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.”

“People live these active, healthy lifestyles during the day, and then completely unravel at night,” Tim continues. “A lot of us are wired for that adrenaline rush, and we chase it however we can get it. This song is about getting stuck in that cycle, the highs and the lows, and feeling trapped in something that should feel like a dream.”

Written in fragments over time, “Halfway” began in humble surroundings before eventually evolving into one of the band’s most powerful recordings. “I wrote the melody and chord progression in our shitty band shed while [drummer] Pete [Lavery] was practicing a completely different song,” Tim recalls. “We fleshed it out a little that evening and then ended up putting it aside for almost a year. When we finally revisited it, we weren’t even in the same place geographically, so it came together in chunks. I never once thought it had single potential, but once we recorded it and heard it back properly, it was undeniable.”

Sonically, “Halfway” leans into the band’s alternative and garage rock roots, embracing the unpolished urgency that has become central to their sound. “This song has always carried a raw punch,” says guitarist Ben Matsis. “When it came time to record it, preserving that energy was essential. The final track doesn’t shy away from that intensity. We knew that pushing the song any further would risk making it feel forced rather than natural.”

1. Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically? 

Hi, I’m Josh, lead guitarist and the guy behind most of the Pickle Juice music videos. After recording Halfway and hearing the first mixes, I think we all felt the same thing straight away. This was the single. Big chorus, fun bridge, and you could already see it getting a reaction live.

The song is about that space of being stuck in cycles. It’s that feeling of being aware that some of your habits or patterns aren’t great for you, but still getting pulled back into them anyway. It reflects ski town life in a way. On the surface everything looks like a dream, but underneath there can be a lot going on.

With our last release, Cheeky EP With The Boys, I wanted to explore a horror-style video, but none of the songs really called for it. Halfway felt different. The concept came naturally. I could clearly see a theme and direction for the video, which doesn’t always happen. So I jumped on it.2.What was the inspiration behind this video (visuals, storyline, etc.)? 

I wanted the video to feel like a ride. Something where you’re thinking, “where the hell is this going?” while still paying homage to B-horror and cinema.

B-horror is fun because it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It can be unsettling for a moment, but you’re still enjoying it. That felt like a good match for the song.

The story came directly from the music. The “living dead” lyric before the second chorus, with that pause and whisper, created a really eerie and unsettling feeling. Then the bridge and guitar solo feel like drifting through time and space, which pushed the idea further.

The song itself is about being halfway. Not fully yourself and not fully whole. That feeling of being caught between two versions of yourself. A possession narrative felt like a natural extension of that.

Visually, I pulled inspiration from The Evil Dead for the chaotic energy of the story, The Witch for the intro tone, and Paranormal Activity for the in-house possession moments. The photo sequence was inspired by IT: Welcome to Derry, while the diary concept came from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The “all work and no play…” reference nods to The Shining, and the use of shifting aspect ratios was influenced by Westworld and Daredevil: Born Again to signal changes in perspective and reality.

It all comes together as a bit of a collage of influences in a chaotic and fun narrative.3.What was the process of making this video?

I wrote most of the video on a 7-hour drive from Rossland back to Revelstoke during a winter storm. My girlfriend was driving and I had the song on repeat, just getting ideas down as they came.

Once I got back and locked in the script, the next step was figuring out how to shoot it with little to no budget. For the band shots, I wanted something visually different. Our practice space is a tiny shed and we’ve already used it before, so instead I shot everything on a black backdrop. That gave me the ability to layer footage, adjust opacity, and build that ghost-like stacked effect in post.

We shot everything over a couple of weekends with a small DIY crew. Our rhythm guitarist Ben played the dark wizard. Conor, a mate from a café I used to work at, played the main character. My brother and his girlfriend let us use their place for most of the shoot.

We filmed the intro scenes last and brought in another friend, Kelsey, to help with production design, setting up candles and building out the sorcerer elements.

Technically, I’m really stoked on how the ghost POV in the first verse turned out. It was a bit of stitching clips together, but it came together pretty well.

Overall it was a fun and wholesome experience and stoked with how it all turned out.