Michelle Joy and Ryan Clapham of Los Angeles band Cannons stopped by The Current’s Morning Show and talked with host Jill Riley about their new album Everything Glows, touring with Bob Moses, and shared an updated on their band member Paul Davis.

Listen to the full interview in the player above, and find a complete transcript below.

Interview Transcript

Jill Riley: You're listening to The Current, I'm Jill Riley. L.A. band Cannons have put out their fifth full-length studio album, Everything Glows, and they are currently on tour with Bob Moses. It's the After Glow Tour. Michelle Joy and Ryan Clapham are at The Current. Hi, you guys.

Michelle Joy, Ryan Clapham: Hey, hello. How's it going? Thanks for having us.

Jill Riley: It's going, I'm so glad that you guys are here. When the new album was announced, I read something like “marking the start of their next chapter.” I’m curious if there was maybe, a particular indication or maybe a sign that one chapter is closing and now we’re going to move forward into a new era or just maybe a new way of doing things. I wonder if you could talk about that a little bit.

Michelle Joy: Yeah. When we did start working on this album, we had just come home from quite a bit of touring, without any long break periods to asses everything. So we came home and we were like "this next album, let's really make everything about it as intentional as we possibly could." So we reassessed our team, everyone we're working with, how we were working together, and really found new ways to work in every aspect. So working on this album was the first album that we were able to just focus on writing together, meeting up together, and making the best record that we possibly could. Because previously, we had been touring and writing records, and then before that, we all had full time jobs while writing records. So first record where we could just write music and focus on that. Then first tour that we dove into where we knew what we wanted and needed from our team. Because you know, when you start touring, it's your first time touring, so you don't know what to expect or what you need. And we had kept pretty much the same team since the beginning, but we had the time to be like, “okay, what do we need to change?” And we went into this tour with just that knowledge of what we're going to need on the road, who we're going to need. And things have been pretty amazing. I think overall, the experience of just being able to focus on writing tour the way that we know we need to and it's going to be good for us and healthy for us, and stuff like that. So everything has been kind of like a — yeah, a new chapter for Cannons because of those two things. I think.

Jill Riley: Ryan, how you feeling about it?

Ryam Clapham: I feel great. Yeah, to piggyback off of what she said, when we went into this, it was like a recharge your battery kind of session, and put all of our eggs in one basket with the album. So I think that also made the album a lot more of a cohesive listen. It's like a lot of bands, they when they first start off, they already have a slew of riffs, chord progressions that they've created a long time ago. But to be able to actually meet up with the band and just focus on this one project really made it a conscious, cohesive album.

Jill Riley: Talking with Cannons in the studio, Michelle and Ryan are here. You know, when I talk to a band from outside of the Twin Cities, out of Minnesota, I feel like I'm always trying to look for some sort of local connection. And as I was looking through the credits, particularly on the song "Shine," I saw the name Amanda Warner. And I'm like, Amanda Warner, Amanda, why do I know that name? Why do I know that name? And I went, Oh, wait, MNDR. I know she went to Macalester College here in St Paul many years ago. And I went, there you go. I found my local connection. I was so excited.

Ryam Clapham: We did that on purpose.

Jill Riley: Just for us in St Paul. But I wonder if you could talk about working with songwriters and artists like that.

Michelle Joy: It was a very amazing experience for us, because Amanda for one, we worked on "Shine" with her, and she was so fun in the room with us, and so respectful of the our dynamic and how we write. So each writer that we worked with was just such a comfortable fit that kind of observed how we work and then stepped in when I feel like they could see that we wanted some ideas, because we never wanted to go in a studio and have someone write a song for us or throw a million ideas on us, because we have so many ideas of our own. So we just wanted someone to come in the room and really just vibe with us and throw ideas back and forth with and I just feel like, with Amanda, we were able to make something magical. It was really fun. Fun Day. Yeah, she had a lot of great ideas to bring and melodies to throw in. And she just kind of felt like an old friend already.

Ryam Clapham: Yeah, very like-minded, for sure. It was very fun working with her.

Jill Riley: Talking with Cannons in the studio. So you are currently on tour with what, quite frankly, is a great pairing, with Bob Moses. Did you guys intentionally set to do a tour together? How did that all come together?

Michelle Joy: We had been talking about touring, I think, for a year or two, and then we have done a couple shows with Bob Moses. So I believe they had their own — was it a festival in San Diego?

Ryam Clapham: Yeah, a festival in San Diego. And coincidentally, the very first time we ever played Red Rocks, they were there doing a DJ set. So I think having our fans and their fans see us, it just kind of worked out, and it created a lot of excitement when we announced the tour.

Jill Riley: With the music that Bob Moses makes, with the music that you make, I have to imagine that there's the Venn diagram that crosses over a little bit there.

Ryam Clapham: For sure. Yeah. I mean, some of their old records, I was definitely very inspired by when we were writing our old records, so they don't know that, but now they do. Thanks, Bob Moses.

Jill Riley: Well, it sounds like the tour is going well, but I saw on your Instagram that you posted — I'm here with Michelle Joy and Ryan Clapham. Paul Davis has had to take a step away from the tour, and I wonder if you could give us an update on how he's doing. I understand that he had suffered an injury during the tour and needs some time to recoup.

Michelle Joy: Back in Dallas, I think it was like our second show, Paul had hit his head, and over the next couple days, the connection just wasn't made, that that was a serious thing, you know? And, yeah, it turned out being much more serious than expected. And no one had ever experienced any kind of brain injury in the band or around us, so no one was aware of any signs what to look for, yeah. And we had three medical people come out, and they didn't even catch it. So it was an incredibly confusing experience, I think, for everyone, and quite stressful to happen in the beginning of the tour. And worrying to the point that we were noticing Paul wasn't himself, so he felt more comfortable to go home and and see what was going on. And ended up having an emergency brain surgery because there was bleeding from it. And now luckily, all of that went well, so he's home. It was very scary for us.

Jill Riley: And, yeah, and I imagine as friends and as bandmates, that that is a pretty scary time.

Michelle Joy: Yeah, it was very confusing. But, you know, it was a major relief to have him go to the ER, get the surgery, us hear that it went well, and that Paul's tests, and everything went well, and that he just needs time to heal up. And he's taking that time, and we let him know "don't worry. We'll take care of everything on the road. Take the time you need. Don't worry about anything." And to Paul's recommendation, Cliff [Sarcona], which is who's been filling in for drums, come and join us. He got the call and got on a red eye plane that night and learned the set literally on the plane all the way there, and played this next show with us, and everyone on our team literally has just shown up in such a supportive way for us, to allow us to keep continuing and stay focused and be supportive of Paul, but not let it derail anything, because at the end of the day, we all worked on this album together, and Paul is there, sad that he can't be here.

Jill Riley: But he's still there. Well, sending our best wishes to Paul and it sounds like his prognosis is good, and glad that he's gonna be okay. Thank you for sharing that update with us. Yeah, really appreciate hearing that he's going to be back with you when the time is right. Talking with Cannons. You know, obviously bands go out on tour to play for the fans. And I want to talk just a little bit about your fans before we wrap up. I love that you refer to your fans as your Fannons. And I wonder if you could talk about the kind of connection or, the fan culture of the Cannons fans that come out to see you.

Ryam Clapham: I honestly have to give credit to our old touring drummer, Ben, he came up with it. Ben, if you're listening, thank you. Fannons just fit so perfectly. And we really do have the best fan base ever. They're an amazing community of friends who we see at venues like every night, sometimes the same people. Last night we just played, and I recognized this girl in the front row, and I was like, how many shows have you been to now? 15.

Michelle Joy: They're so amazing.

Ryam Clapham: We started this fan group called Room 143, where they can all socialize with each other. Meet up before shows, meet up after shows. It's really amazing community of fans.

Jill Riley: Yeah, it's got to be fun to just take a peek in on that and be like, I wonder what they're up to. What are they doing?

Ryam Clapham: Listening to Cannons.

Michelle Joy: We really spent the year trying to give back to the fans with some what they've given to us. They've obviously made our dreams come true with the support that they've given to us. And we just wanted to connect with them more. So like Ryan said, the 143, group, we started a little cooking series, "Cooking with Cannons." We're doing more fan events. I know we have one coming up at Red Rocks, and just trying to find ways to get closer, even sending them postcards when we've been on the road every night. They literally gave me this ring last night.

Jill Riley: Wow.

Michelle Joy: I know. I'm engaged to the fans now.

Jill Riley: And Ryan, what did you get?

Michelle Joy: Like, this is so romantic.

Jill Riley: Come on. Somebody waved to you. You just didn't see it was dark in there.

Michelle Joy: You got some bracelets last night.

Ryam Clapham: I did, I got a bracelet. Thank you.

Jill Riley: Well, that's very sweet. Thank you so much for telling that story. Michelle and Ryan of Cannons are here. The new record is called Everything Glows. And I want to thank you guys, Michelle and Ryan and Paul, in spirit, thanks for the new record and thanks for coming by The Current.

Ryam Clapham: Thank you so much for having us all right. Good luck with the rest of the tour. You are listening to The Current.

Credits

Guests – Michelle Joy, Ryan Clapham
Host – Jill Riley
Producer – Nilufer Arsala
Digital Producer - Natalia Toledo

External Link

Cannons – Official Website