Yukon Blonde fires off retro rock
By LISA WILTON – QMI Agency

It doesn’t matter how good your band is or how great your songs are, if you call yourself Alphababy people just aren’t going to take you seriously.

Brandon Scott figured this out the hard way when a venue in Toronto changed his group’s name to Alphababy on the marquee.

“They thought our name was so ridiculous, so they changed it,” he recalls.

It didn’t help that tourmate Jon-Rae Fletcher also hated the name and encouraged the band to find a slightly cooler moniker.

“I think some people wouldn’t come see us because they didn’t think we were very cool … So we finally went, ‘F— this. Let’s just change this name.’ We had also lost a few members and we wanted to start fresh.”

Now known as Yukon Blonde, the trio — guitarist-vocalist Jeff Innes, drummer Graham Jones and Scott on vocals and guitar — is generating plenty of buzz for its self-titled debut album.

The Vancouver-based band’s music is painted with retro shades of Supertramp and The Beatles, often coming across like an indie rock Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Scott says the current interest in Yukon Blonde is hard to wrap his head around considering the three musicians started playing gigs in their native Kelowna almost five years ago.

“It’s definitely strange because we’ve been a band for so long,” he says.

“But it’s really exciting that things are finally happening for us. It’s cool to see. We’re all pretty pumped.”

While the album is layered with different instruments such as keyboards, the live version of the band is more stripped down and harder-edged, according to Scott.

“We don’t have the keys in a live setting, which is unfortunate,” he explains.

“But we make up for it with lots of energy. And we have a new guy on bass playing with us. He’s a great singer. It’s going to sound a lot heavier for sure. We’re excited to see what people think.” The group plays Broken City on Friday before heading eastward.

Scott is also looking forward to playing U.S. dates later in the year, specifically Philadelphia, where he hopes to take in a Flyers hockey game.

Not that it’s his favourite team. Scott’s cousin just happens to be Flyers’ captain Mike Richards. “I was sitting with his family at the Olympics, but we couldn’t get to see him because security was so pumped. I got a message later wondering where we were, he wanted to party with us. So hopefully we’ll see him in Philly.”