 Credit: Jordan Merrigan
"My goal is definitely to write music from an authentic place that will connect with myself and others."
On October 6th, Nashville-based songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Paul Johnson released his second full-length studio album under the name Canyon City. The ten-track album, titled Constellation, is a beautifully intimate one that is layered with piano, keyboards, reverb, and the occasional percussion groove that envelopes the listener with lyrics and melodies that are comforting and ethereal. Recently, Johnson kindly took the time to talk in depth about the album including its origins, writing from the heart, and more. You have created music for TV shows, movie trailers, and other multimedia avenues. How did the transition from that to Canyon City come about? Before Canyon City, I was working on sync licensing, which was a way to make ends meet, but was never really the final goal or destination. I always felt the need for authentic expression and would come back to writing songs with the goal of trying to serve the heart. I initially started Canyon City in my home studio and then found an audience from there – and it ended up being better than I could have planned it. I get to work out of the places I want to work out of and make music I believe in, so I’m very grateful that it worked out the way it did. Being that Constellation is your second solo project did you approach it any differently than the first and if so, how? For me, there was a bit of learning that occurred in the studio. I got more competent in my workflow and was able to expand and test my limitations more. I played around with different instruments, particularly adding some percussive elements, so the instrumentation would reach out a little further than Midnight Waves [Canyon City’s previous album]. And then for the recording process, I did half of the record at my home studio in Nashville and the other half remotely. I needed to create some space and get away, so I loaded my gear and went to a cabin in Minnesota. I took a month and a half to focus on this record which allowed me to go to some places creatively that I maybe wouldn’t have gone otherwise. Being in the cabin was isolating, yet I think some of that all worked out and came through in the performance in a good way - but in a way that was initially, maybe a little harder at the time. You wrote, performed and produced the entire album yourself. In the past, I’ve worked with producers and sessions musicians, but I found that although there is something you gain from collaboration, and I am not against it, I never fully got out of it what I was trying to express or hit the places I was trying to go. So with Canyon City, that’s a big reason why I do things in solitude. Although I might initially be risking the production value, it allows me to protect that creative space, explore it, and hit emotionally the places I want to go. I feel like I expressed what I came to express. 
Sonically, Constellation is very expressive, emotional, intimate and dreamy. Lyrically, where do you draw from - personal experience, those of others, or a combination?
It’s almost always personal experience or a combination. Another reason I tend to create space is that I don’t always know what I’m going to write about, which is odd in Nashville because people often come with an idea of what they’re going to write about or what a record needs. But I take cues from the environment. I’ll start playing and if something comes out that strikes a chord, no pun intended, then I’ll usually run with that and try to build around it and occasionally I’ll get song I didn’t plan on writing. Then I’ll work with it and try to find a story within it - getting something that was just as true, but I didn’t know I needed to say it at the beginning. It’s exploratory in a sense, but it draws out things from relationships and experiences. That’s a unique process. Since Midnight Waves was released about a year ago, were the songs written since then? They were all written since the previous record, and they came pretty quickly in the span of three to four months. A great thing I can do is take four months and say I’m going to write and see what comes. And with Constellation the interesting thing was that I had no intention of making a record so soon, but the songs fell out and I thought it’s here, so I might as well work on it and see what I can do. The album is book-ended with “Our Way” and “Be Scared With Me”, is there any particular reason for that? I don’t know if there was one thing that made me track it that way, whether I thought at the time this makes a nice statement or if it was after the fact, but the tracking definitely has a narrative arc to it and the songs naturally fit where they are. “Our Way” is kind of going out on a journey and getting lost, but also being comfortable with the uncertainty and wandering and making that home…realizing that with whatever we are doing we can have peace and not feel disjointed. “Be Scared With Me” arrives at a similar point in that it basically summarizes what “Our Way” started, but goes further realizing that there’s going to be no resolution of peace on this side of heaven, so it’s better if we’re scared together than scared alone. It's saying that it helps to band together and be scared in good company, so in a lot of ways it circles where we started with "Our Way," but maybe we picked up a person or two in the process. My personal current favorites are “For The Day” or “Run.” Would you please choose one and relate the story behind it? Both stem out of relational things I had going on at time and are themes that basically get touched on throughout the record. “For The Day” is saying let’s have this moment and be happy because there are storms of uncertainty on all fronts, yet it's almost winking to the potential sinking of things, while “Run” is a bit more optimistic. It essentially comes to the place where we don’t have to let fear of the past or future rule us anymore – saying it’s ok to be still in this moment without wrestling with things. They’re both beautiful. Recently the video for “Our Way” premiered. Are there plans to do anymore? The same team that did that video for that song is doing a video for “Find You.” Essentially, those guys followed me around for a run of shows, so the video will be a narrative of discovery with a travel theme. It will be out either later this year or early in the first few months of 2018. We'll keep a lookout for that. You’ve previously spoken about the origin of the title, Constellation, but what about the artwork? Did you design that as well? In the past, I’ve done album covers, but this time Allie Reinke, who is a good friend of mine, designed the cover. We talked about the album and she did her own thing and definitely nailed it. She did a great job with the wolf and the outdoor aesthetic. And as a fan of her work, I am so glad she agreed to do the cover and am super pleased with the way it turned out. Finally, as the year closes out, what are your plans for the remainder of 2017? We have a couple of big shows left, including opening for The Minimalists in DC. And I am always writing whether it is for specific projects or my own happiness because working in the studio and doing creative stuff is my therapy. Finally, in December I am going to take a breath, be grateful and enjoy the holidays and celebrate with people who made Constellation possible. For more information Website Purchase
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