Alt-rock outfit PICKLE JUICE share their brand new single “Halfway,” a raw and restless track that digs beneath the postcard-perfect image of ski town-living to expose the emotional turbulence that often hides beneath the surface. Driven by gritty guitars and a relentless pulse, “Halfway” captures the uneasy tension between daytime freedom and the darker cycles that can follow once the adrenaline fades. It’s the first single to drop from PICKLE JUICE’s upcoming sophomore EP, The Whiteroom, officially out June 12th, 2026.

“We’re a band that met while chasing winter, bonded over a shared love of snowboarding and the ski town lifestyle,” explains vocalist Tim van der Krogt. “On the surface, it’s this dream world, somewhere people spend thousands of dollars to visit for a week. It looks like pure freedom and happiness. But when you actually live there full time, especially within the seasonal and transient worker communities, depression and substance abuse rates can be really high.”

• What can you share with readers about your new project?

Halfway is the first single on our upcoming EP The Whiteroom, a collection of songs we put together in early 2025. It’s our second project as a band, and we feel it shows an evolution and progression in songwriting we are super stoked on.

• How does this release compare with your other projects you had in the past?

Well, I wouldn’t say our sound has changed all too much. I like to think that when you listen to these tunes you know it’s PICKLE JUICE. Where it has changed is I think our confidence as songwriters and our experience working and writing together has made for some more dynamic, more complex songs. It’s also a lot darker than our first EP, both topically and musically.

• What about this single makes you most proud?

I guess I’m just stoked that we are still doing this. We started this band in a basement of a house with 13 ski bums living in it. We had all moved to town and Canada at different times, and we didn’t have much gear, so we had to make do with what we could source for cheap. We ran vocals through a guitar amp and a karaoke mic, we borrowed a bass guitar, we tuned from our phones, no pedals and no plans to even play live. So for it to have snowballed into this makes me really grateful that we’ve been able to find 5 guys that get along and are committed to making music together.

• Was there a specific goal you were trying to accomplish with this release?

When we sat down to start assembling this EP, we had about 10 songs to choose from, but after playing them live through the summer we landed on 5 that were all arranged around the same time. In the end we wanted to capture a moment in time rather than just assemble our 5 best tracks that didn’t really fit together. We wanted something cohesive rather than a mismatch of songs we thought would be bangers.

• What inspires you to create music? What motivates you to keep going?

Impatience and lack of skills. It’s just something I’ve always done. I’ve loved music my whole life but never had the patience or the focus to master any one instrument, so I started writing my own stuff with the skills I had. When I was a kid I couldn’t figure out a barre chord, which meant I couldn’t play most of the songs I wanted to, so instead of practicing I just started writing my own. That approach was limiting in the end. I can play a pretty damn good barre chord now though.

• If you could collaborate with anyone – dead or alive, famous or unknown – who would it be and why? If it’s an indie/DIY artist, please include a link so readers can check them out.

It’s gotta be Gorillaz. If I was to collaborate, I’d want to see how far someone can push our style. And nobody is better than Damon Albarn when it comes to that. His ability to mix hip hop with rock, dance music, Eastern music, you name it, and have it all work collectively is unparalleled. I’d love to just give him a snippet of a track and see what he came back with!

• What was the last song you listened to? Favorite all-time bands/artists?

Mata Zyklek – Angine de Poitrine, was actually the last song I listened to. Our friend Mike has a radio show and I was just hanging out with him. He is obsessed with those guys right now, just like everyone else I guess. All time favourite band? That’s so hard to answer, it’s always changing. I’ve been listening to a lot of Angie McMahon lately and The Stooges, but probably my all time favourite songwriter this week is Paul Simon.

• Where is the best place to find you and stay connected?

Best place is Instagram. We’re on all the socials, but the one we monitor most is Instagram for sure. @picklejuiceband

• I really appreciate your time. Is there anything you’d like to share before we sign off?

Thanks for having us! We have a bunch of shows coming up in western Canada in May and June, so follow us on Instagram to stay tuned for those.