AMY JANZEN & JENNA MANN

Powder Blue hold it down for the Saskatoon music scene.

Powder Blue describe themselves as “the soundtrack to your dreams and nightmares.”

The local group, combining members from very different Saskatoon bands, blends psychedelic rock and grunge to create music both eerie and hypnotic.

Lead vocalist and guitarist Shelby Gaudet is formerly from the indie rock group Color Field. Keyboardist and singer Elsa Gebremichael, who occasionally plays drums, fronts electro pop group We Were Lovers. Bassist Sonia Dickin plays in folk band Pearson and indie group The Moas. Rounding out the group, drummer Amber Kraft performs in the demolition rock band Ultimate Power Duo.

“I can’t really think of another band in Saskatoon that sounds like us,” Gebremichael said.

The foursome, which recorded its first EP, Dream in Black, as a fivesome — Sarah Krawec recently decided to leave the band — will release the six track album Jan. 19 at Amigos.

“Sarah Krawec was a part of Powder Blue since the band formed until just a couple months ago, actually,” Gebremichael said. “She played bass in the band and recorded on the EP we’re about to release. We’re gonna miss having her around.”

Though Powder Blue is a relatively new collaboration, the group found chemistry right away.

“Gebremichael had a party and we jammed and were like let’s just make this a project,” Gaudet said. “We had always talked about it but that spontaneous jam was the push that we needed.”

That was a year ago and Gebremichael considers it a pivotal moment for the girls and an opportunity for them to explore new avenues musically.

“You,” Gebremichael said to Gaudet, “always wanted to front your own project and be lead singer in a band, and I vocalized that I wanted to play drums because I’ve wanted to play drums in a band forever.”

It’s obviously working as Powder Blue sold out their first two shows.

“I think it’s because we’re a new band and people are curious,” Gaudet said.

“So many people are stoked about us and we’re stoked to be on shows with bands that we love,” added Gebremichael.

Although Dream in Black is Powder Blue’s first album, some tracks have been online for over a year. “I Can Go On Forever,” for instance, was released shortly after the band formed.

Gaudet said that sometime after their album release show, the band hopes to start touring.

“We’re going to Winnipeg and Regina in February. We’d like to do a lot of places close by and keep going back to generate a fan base.”

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Photo: Raisa Pezderic/The Sheaf