DANCING WITH GHOSTS

1. Give us an introduction to yourself / the band members and the instruments each person plays.

Our band is called Dancing with Ghosts. My name is Josh Cannon and I will be answering most of these questions with some help from my lead vocalist Ari Grey. Our bassist is Michael Roman who plays in like seventeen other bands. He has no idea I’m saying this about him right now and probably never will. Currently, we are searching for a drummer but I think we have a good lead on someone (hopefully).

2. How did you/the band get started? When did you begin, what influenced you, who helped you along the way, and were you trained or self-taught?

Dancing with Ghosts started with myself, Josh Cannon, making music in my bedroom on a DAW (digital audio workstation), my guitar and a microphone. The genesis of all of this began in 2015 but didn’t really take hold until Ari Grey joined in 2017. I was basically tired of joining bands, putting in my all, and then the band inevitably breaks up. Along my journey my friend/former life coach Tom Bennett (a fantastic local musician in his own right) convinced me that it was my destiny to start my own project and take the reins into my own hands. I’ve been self taught on multiple instruments so I quickly learned that I loved writing the various musical parts for each instrument and I still write that way to this day.

3. What was your first live performance like? Also, what has been your favorite and least favorite show so far, and why?

My first ever live performance was rough to say the least. Even though all of the parts were back-tracked, I still wanted the stage to look full so I made a little ghost prop that stood behind an unplugged keyboard with cheap party store lights that I would set up to add to the “show”. I realized that even though it was “my band”, I still needed to have people on stage or at least something that didn’t look like amateur hour at an open mic night. Eventually I fleshed out an entire band with customized visuals synced to the music on two big TV’s.

My favorite show so far is honestly any show where the crowd interacted. Whether that means they were singing along, holding up their cell phones with the flashlight turned on, or even moshing, as an artist you want to feel like your music is touching people in that moment. My least favorite show was this one time we were asked to play this venue in south Florida back when we were still wearing our occult-style face paint and outfits. We also had equally occult-style imagery for our TV’s. Well the guy who wanted us on the show failed to tell us that the venue was a church recreation room and the two other bands were Christian bands meanwhile we’re dressed up like those skeleton dudes in the first Karate Kid movie with an upside down cross being projected onto their huge projector (I was able to airdrop our images onto their projector). This was back when it was just myself and Ari and boy did we get the silent treatment from everybody there the entire rest of the night. There was no, “good set” or “we definitely want to have you guys back”, nothing. Also, it was like a three and a half hour drive for no pay. Yeah. I’ve had other really bad shows but at least they were local!

4. What has been your biggest challenge to date?

Booking a tour was a pretty big challenge that we were never really able to get done, thanks COVID! Consistently putting out high quality recordings (which aren’t cheap) with a high quality music video and lyric video is also quite challenging, especially when you’re the guy in the band that knows how to work all of the technology so it falls on your shoulders. We’re a very DIY and everything goes through either myself or Ari so we’re constantly putting our blood, sweat and tears into every aspect of this band.

5. What sets your music apart from everything else out there?

Our songs have hooks (lol). I mean honestly the amount of music I hear out there these days whether it’s on the radio or at a show just strikes me as so bland. Everybody is just copying more successful versions of whatever genre they’re attempting and I just don’t know what’s stopping people from trying something weird. Try something that feels wrong or outside of your comfort zone. That’s what sets us apart… we do all of that stuff I just mentioned.

6. How do you personally define success for yourself or the band? Do you feel being based in Jacksonville has benefited your career more or less—and why?

One certainly has to redefine what success looks like if one is going to attempt to put some real skin in the game in the music industry in 2026. There are no more bands getting discovered at a coffee shop or music venue by an A&R guy with a record deal in hand. And can we also agree that in 2026 record deals are so not necessary? I’m sorry I’ve answered your question with a question, bad writing! Success is if you can pull like fifty people to a local show honestly. If you make two hundred bucks in merch sales is success now. Three hundred monthly listeners on Spotify (that AREN’T bots) is success now. A couple thousand followers on your band’s socials is success. If you manage to achieve anything more than that you are breathing rarified air in the SUPER SUCCESSFUL category. I am told that this is also when you get invited to sit at the cool kids table.

7. What projects are you currently working on or promoting?

We are currently working on getting a new computer so we can start putting out new music. The computer I currently use to write and record songs on is over ten years old and the CPU is finally crapping out. We have so many ideas for new songs but that does us no good if we don’t have a means of recording them.

8. Have you toured yet? If so, how far outside of Jacksonville have you made it, and where would you love to play most that you haven’t yet?

I think it would be cool to play some big festivals where people who still care about music tend to congregate. As far as touring goes, we’ve played many shows outside of our hometown and even gone on several small runs but I can safely say we’ve never done a full-fledged two month tour or anything like that. I don’t even think we could pull it off even if we wanted to with our various jobs and responsibilities. I feel like touring without already having a pre-established fan base is kind of a waste of time and resources. I know of several bands that feel like touring legitimizes them so they go out and spend all kinds of time and resources with almost nothing to show for it aside from getting to see the old U.S. of A. The internet is where it’s at these days. That’s where your potential audience is, not at a random music venue in Des Moines on a Tuesday night.

9. What are your craziest “on the road” or wild adventure stories? (Music-related or otherwise.)

I accidently booked our band into a hotel that looked like it belonged in Chernobyl after the nuclear reactor blew up. The attendant at the front desk who gave us our keycard to get into our room wasn’t even there the next day when we went to check out. In fact the lights were off and the doors were locked, I still have that keycard.

10. If you could collaborate or perform with anyone—living or dead—who would it be and why? (Feel free to shout out any living local artists you’d like to work with, too.)

I’d like to collaborate with Micheal Stipe from R.E.M. in his heyday because that man had such a gift for writing great vocal melodies. I would have loved to have worked with Layne Staley from Alice in Chains because that dude has one of the coolest sounding voices in rock music in my humble opinion. I would say Billy Corgan from the Smashing Pumpkins when he was in his prime but I hear he’s kind of a dick. Locally I really like DigDog and I feel like working with them would be a wild collaboration experience. Ari would like to work with Yungblud (she would like to note that she liked him before he blew up). She loves his creative mind. She would also love to work with Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance. The first time she heard him sing she realized what rock music could be. His vocals inspired a a lot of what she does as far as vocal experimentation.

11. What do you/the band members do with your time outside of the band?

I have a YouTube channel outside of the band that has garnered way more attention than my actual band. I love my little community that I’ve been able to grow through hard work and perseverance. Ari likes to restore and renovate furniture, she creates various pieces of visual art and she’s been hitting the gym a lot lately. She’s become quite the intimidating presence with her bulging biceps.

12. Name one thing you love most about the Jacksonville music scene that sets it apart from other cities.

I have no idea what separates the Jacksonville music scene from other cities as I have not lived in any other city or stayed in one long enough to truly experience another music scene. I think we have a ways to go with our music scene. We’ve lost a lot of really good music venues in the past ten years and not many new ones are popping up to replace them. Hard Love is a new local venue that I’m excited about that caters to locals. Five Points seemed to be the place where artists used to convene, hang-out and play shows but sadly it seems that area has scared off all of the artsy weirdos who used to call that place home. Where exactly is our music scene at now? Is there a specific place? Can you do me a kindness and point me in the direction of our music scene?

13. What are your top three favorite local venues to play and your favorite local record store to get music from?

My top three favorite local venues are Jack Rabbits, Rain Dogs (R.I.P.) and The Albatross. Favorite record store would have to be Tiger Records.

14. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received that you’d pass on to other local bands—and who gave it to you?

Don’t surround yourself with low-energy people. This is what my friend/former life coach Tom Bennett would always tell me. Low energy people are those who are constantly negative, bringing others down, not actually accomplishing anything, etc. That energy will eventually bleed into your way of thinking which is the quickest way to abandon your dreams. Only associate with high-energy people which are people who are positive, strive for greatness, are uplifting and who persevere. This is the kind of energy you need to also have to successful.

15. Where’s the best place for fans to connect with you?

Spotify, Youtube, Tik-Tok

@Dancing with Ghosts

Instagram: DancingwithGhostsOfficial

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