucial. So that’s a big part of the sound, just what comes from all that. I feel like the record and “Crazy,” just being whatever they are – I mean, I think they’re a little indulgent, they’re a little over-the-top – I think the space has dramatically changed the manner of our recording. Ironically, it’s been way more synthetic, and I don’t know how that happened [laughs].
AP: Do synthesizers help you explore this new extra space?
Jeffrey: I’ve always been into synths. They were my first instrument. I met the [band], and they played in rock ‘n’ roll bands. But I wanted to be in a band so bad. The first few years that we played in the band, there was a metamorphosis. I learned so much about rock ‘n’ roll. It kinda blew my mind. I felt like I really “got it” for the first time, and that’s cool. But I feel like there’s something in you that you’ll always return to your 16 year-old self musically.
I did a solo record that was essentially an electronic record. I think it proved, in a way, that I wouldn’t ruin our band with synths [laughs]. And now everybody’s completely embraced it. Our drummer’s gone down this wormhole of drum programming and putting triggers on his live kit so he can sort of sit back live. It’s funny: I’m writing some new music right now, and it’s just all guitars. I feel like once I get some stuff together, they’ll be like, “What the fuck man?!”
AP: It’s good to stay fresh!
Jeffrey: Yeah, keep everyone on their toes.
AP: So you’re the principal songwriter?
Jeffrey: Yes, however on the upcoming record, there are four songs out of nine that I didn’t write, that are two written and sung by our bass player James, and two written and sung by our guitar player Brandon. Those are all co-collaborated, co-produced. Everybody got in on the action. It’s the best thing. We sort of have this ethos where the best song always wins. So to have four of my songs kicked of the track listing because there are just better songs is the best thing ever. We’ve been playing two of the songs live, and I don’t have to sing, and it’s so nice to just chill back and play, just kind of groove. I’ve never gotten to do that. It’s cool. But everybody in the band’s got home recordings. Everybody’s got projects and we’re all sort of doing different stuff.
AP: You’re playing in Boston on November 2nd. How have you’re past experiences been?
Jeffrey: Past experiences have been good. We’ve played- there’s one pub, I think it’s in Allston…
AP: O’Brien’s? Great Scott?
Jeffrey: Yeah! We’ve played both of those places. We played for about three people at O’Brien’s. I feel like those guys had just come to a casino or something, and were excited to be spending their winnings. I really like it [in Boston]! I do feel that it’s really polarized in a socio-economic way. It reminds me of Vancouver in that way. But every time we’ve been there, everyone’s been real and cool. Everyone’s been hospitable. I’m kind of bummed, though, that they changed the name of the Boston Garden to the – what is it? – the TD Garden? TD is a Canadian bank, too. That’s very weird.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Check out Yukon Blonde at the Sinclair on November 2nd with The Rural Alberta Advantage, and be sure to listen to their new single “Crazy” and it’s B-side “Emotional Blackmail.” on Spotify!
