Cannons | Interview with Lyndsey Parker (LPTV)

Hi, everybody. This is Lindsey Parker here at Liars Pizza for LPTV. We're here with Ryan, Michelle, and Paul from Cannons. We just had a big autograph signing for Everything Glows, their new album. You had a really big turnout. Congratulations.

Yeah, thank you so much. And thank you to Liars Pizza for hosting this. That means a lot to us. It means a lot to the fans, too. I mean, they're they It's like 90° out today in the valley, and they stood in line in the sun, hopefully wearing the sunscreen, cuz they You have such loyal fans. It must feel really nice cuz you've been gone for like 3 years or so, and a lot has happened since the last record, which we could get into. So, it seems like the fans were really excited to be back here and have this moment with you. Yeah, this is our first record signing that we've done, actually. Literally ever, or just for this record?

Ever. Right, we haven't signed

signing, yeah. Cuz we've signed vinyl like fans have come up to us at shows.

Yeah. Mhm. So, did you have any nice moments out there with anything the fans said to you that really like gladdened your hearts? Oh, yeah. Um, one of our fans almost made me cry. Well, she got me teary-eyed. Yeah, she was

she definitely got us all teary-eyed. She Yeah, she was just telling us that like how important our music is and how much it's helped her through her life and just the message on this album is something that people really need. And my dad is no longer here, but he came to me in a dream and told me that this album is something that people really need right now. So, when she said that, then I started And she was crying, then my eyes started watering. And then she started crying, and I started crying.

And then Paul started crying. Yeah, so that's really sweet. Yeah. It's really sweet. Um, so yeah, let's talk about the message of the record. It's called Everything Glows, which is a, you know, a very apt title cuz there's a lot of no pun intended joy in the record. It was written during some dark times and inspired by some things that you guys were particularly you Michelle were going through but it's not a heavy album it's not a sad album so it seems like I don't know if I want to use the word rebirth but it seems like there's a renewed renewed sense of excitement you've been a band since 2013 or so you've been through a lot but it seems like you're very energized on this record. Yeah.

Um yeah I definitely feel like the message on the album is kind of like the idea that we all come here with like a spark and like a light inside of us that many things happen throughout your life that maybe by a certain point um dampens it and you can't you can't really see it sometimes when life gets really heavy um but there's things that happen that might seem tough but there's a lesson in it that like can be learned and can bring you back to like this this knowing of inner joy that you can make on your own and I feel like I've done that personally through um being in this band and it has it has brought me so much joy so much like purpose and like um all of the trials and stuff that we've been through over the past four years since we started touring and stuff has taught me so many lessons that like I'm like this is tough this is so hard but at the end of the day once I've learned this lesson that it's been trying to teach me there's so much like light that comes from making it through a tough situation finding out how to move forward in a new way and that's kind of like the birth of this album we found a whole new way of working together um working in general uh keeping you know we really want to be a band that has longevity so there's like a specific way I feel like you have to work you know, so you don't burn out and Yeah.

We'll start with the single, These Nights, cuz if I'm interpreting it correctly, it's sort of about worrying that you're going to burn out, that you're not going to be able to keep doing this for so long, and obviously you've had some health problems, and I know that it was hard on the last tour, you know, this demand you have to always be on, whether it's in interviews, or whether it's just, you know, your persona, or certainly if you're touring a lot. And These Nights seems to be like you're kind of questioning, like, can I still do this anymore? Maybe a little bit of imposter syndrome. Um, so why don't you Maybe I'm getting it wrong.

Oh, no, you're right on Yeah. You're right on the ball with it. Um, that one was definitely towards the beginning of writing the album, and um, for me specifically,

um, my experience through the last tour that we did, you know, I had

been very anemic, and I had a lot of things wrong with me that I didn't know. So, um, I needed to go to the doctor, get some blood work done, and see what what was wrong there, but you know, that was written before I did any of that, so um, later I found out low iron causes depre- like So, low ferritin? Yeah, that was very low.

I You know. Yeah.

Okay. Yeah, so I confused it with like, they said, oh, it uh, shows itself as like severe depression and things. So, so I came back from tour, and I was just like in this low state that I'm just like, can I even can can I even perform again? Can I even write a good song? Can I show up the way that I want to show up? And like, I had all these questions that, um, in a way, like, it's kind of cool to see the progression of my confidence throughout the album Mhm.

because yeah, the beginning was a very unconfident kind of fearful place that it started out. But with that song like the music is so beautiful and so kind of like juxtaposes the feelings that I had that it makes it feel safe to be in that space. I think that song does. Do you mind me asking if when you were trying to figure out what was going on with you if you got any dismissive treatment from doctors like saying, "Oh, you're just depressed." Oh. You're just working too hard.

you, it took me so long to figure out what was wrong with me because of that. So, I had gone to so many different doctors. It took 3 months to actually get to the bottom of it because of dismissive treatment and telling me that like it's something smaller than it was and not doing thorough checkups and stuff on everything. So, yeah, it's better now.

I'm great now. Yes. Mhm, I had to have a surgery and really just like pay attention and trust my my my body and yeah, take care of myself a little bit better, what I need, and that's going to make a huge difference with the longevity thing. Absolutely. So, you mentioned sort of working differently together then. And I it's my understanding that while you were sort of taking a rest and prioritizing your health that Ryan and Paul, you guys had to sort of write differently than the way you normally do or work differently. Could you talk a little bit about that? Sure. Yeah, I I I had 6 weeks where I couldn't meet up and I told the guys like um don't let me stop you. Keep going to the studio and keep writing. So So, we did.

Yeah, I mean you must have been a bit worried about you. And we were in the studio for a little bit and we were trying to think of like what would Michelle write about. So we kind of like they brainstormed it a little bit and came up with a couple couple of songs in there where just us trying to think of something that Michelle would What would Michelle write about or Michelle What's Michelle feeling? That kind of thing. So, yeah. That's kind of

an amazing job at that because once I uh

once I had, you know, the brain space to like listen and pay attention to what was going on, deep listen, um one of the songs that ended up on the album, I heard it and I was just like how did you guys know? Like this is how I exactly this is how I feel. These are like words and things and images that I would have wanted to put in a song but like I just didn't think to. But it's so it's so me and so like I normally I I definitely if I'm if it's my I'm singing the song, I want to feel like whatever I'm saying is true to me or else I don't want to, you know, I don't want to be singing something every night. Songs are like I feel like it's really important the words that I'm that are coming out of my mouth every single night.

realize that they were writing lyrics. That's unusual. Had that ever Did you always Were you always the primary lyricist before? Well, you know, there's a way that we write. So usually when they got they always start the songs cuz I don't play any instruments. So they always start the songs. They always have usually have melodies in there. They'll have lyrics in there and then I will always I will always change them to make it feel like like a story that is genuine to me that I want to share, move them around, um

Yeah, I wouldn't say that the lyrics are ever like even 90% done cuz obviously she needs room to come up with something that she can relate to. So like sometimes there'll be like a verse and then you'll be like, "Oh, I can see where this is going." And then she like her lyrics to the next verse are like a callback to the first verse that's personal to her and then she'll take like a chorus. So, it's really collaborative. Yeah. I feel like there's a Like I said, you've been a band together for almost 15 years, 13 years or so. 20, 25. Who's counting? Quite some time. But there's obviously a great sense of trust that I don't know if you could have worked this way together or gone to a crisis like this together if you were on your first or second album.

I probably not because Yeah, I feel through For me personally, the reason I even wanted to to make songs or join a band is cuz I love writing. That's the only thing I went to call When I went to school, I just studied creative writing and writing is what That's what I love. So, I would probably even if it was amazing, I'd be like, "But I didn't I wasn't there to write it. So, I wouldn't want to put it out." But now, yes, we work together so long that like the songs are I want to create the best song we possibly can and I feel like there's no like there's not that weird like ego-based thing in the room. That might have been the first year where I'm like, "But I need to contribute this." And yeah, it's all We're all in the same space where we're just like "What's going to be the best thing we can do and like bring out the best in each other's talent and stuff?"

think at the end of the day, the the three of us collectively form our sound.

Mhm. Um so. Yeah. There's no egos in it.

There's so little ego, we have to force Ryan to write solos. It's true. That is true. Yeah. Stop doing that to me. I don't want to. We're so good. I think it's awesome that you guys met Is it true that you met on Craigslist? I don't know if bands still meet on Craigslist. I don't know if there's that's still a thing. I think it's dangerous now. Chance encounters or what? Missed encounters or whatever. Like how but you were looking for a band. You didn't want to be a solo act.

Yes. I was too so yeah, that was the thing I I I finished I got out of I liked writing. I liked writing poetry and then I was like I love music. I would like to try writing songs but I I've never been in a band. I don't want to go into like this solo artist type of world cuz that scared me and I wanted to grow with people. Cuz you know, like if you're a female that's trying to make you know, make some songs.

Especially in Los Angeles.

It seemed scary to just like hop from producer to producer. So I was like I want to meet people I feel safe with and we I can learn from them and grow. So I wanted a band and I did go to Craigslist. Didn't know where else to Did you place the ad or answer the ad? Place it. What did the ad say? Um just that I wanted to start a band and what type of music that I liked and wanted to write, photo of

myself and maybe a SoundCloud link of some songs that were just like half-finished ones. Um and then Ryan And then I found your ad. I found your ad looking for like a similar artist that she posted. We were really into it at the time. What do you remember what I Yeah, it was the dark wave I don't know if it's it's just a guy trust t r s t.

Yeah, with the slash. Yeah. Um and like

coincidentally she was living like around the block from where I used to work out here actually in like Valley Village Studio City area. Um and when we got a hold of each other I don't think we met each other for like a month, right? We were Paul and I were already working on some music and we sent her some files and she was able to kind of do like the whole postal service thing sending it back and forth through the

met the band the service route?

Yeah, we did postal service covers for the first couple months, and people really liked it. But no, I I I vividly remember hearing Michelle her voice on a demo. Um My wife was with me at the time. She's over there. Hi. We were It was like Thanksgiving or something. We were driving home, and I'm like, "Listen to her voice." I was like, "This is absolutely amazing. I think we have something here." Did you get any skeevy replies cuz Craigslist can be a bit unsavory?

Here I am. I mean, eventually it worked out.

Trust me. Yes, honestly, like I after the first couple replies, I was like I'm just not even going to open these like emails. And I don't think I did because you just found me

What is it about mine? I think you found me on like social media. I think I found you on

Facebook or something.

Slid into your DMs. Yeah, I probably did. Yeah, something. And I could see who was messaging

Messenger. It was just a normal Yeah. Please. And yet it wasn't skeevy. I don't know. It was chill. And then when we And then we met up at a coffee shop, um in Studio City, and it felt like you were already my friend. Like it felt like I already knew you. And then when we all worked on music together, it felt like this is what we were supposed to be doing. Like nothing felt out of place. It just felt like this is what I'm One of those things in life where you're just like, "This is what I'm supposed to be doing." And we just kept doing it. What was the LA scene like at the time? It was sort of the tail end, I guess, of what the kids now call indie sleaze. Mhm. I don't know what So, this is like what, 2013, 2015, around there? 2013. What was it like?

Where was your first gig? Was it in LA? It was actually out in um our hometown, Santa Clarita, at a local dive bar. Um Could I mention their name? Used to be called the Rendezvous. Now it's Eighth and Rail. It's really really really small bar. And what's really bizarre is how many people showed up. Yeah. It was packed. We we did expect a couple people, maybe like just Friends and family. I'm not even sure how it was so packed. Like how did they even find our music?

a a really cool thing in the beginning that like we always had fans coming to our shows just by finding us on on SoundCloud and through through blogs, through like the blog The blogs, yeah.

Tumblr maybe. Yeah. Probably, yeah. So that you must have realized kind of early on then you were on to something.

Yeah, definitely felt like we had something and if just people would just listen to it it would catch on eventually. Yeah, got to put a plaque outside the Rendezvous that's like Cannons played their first show here.

To be honest, it actually stressed me out a little bit because I like I said, I didn't think deeply about what it was to be a performer and like sing and get on stage. I just like writing. So to have a bunch of people show up at the our first couple shows, um all of a sudden then we were asked to start playing shows and like I had no experience getting on stage in front of people and or singing live cuz in a studio it's completely different.

I would not have guessed that. I'm very surprised by that. No, cuz obviously you're a great performer and you've done a bunch of great gigs. You've played like KROQ Weenie Roast level gigs. So I'm surprised. What point where did what point were you like, "Okay, I got this." Like was Do you Do you feel that way or do you still get nervous? Oh, it's I mean it was a whole learning experience that like is never ending, honestly. But I do feel like this I actually got the time this past year since we were home, um got the time to take uh vocal lessons all year and this album, um I'm excited for even to keep going and writing our next album because every single album that we've worked on, there's just been so much growth in in a way for me, which is with my voice and like learning how to use it the way I want to.

Honing in your craft.

Yep. Mhm. Is that tied at all to the health struggles you had? Like, did you have to like not relearn how to sing, but did it affect your voice or your breath control or anything?

For It's I mean, I love this I love everything blows, and one of the the cool things about it is I I had horrible breath support for like half of the album. Um because I did my I had a surge I did stomach surgery, and it was hard to breathe. So, it took me some time to get my breath support back, but now I'm in great shape and ready to tour. And yeah, all that stuff it it's It was a whole I I've been on a whole learning journey. Well, I did want to ask

since I got on stage

Mhm. I mean, I did want to ask about Yeah, obviously you're going to tour to support this record, and this isn't even specific to you. This is like any artist being on the road, even if you're at like the Rolling Stones level where you're going straight from like, you know, five-star hotel, limo, show, Lear jet,

you know, like even if you have all the luxuries of being the most A-list artist, touring's grueling. It's hard on the body. You don't You know, the sleep deprivation, the time changes, and then obviously feeling the pressure like we talked about with these nights to deliver every night. Like, so It's hard. since you, you know, had some struggles, and that came up on the last tour, and now you've learn you've gotten better, and you've learned, you know, you've learned about taking care of yourself. What are as this tour comes up, how are you going to pace yourself or manage that? Like, what have you learned about setting boundaries, about Yeah. what you can do and can't do or won't do? Well, I think um the last the last run of dates and stuff for us was a big learning experience for us just in general knowing um how many like flight dates we can even do on a tour, and um different

things cuz, you know, the last tour we we did it we opened for an artist and we did that tour and then we did a headline tour in between the dates that we were opening for that artist and we were flying all around. We were in survival mode. We didn't want to say no to anything.

Yeah. Um, But you feel like you got to strike while the iron's hot. If people are offering you cool stuff, you got to say yeah. That's what we felt and that's the quickest way to burn out and I think we've reached a point where we're just like we make good music, we're proud of what we do, we have more confidence in the fact that like taking care of ourselves and mentally and physically is number one.

And that's and showing up fully to each thing we do instead of, you know, having 15% that day because we're exhausted from, you know, So, just honestly showing up fully and You said boundaries, which like is something I always think about now. That like it wasn't even in my vocabulary when we first started, but I can't tell you how important it is to just be like to say no to things and really take care of yourself. Boundaries. Yeah. I know you've had a lot of changes like behind the scenes like new management, new, you know, just generally a new team. What else do you know about us? This is interesting.

my research. I do my research. I'm just wondering if that was because you need a team, a support system that isn't going to push you to do things and be like, "No, you got to do this gig." And we're like, "We'll respect it when you say" or be the person who says no for you. We'll be the bad guy and say, "Hey, no, they're not doing that." Or whatever. Is Do you I feel Do you have a good team around you that's like supporting all this? Yes. We reached a point where like we just we needed I mean, Cannons was growing, our fan base was growing, everything that was asked from us was just kept growing and growing and um, we knew that we needed a bigger team um, and I do feel like our, you know, who we're working with before needed help and it got to the point where it was just like everyone was burnt out and the team needed to be bigger. So, we um we had to cut ties because we needed a bigger team, basically. And then we spent some time, you know, looking for new management, and we went from one manager to four. So, now we're we have a fantastic team.

You have more managers than you have band members.

We feel so I know

like a spare.

thought about that till now. No, that's awesome. Um so, I I keep bringing up the steam of rebirth and, you know, renewed passion whatever, and we talked a little bit about how for Everything Goes you kind of wrote or collaborated in a different way you're not used to. I mean, you have you were forced to. But, what other kind of new things did you do when approaching this record with that kind of renewed sense of excitement? Uh quite a bit. Mhm. Yeah, I think we we definitely had the time to pause, reset, and go, "How do What are we going to do going into this album that we've never done before now that we have the time?" And we're like, "Wait, we have all these resources, right?" That we've never used.

That we've never really tapped into. So, why don't we try to like I mean, we grew up listening to like epic records like, you know, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and ELO records and all these like really big lush sounds. I think Paul might have come up with the idea of like, "Let's add some strings." Yeah. Uh I had the idea of that, and our new management was like, "Well, I know a guy." So, His name is Paul. I wish I wish I knew his name. Between the four of them, someone's got to know. Yeah, four guys. Yeah. But, yeah, we thought we had a a guy that they hooked us up with that wrote us some really lush strings. I wrote a little bit of it, too.

And we went into uh Sunset Studios, which Sunset Sound Studios. Yeah, Sunset Sound Studios, and which is a legendary studio. Prince recorded there, apparently. He played basketball there, too.

And they played basketball, and so did we. The Rolling Stones did Sympathy for the Devil there, if I'm not mistaken. That's amazing.

Somehow I have that fact in my head.

And that was that was like a religious experience being there watching the Um we did uh a few co-writes on the album with some people that we really loved writing with. Anyone of of note that people might like recognize the name or their credit?

Yeah, um what is Simone's last name?

Yes. Simone uh And Mhm. Fabulous uh Susie Chin. Um Yeah, just a a few really I don't think we wanted to like work with like 16 songwriters on one song. Um Amanda who goes under Amander M N D R.

M N D R? Yeah. I know Amander. Not to name drop, but she is great.

Yeah. She loves Mark Ronson. She's amazing. She actually I don't know you probably know this, but for people she subbed for Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran on keyboards when Nick Rhodes had to attend to some family issue matter. She was the substitute Nick Rhodes.

know that one. Wow. This woman's legit.

Yeah, totally legit. Um yeah, just a a a small close group of musicians that we really admired and um for anyone listening, I think it's like we wouldn't have worked with them and like sold out and you know, these are these are things that we really really wanted to do um and we wouldn't have put it out if we felt otherwise, so. Yeah. It was there was that openness I think to this album that I was talking about. Sorry, might not have been there in the beginning of Canon in a certain way cuz we were just like in this point where we're like let's let's try some things. Mhm. We don't have to use anything that we don't like. It's our world we're creating. Um I always want to be learning from people, trying new things, and we did. Yeah.

It got in this different studios, met up every day like or couple times a week. Um It was refreshing. Yeah, it was really fun. Mhm. Well, now you have this renewed sense, this camaraderie as a band. I'm so happy that your health is doing well and you said you're already excited for the next album. Yeah. What's What is next? What do you pie in the sky? What do you want to do with Cannons next on the next record? Do you want to get ELO to come in the studio? I cosign that. Jeff Lynne. Uh but yeah, what are you on in in all seriousness, what would be your next goal, your next chapter?

Yeah, MJ. Um I just know that I know how to use my voice a lot better. So, I want to be able to expand there. Focus on tour, right? I think that's the main thing right now. Just which starts on Monday. Yeah. So, maybe there'll be some things along the way that will inspire this uh next album. Yeah. I I think um more instruments maybe that we haven't really tapped into. You know, there's there's this there's this really fun uh anti-AI thing going on, which is really cool. A lot of people are uh you know, the back in garage band mode, which is really neat and people are playing real instruments. I don't know.

Yeah. Do it all. I definitely was heard a song with like a really amazing s- old organ the other day that I was like, "I want this in you know, a Cannons song." So, It sounded old. Um How old How old would you say that organ was?

you know, I don't know. It sounded like something Remember when you found a tape in your house that sounded very creepy, but it was cool? Okay. Well, I'm very excited for whatever you do next. I want to thank you for coming to Lipps Service Pizza. Thanks so much time with not just me, but with the fans out there. I know that you are choosy or whatever. You're you you choose what you're going to do to promote this album and how you're going to extend yourself.

You're choosy about it. You have your boundaries, as they say. So, I really we all really appreciate that you chose to spend time with us today.

Thank you. You guys are the best.

Thank you Lipps Service Pizza. You guys are the Appreciate you.

Thank you. So are you guys. We're all the best. We're the best. Thanks, everybody. Thank you.

Thank you.