DOING A SOLO ALBUM WAS A FUN EXPLORATION OF MY VOICE
A CONVERSATION WITH ERIC CANNATA
Since breaking out in 2010 with their self-titled debut album, Young The Giant has become a huge name in indie rock, one of the most exciting indie rock acts working today. Now, guitarist Eric Cannata decided to shake things up and try something different. Holding Onto The Holy is his first full-length solo record and sees him finding his own distinct sound.
“At the time, I was renting a house, and I had a garage in the back that I converted into a home studio,” he states. “I would spend hours in there, by myself, just tinkering with instruments, spending days on days kind of talking to myself, dancing around the room with a microphone in my hand, playing different instruments, and really enjoying the creative process without any real kind of agenda, more so just to enjoy being creative.” Ultimately, a collection of songs arose from this. “I just got married last October so the record touches on myself refocusing on the relationships and the things in my life that really mean everything to me. Hence, Holding Onto The Holy is kind of my reminder of staying present and grateful for the people I love in my life and the things that are beautiful in this life when the world is seemingly falling apart around us.”
Doing a solo album allowed Cannata to experiment with new things. “I love to sing, but in Young The Giant, we have an incredible singer in Sameer [Gadhia]. François [Comtois], our drummer, as well is an incredible singer. Doing a solo record was a fun exploration of my voice. Writing lyrics is something I love to do as well. It was really nice to kind of go internal and look at ‘what do I want to say?’ in a full expression of an album.”
Something Cannata learned while working on Holding Onto The Holy is decision-making and controlling decision fatigue. “There’s so many decisions that go along with a song, let alone an album,” he comments. “When you get to mixing, mastering, artwork, and so on, you get to this decision fatigue when working on a project, at least, I do. I found that this solo album helped me to ‘let go’ a little bit and remind myself that sometimes you just intuitively make the best decisions in the moment and go from there… Music starts as a blank canvas. There are so many ways you can go with it. I think learning to trust your instincts and your taste while you’re in the creative process, making quicker decisions, and figuring out where to go once you’ve made a decision rather than just sitting in indecision is something I learned.”
Cannata is eager to share the experiences he learned from working on Holding Onto The Holy with Young The Giant. “The solo side of things and working outside of the band feels like a natural additive form of expression where it only helps the band grow whether anyone in the band does their own thing or works on a different project. It feels like this really cool way of adding experiences and tools to our toolbox when we get back together and collaborate.”
PURCHASE HOLDING ONTO THE HOLY
Cannata has tons of fantastic guitar riffs in store for listeners on Holding Onto The Holy. One of his favourite riffs is on “There You Go Again”. “The pre-chorus and into the chorus has this chromatically descending guitar line, and I was really happy with it. That was the first song that I wrote that was the ‘aha’ moment in that I’m like, ‘wow! This is really fun.’ I was in my studio all day alone, just tinkering around and that song inspired me to continue to write and ultimately do this record.”
This sense of fun and tinkering around that Cannata mentions is also present in “Holding Onto The Holy”, as he notes, “When I was writing it, it was giving me this kind off Serge Gainsbourg French lounge vibe. I really love the simplicity of that one. Throughout this record, I joked that I wanted to throw fuzz guitar solos over every song. I think there’s a few of them on the record, but in “Holding Onto The Holy”, there’s that fuzzy guitar part that comes on in the end.”
Reflecting on the creative process behind “I Still Love You”, Cannata explains, “There was the electric guitar rhythm and then the electric guitar lead I layered with a lap steel, I believe. The vocals have this falsetto part in the chorus where we added some tremolo and reverb to make it a little psychedelic and have a little movement. Toward the end Jon O’Brien added some mellotron keys, kind of orchestral string and flute sounds. That song is very short and sweet and is a reminder that with any relationship, there’s ups and downs but that no matter what, you’ll be there for the one you love and stay through those ups and downs.”
Cannata wanted “Fruit” to be a groove-based song. “I was listening to the drummer of Fela Kuti’s band, Tony Allen, who is kind of the pioneer of Afrobeat rhythm, and I was listening to one of his songs and trying to dissect it,” he says. “I threw down this kind of Afrobeat-inspired drum beat and then built up this funky electric guitar part and the bass part doing the same thing. I had a Juno synthesizer doing some of the synth parts. Toward the end, I wanted to do a little Grateful Dead solo thing with the flute sound and guitar coming in. That song was just my reminder thematically how I tend to do a music project and then go straight into another one without taking a breath ‘cause I love to be in the studio writing and recording. So, that was a song to remind myself to take a breath. Take a pause.”
Cannata worked on several songs on this album with his wife, Hannah Connolly. “My wife, Hannah, is an incredible songwriter and incredible singer. A couple of songs, I felt were really helped and finished lyrically with Hannah. Then I had her sing on a few of the songs – sing background vocals. It’s been amazing to be able to be collaborative and creative with my wife.”
His father, Ernie Cannata, also joined him on a few tracks. “My father, I’ve wanted to have on a recording and play with me on something for years now. He always jokes about it because I grew up with my father playing piano and he still plays piano. It was my earliest memories of music; my Dad playing a lot of ragtime piano and classical… He had never recorded on a song before. I was so impressed and excited because his timing was great. His ability to record was great. He was such a natural. We had so much fun. He played on “Holding Onto The Holy” and “Crystal Ball.””
2025 also marks the 15th anniversary of Young The Giant’s self-titled debut album. “That album and our early records they mean the world to me,” explains Cannata. “For us, at the time, it was a true ‘boot camp’ experience, which I’m so grateful for, in the sense that it really made the band a lot tighter live… That record was really the record that allowed us to make music full time for a living. I couldn’t be more grateful and proud of the band and that we’re still together, going strong, working on our sixth record.”
Overall, Cannata views Holding Onto The Holy as a bunch of reminders. “I keep coming back to this idea of reminders, and I look back, and it’s almost like a diary for myself to slow down and really be present with my wife, my family, my friends, and all the people I love. There’s just a lot going on right now, and everyone is struggling in their own ways, so I think if the album can provide any sort of joy and a reminder to slow down and connect with those you love, that would be incredible. Also, I personally felt so much joy and freedom to express myself on this record without really the fear of the end result or what people might think. It’s more so an exploration for myself just to enjoy the creative process. I hope that people feel that, and maybe it inspires others to express themselves without judgement and fear of what they or others may think.”
Artist Links
Main Photo Credit: Chåse Hart | Background Photo Credit: Charlie Weinmann
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