The Whitehorse fuzz rock power trio’s first studio effort was years in the making.
Electric Lemonade’s three members all knew each other well, as musicians and as people, by the time the group took flight. They formed out of the dissolution of another band they’d all played in, wanting to honour pre-set tour dates that the defunct band was no longer available to play. This meant the new project would need some music, and several of its earliest musings eventually found their way onto Electric Lemonade’s debut EP, All These Songs Are About You, which was released in March.
“We went on tour with kind of the early version of Electric Lemonade,” says guitarist Sarah Murphy. “Four of the songs on the EP we wrote really, really quickly, as we were trying to go on the road, and the other two songs we wrote when we were going into the studio.”
Murphy is joined in Electric Lemonade by bassist Hannah Mazurek and drummer Rob Jones. The trio began recording what would become their debut EP in October of 2024, meaning the record was nearly two years in the making. It was leading up to their studio dates that the band started to figure out what they really wanted to sound like.
“It kind of unfolded naturally,” says Murphy. “In the previous band we were in, we were all feeling a little bit more rock, heavier music. As we were writing together, a lot of the power trio sound with tight, syncopated rhythms with gritty, fuzzy sounds and a lot of different textures came out naturally.”
The three musicians didn’t talk a lot about their specific influences as far as other bands and artists go, but rather what types of sounds they wanted to incorporate into the music. The end result was somewhere between Soundgarden and Alabama Shakes.
“We all had been playing together, we all knew each other and we all had a really strong respect for each other as musicians,” says Murphy. “Rob and Hannah are such excellent players and such excellent musicians.
“From the start, it felt right. To make everything come together so fast, the way that we did, the chemistry has to be there or you’re not going to be able to do it.”
Since Electric Lemonade’s tumultuous start, Murphy and her bandmates have taken the time to slow down and find their footing, being more intentional about what they want to do as a band.
“The chemistry in the beginning was very much like, this is here, we’ve got something, let’s make it work,” she says. “We’ve grown from that.”
Though the Yukon has an eclectic and varied music scene, there are only a handful of active heavy rock, punk and metal bands at any given time. Despite not sounding like many other bands around the territory, Murphy says she still finds Electric Lemonade can fit in with the local crowd.
“There’s a lot of great heavy bands coming out of the Yukon right now, but not a lot of bands that quite sound like us,” she says. “In my experience, it hasn’t mattered a whole lot, and what I mean by that is the Yukon’s music scene, because it’s so small and tight-knit, genre almost doesn’t matter. You see collaborations across the board.”
Electric Lemonade played a release concert for their EP in partnership with the Yukon Arts Centre in March. The musicians were delighted to see that the show sold out, and see a genuine interest from the community in the music.
“People were really supportive and really hyped about the EP,” Murphy says. “We’re really grateful to see people embracing the music that we’re putting out there. The release concert was awesome.
“We’ve been working so hard on this project that it’s actually a bit odd to think that we only have one EP out,” says Murphy. “So it’s nice that it’s out there and the reception has been great.”
Visit electriclemonadeband.com to keep up with Electric Lemonade. All These Songs Are About You is available on streaming platforms.
