Canyons and Locusts are a two-piece band featuring Boston’s Justin Keane on vocals and guitar and Phoenix’s Amy Young on drums and backing vocals. Fueled by the chaos of the world and an urgent need to be part of the conversation, the two took the indie rock foundation they built together in previous bands, adding new levels of noise via pervasive, edgy guitar sounds, low and thundery drum beats, and vocals that capture a mix of emotions and power dynamics. A new EP, The Red Angel, dedicated to Red on Red Records’ Justine Covault, is set for release in early 2024, led by a pair of singles in “Buck Dharma’s Eyes” and “To Art Bell.”
Q: In your opinion, what are the essential qualities that make a “good songwriter”?
Justin: It may sound funny, but I think the first thing is a belief that one or two or three minutes of sound and words can change a person's life. I think a great songwriter wants and needs to make great songs, not just great music. The second is a commitment to the details. You have to believe that it really, truly, absolutely matters if the riff goes *there* or *there.* Maybe this goes back to commitment to the song as an ideal. The third, well, I'm biased towards melody but I do feel like great songwriters who write great songs find at least one or two hooks. It's gotta stick. (Or it's gotta scare you so much you have to hear it again, and again...)
Q: What is the basis for writing attention-grabbing music in this day and age?
Amy: I believe that if you are going with your gut and doing what you want so that it's backed with sincerity and passion, that's what comes through in the music and gets attention. You should believe in it and it should sound like you believe in it.
Q: What has it been like working with an indie record label as opposed to working on your own?
Amy: Our time with Red on Red Records, who released our first full-length, was nothing short of incredible. Though she passed away unexpectedly last year, Justine Covault, the woman behind the label, treated us wonderfully and brought us together with a lot of amazing bands who have created a very family-ish vibe because of her and we all continue to support one another and communicate even in her absence.
Q: Can you pinpoint some specific songs and songwriters that changed the way you write music?
Justin: I'd say the Jesus and Mary Chain and Robert Pollard would be a good pair that I really dug into around the same time, where I started to look at the song as a way to get across a feeling or even a kind of a picture less than a way to tell a traditional story.
Amy: As the drummer, I don't write songs, really, so that one might be better for Justin. I can say that when I play with Justin, I am riding on the energy of what it means to us to do what we do and I let that vibe be a partner in what I play.
Q: Do you find it hard to be inspired by artists that are younger than you, or are you motivated by their energy? Can you name any new artists you find inspiring?
Amy: I'm motivated by artists new and old who are creating killer music. Newer bands I love include The Bobby Lees, and just things moving me in general lately – Metz, Tamar Aphek, Idles, Alvvays…
Justin: That's a great question. I don't think so, but I will say I'm not looking for a band in their twenties or thirties for motivation on energy – I want to see bands in their forties, fifties, sixties and up still tearing it up and playing as loud as hell, and thankfully we are not lacking for inspiration there.
Q: For your new album, what inspired the lyrical content, album title, and overall vibe?
Justin: The vibe is urgent. It's shorter and louder than our first one. Writing the songs, I felt like someone had invited us to the big kids' table which confers its own sense of urgency, I suppose. But everything changed when Justine passed – we were in the studio the week immediately after and had a little less time than we'd planned, so what was meant to be a full length became an EP with the loudest and maybe catchiest ones of the bigger bunch.
Q: Do you find that you ruminate over writing songs and hold on to them for a long time before including them on a record? Or do you prefer to write them, release them, and be done with them? Do you ever revisit old material to do a re-write or once it’s done it’s done?
Justin: I absolutely believe in honoring a moment or season by writing and releasing songs before they have a chance to stick around and become benchwarmers, but as the years have gone by… we just have to be more practical, and sometimes an old one is the perfect fit for what we're going for at a given moment.
Q: Were there any lessons you learned in the writing and recording process for your current release that you will take with you into your next project?
Amy: Just to continue building on this foundation we created and remaining fearless about exploring and trying whatever we feel like doing to see how it shakes out.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX2E9tvspTdDg230Z-eZR1w
Bandcamp: https://canyonsandlocusts.bandcamp.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/canyons_and_locusts
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CanyonsandLocusts