“When I get up on stage, that’s my whole life. That’s my religion. My music is electric church music. I am electric religion.”
Electric Religious got his moniker from a Jimi Hendrix quote: “When I get up on stage, that’s my whole life. That’s my religion... I am electric religion.” His latest album, The Taste (2024), released on Indigenous-owned music label, Red Music Rising, straddles pop, rock, and funk – a genre playfully coined as “Métis Disco.” It quickly rose to #2 on the CKUA Radio chart and was added to Spotify’s editorial playlist, Fresh Finds Canada. The singer-songwriter and guitarist behind the project, Brandon Baker, is Métis of Red River descent, now based in Edmonton on Treaty 6. Brought up playing traditional fiddle music at dances along with his brother in their small Saskatchewan community, he soon found himself developing his own brand of psychedelic, guitar-driven music, which critics have described as, “bursting with inspiration, insight, and hope.”
Baker’s hunger to explore other dance genres led him to experiment with the sounds of disco – a sound historically intertwined with the social and cultural dynamics of marginalized communities. Offering a modern, Indigenous twist on this classic genre, Electric Religious weaves the spirit of social and political resilience into his music. Electric Religious has been included twice in the CBC Searchlight Top 100 in recent years, and twice among CKUA’s Top 100 Albums of the year. He has also been honoured with a nomination for Métis Artist of the Year at the Summer Solstice Indigenous Music Awards.
The Taste features special guests including legendary drummer Omar Hakim (David Bowie, Foo Fighters, Sting, Madonna, Dire Straits, Kate Bush), Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp, Smashing Pumpkins, Willie Nelson), and Riwo Egor (Melafrique). Find it on your favourite listening platform.
Press Quotes
“Perfectly capturing the essence of the retro-lit dance floors, the Métis singer puts his own smooth edge on the genre, creating an eccentric sonic that has to be put on full blast.”
“Think Mother Mother and the Stars coming together... It hits the ground running, weaving capricious guitar, solid rhythms and anthemic lyrics. There are plenty of twists, turns & genre bending moments… Suffice it to say Yeah, Yeah, No is fit to be played on the radio and very loudly.”
“My nostalgia is through the roof! What a breath of fresh air. I love a band continuing to stick to the simpler times in this technological world. Still relatively new on the Canadian music scene, I suspect we will be hearing a lot more from the Edmonton rockers as Electric Religious grows its congregation.”
“I have to say I am extremely impressed with the eclectic nature of your music. I would rate it right up there with anything coming from Indigenous.”
Management: Olivia Street, Crystal Baby Music. crystalbabymusic [at] gmail.com
Publicity: Paul Brooks, Take Aim. paul [ at] takeaimmedia.com
Radio tracking: With a Bullet
Distribution: Red Music Rising / Warner Music Canada