Colony House – Cannonballers

By starrymag | November 13, 2022

By: Jennifer Vintzileos

 

 

With their authentic approach to independent rock and roll, Nashville-born outfit Colony House has spent over a decade building their career on virtues that seem to seldom remain: honesty, accessibility, and family. In a world that feels more divided every day, Colony House has continued to unite fans under its banner of hope and light. No frills, no gimmicks. Just heart-level rock and roll music.

 

Last year saw the release of Colony House Live, Vol. 1, and the EP, Rotten Tomatoes. In support of that EP, they were able to return to the road, headlining 30 dates in the US before their first overseas headline tour in 2022. They’ve also recently appeared at numerous festivals including Shaky Knees, Sunfest, VYBE Fest and WonderBus.

 

 

Q) How would you best describe your sound?

A) Landlocked Surf Rock

Q) Who are your Top 3 musical influences?

The impossible question… [laughs] Three of my top influences… The Vaccines, Johnny Cash, The National

Q) Tell us the story behind your current single “Cannonballers.”

A) “Cannonballers” happened in the studio quite organically. We had hit a little bit of a creative roadblock with what we were working on at the time and decided to change gears. I played the opening guitar riff for the guys, and everyone seemed up for turning it into something more. Within a couple hours we had the start of what would become “Cannonballers.” Thematically, I wanted the lyric to feel frantic to play off the feeling of the verse. I started thinking about this roller coaster I used to ride at the old Opryland USA theme park called the Wabash Cannonball. The song feels like a roller coaster ride to me… unexpected twists and turns with this feel-good cruiser of a chorus… so it felt like a good jumping-off point for the lyrical direction.

Q) You also recently released a music video for “Cannonballers.” How did you come up with the concept for the music video?

A) Well, it was a pretty literal take on the opening line from the chorus. “Hard Top Impala”… We just thought, “What if we could find an old hard top Impala and we spend the video budget on buying a classic car? Then we just set up on top of it and play the song a bunch of times while driving down the road.” That’s how the idea started. Then on top of that footage, I wanted to add some cartoon-like animation that kinda shows us as skeletons from time to time. Felt like a cool way to add weight to the video, like a subconscious reminder that beneath it all, we are just fragile bones, no matter how hard we try to keep ourselves distracted…At the end of the day, life is as fragile as it has always been.

Q) Since its release, what has been the reaction to the song and video from fans and listeners?

A) So far, so good! Every time we release new music, it feels like the way people consume songs and videos has changed. So, there is always this learning curve of how to get it out there and how to measure people’s excitement. But it has felt like everyone is taking the ride with us!

Q) What message do you hope fans take away from “Cannonballers?”

A) Well, my hope is that everyone can take the song and make it personal for themselves. But if I could boil it down to one thing or idea… Slow down. Life is short, and yet for some reason, we are all blazing through it. Slow down and cherish the moments you have been given.

Q) With the release of “Cannonballers,” is there a potential new album in the works?

A) The cat is out of the bag… our new album, The Cannonballers, is coming out on February 3, 2023.

Q) You recently finished your 2022 tour last month. What were some of your favorite moments from that tour?

A) We did a short run and headlined our first shows in London and Dublin… It is just so surreal when songs you wrote in your house back in Franklin, TN have somehow managed to travel all the way across the ocean. My favorite moment was walking past the line to get into our London show and having to ask a fan if they were waiting to come see us. [laughs] I just figured there was another show they were lining up to see. I couldn’t believe it.

Q) Which Colony House song(s) is your favorite to perform live?

A) “You Know It” is always a fun one. I love playing our song “Leave What’s Lost Behind” from our last album. And I imagine there will be several off this new album that jump up to the top of the list.

Q) What would you like to say to your fans and supporters of your music?

A) THANK YOU for sticking around! I know we’ve been doing this for a little while now, but every time we put out music, it feels like we are kids again, just hoping our friends think what we are doing is cool and inspiring in some way. I’ll say to anyone who has supported this band what I say at every one of our shows… If you keep showing up, we’ll keep coming back.

 

 

All Questions Answered By Frontman Caleb Chapman