Solo Artist Sammy Canillo on Her Latest EP "Dissonance" and More

Sammy Cannillo is a 22-year-old State College area solo artist whose calming sound and simple, balanced melodies have earned her a strong local following. Cannillo recently released her first album “Dissonance” on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play as well as a music video for her song “Smile On”. I had the chance to talk with her, and ask her about her inspirations, reflecting on the music industry, and the process of releasing a music video and EP. Sammy has been writing and performing music since the young age of five years old, with guitar as the first instrument she picked up. “It’s kind of embarrassing but Avril Lavigne was a huge inspiration to me then with guitar” she says, and admits that she remains an inspiration still. Growing up, Cannillo was most influenced by Avril as previously stated, as well as Paramore. More recently, the indie pop duo Tegan and Sarah have been influencing Sammy’s sound, something you can hear in the production of “Dissonance”. When writing music, Sammy Cannillo pulls her inspiration from daily occurrences, but tries to skip the mushy stuff to get to the deeper issues. “Sometimes when I’m going about my daily life I come across something that I really want to write about” Sammy explains. However, she is trying to stray away from the typical romantic-loving pop ballad. “I’m always trying not to write so much about my feelings or romance, but more about reflecting on societal standards and norms” As the technology available to her has developed and grown, her sound has with it. Originally, Cannillo was recording her music with just her laptop – limited to only using guitar and her voice on any given track. However, she says with the use of the program “Logic”, the effects and additional instruments you hear on her EP were easier to accomplish. The only limit being that on stage, Cannillo is still a solo artist who hasn’t yet decided on whether or not she would like to incorporate a backing track during her shows to produce the full effect matching her album. Over the last few years, Sammy Cannillo has performed all over Penn State’s campus as well and the State College area, however there are some locations that remain her favorite, one being her past employer, Webster’s Café and Bookstore in downtown State College. “They really welcomed me with open arms when I wanted to perform and gave me a lot of performance opportunities.”. Besides Webster’s, the radio station “98.7 The Freak” as well as The Brewery in SC earn the title of “favorite venue” with Sammy. Cannillo also reflects on performing at Penn State Arts Fest (Alumni Weekend) with local musician Jim Colbert – “Playing [with Jim] was great. He helped me make a lot of connections, I’m definitely appreciative of him.” On today’s influential artists, the State College/New Jersey artist cites T. Swift and Bieber. “I really like Taylor Swift a lot. She does an awesome job at being very successful and putting out consistent quality stuff.” She explains. “With Justin Bieber there’s no doubt he puts out really good music. Although it was in collaboration with Skrillex he definitely deserves credit.” However, the alternative rock/rap duo Twenty One Pilots influences Sammy’s lyrical efforts. “They cover very different topics eloquently with different structure and technicality. I was driving in my car listening to them and thinking “holy shit I need to take it up a notch lyrically. This is the bar”” Cannillo states. As an independent artist who writes and produces her own music as well as acts as her own manager, there are certain challenges Sammy Cannillo faces as an artist – as well as benefits from being fully in control. “I have complete creative control working alone. I’m not signed to anyone and I don’t have a manager, so I can really do anything.” In this sense, being an independent musician is truly independent. There is no one to tell the artist she/he/they can’t change direction in a song, or really make any changes they wish for. So while the music-making process is made easier in that sense, things get more difficult when the time comes to get gigs and, well, make money. “As an independent artist you have to be able to do both sides. Doing your own PR, making fliers, promoting yourself on social media etc. Being on the business side can sometimes take away from the creative side, but it’s necessary” Cannillo adds. That all being said, Sammy Cannillo has recently released her music video to “Smile On”, from her latest album (available online). On the vision behind the video, Sammy says involvement from others as well as a general artistic concept were important to her. “The visuals on my face are supposed to represent all these issues you have to deal with as you go through the course of life,” Cannillo continues. “it contrasts with my friend Rachel who twirls for the Penn State Blue Band, and agreed to do some of her twirling for the video.” After the release of her first EP “Dissonance” in February, Sammy is continuing to release new music and work on continually developing her sound as a musician. Having just graduated from Penn State, she is planning on doing shows in New Jersey and New York. “I want things to sound better than before, pushing myself musically, lyrically, making it better and making it out to more people” explains Cannillo. You can hear Sammy Cannillo’s music including her latest EP “Dissonance” on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, and her Facebook artist page Facebook.com/Sammy.Cannillo