Yukon Blonde Interview: SXSW 2010

Originally known as Alphababy, Kelowna B.C. group Yukon Blonde has become sort of a blog buzz band for its self-titled debut album. Compared to groups such as Fleet Foxes and Local Natives, Yukon Blonde have a busy 2010 in store including stops at SXSW and Toronto's Canadian Music Fest and a possible trek to Europe. Yukon Blonde is also writing new material for their sophomore album, but there's no timetable as to when recording will start. Spinner got in touch with the band's guitarist/vocalist Jeff Innes while the band was en route to Montreal for a gig.

How did the band form?

Well the band formed a few years ago, we formed as Alphababy I think about late 2005, so it was a different band. But everybody is from Kelowna, B.C. That's where we're all from, just playing in different bands. We all had a similar interest in certain styles of music and all of our bands played together. So the s--- hit the fan with a couple of guys in the band so we decided to form our own thing.

How would you describe your sound?

I don't know. This is always hard. I guess just melody-based rock 'n' roll with harmonies.

Who are some of your musical influences?

It changes all the time, right now we're listening to Tears for Fears and we love Tears for Fears but there's also the Rolling Stones and that kind of stuff. There are some newer bands we like -- My Morning Jacket, Fruit Bats and Dr. Dog. We like them because it's just good songwriting, good melodies, good production, great tones on their guitar and drum sounds, just everything makes a great package. Things come together nicely for those bands.

How did you decide on the band name?

Well our bass player worked at a coffee shop not too long ago and his boss insisted that Yukon Blonde was a denial of grey hair, so. And we thought it sounded cool, so we decided to go with that. There were a few others in the running but I don't know if I want to say those, but there were a few.

What was the biggest challenge in making the debut album?

Well there were a few. A big one was getting the money and the resources to do it. We were slated to record in February of last year but our drummer got a hernia and he had to go get that operated on and then he broke his foot a week after. So we could barely practice and we definitely couldn't go into the studio, so we had to wait until he was OK to start recording.

Are you looking forward to SXSW?

We're totally looking forward to it. We're sick of the cold. It should be a fun time. We're going to check out Zeus, Timber Timbre and an Irish band we met when we were playing Brooklyn called the Autumn Owls.

What's in your festival survival kit?

Probably just bread and water because we're going to be consuming copious amounts of beer. If you drink too much of it then you could die if you don't have sustenance or hydration.

What would you say is your biggest vice?

There's a few. I smoke a lot so that's probably not a good thing. Coffee -- I can't live without it.

What is your musical guilty pleasure?

I'm just trying to think of something. Annie Lennox, the Eurythmics. Brandon [Scott] says Phil Collins.

The Beatles or the Rolling Stones?

That's the hardest question. Right now it's Stones but forever it's the Beatles.

What's the craziest thing you've experienced on tour?

We've experienced some hitches on this tour so far to say the least. One of the huge hitches was our drummer couldn't get across the border so we had to get a ringer who we had to train in two hours to play the rest of the American shows. That was a bummer. Then when we got down to the States we played Boston and Brandon, the guitarist, he forgot our passports at the hotel. When we played New York we had to drive through Boston to retrieve the passports on our way to Montreal. But you have to have positive energy.