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Orchee Sorker | December 9, 2021
Photo by: Orchee Sorker
Based in Los Angeles, CANNONS trio consists of Michelle Joy [vocals], Ryan Clapham [lead guitar], and Paul Davis [drums, keys]. With their pop and dreamy melodies, the band has attracted many fans around the world. CANNONS talks about their tour journey, hit single “Fire for You” on Netflix television show Never Have I Ever, and latest release “Ruthless”.
You all are about more than halfway done with the tour. You have 15 shows and have 11 shows to go. What has been your favorite memory from the tour so far? What does it feel like to open for lovelytheband?
M: Well, we've been having a lot of fun since this is our first North American tour…um favorite moments. Do you guys have any?
R: I think my favorite moment is just connecting with every audience that we've come across because we haven't had the opportunity yet to go from city to city. That’s something we've never experienced before…seeing how excited every fan base is and every city and how different they are. It's really great. Lovelytheband’s awesome. They're super professional and it's been fun touring with them.
The latest song y’all released was “Ruthless”. What was the creative process behind that song?
M: Well, first you started it with your…
R: Yeah, I think it's almost like a little, a little demo from one of us. Then, MJ kind of took it.
Michelle: Right. Yeah. They sent their first demo to me. I wrote all the lyrics in one night because I felt so inspired by it. It was not about a personal relationship for me, but for someone really close to me that I was feeling like, kind of upset for them or the way someone was treating them. They came pretty naturally and then sent it to Paul…as far as your process?
P: I made it, I made it ready.
R: I feel like MJ is like that when she's really inspired by something. Um, she acts quick on it, which is cool because we were listening to “Song Exploder”? If we were listening to “The Cranberries” one recently and they were talking about how if the lead singer of Cranberries was super inspired by it then she would work on it like all night long. In my head, I thought about MJ writing “Ruthless”. We sent her the demo, and the next day she had like this perfect hop and lyrics already ready for it.
P: It makes our jobs a lot easier.
The hit song “Fire For You” was on Mindy Kaling’s Netflix show Never Have I Ever. How was it like to find out Netflix was going to use that? Did you know they were going to use it for that scene? What was the creative process when making that song?
M: We didn't know that it was going to be used in the show the way that it was used. I received a lot of messages on Instagram and tweets from people telling us that it was in the show and it was almost the entire song. So, we checked it out that night, and we were just blown away. We felt like it was almost a music video for the song. We were used to our songs being used in shows quietly in the background, but this was just forefront and the most important part of the show. We so grateful for that because right after we were #1 on Shazam. It was just really cool watching the numbers go up and all the fans that we gained from that experience.
P: It started with just an email from the music advisors. They were like, “Yeah, we want to use your song.”
What is one message you would like to give your fans?
R: Thank you very much!
P: Thank you for coming to all the shows!
M: You’ve changed our lives.
R: Yeah. Thank you for changing your life.
M: Just as cheesy as this sounds: continue to pursue your dreams and be persistent and also be patient because that's something that took us a little bit of years to where we are now.
P: I think you should believe in your art.
R: It's wonderful to hear about the fans that reach out to us and see that we've changed their lives, but little, do they know how much they've changed our lives. Just a give and take situation going on. Super appreciate it!
