cherry pick Is Creating a Sound You Can’t Ignore

cherry pick. Photo credit: Mungo Dulmage.

If you are at all familiar with the Vancouver music scene, then you probably have heard of the artist cherry pick. With stunning vocals, irresistibly dreamy hooks, and blending of entrancingly sludgy shoegaze with loud, frenzied noise rock, cherry pick is undoubtedly one of the most exciting up-and-coming acts in Vancouver.

“The top bands I usually look to for inspiration are feeble little horse, for sure, and julie,” says cherry. “I look for julie in a lot of [guitar] tones, it’s really hard to get anything close to that, but they’re one of my biggest influences. And Wednesday’s older stuff. I really like their production, how it's not like super processed, it almost sounds like a demo – I like that and take inspiration from it.”

On TikTok and Instagram cherry pick has a considerable fanbase that is increasingly growing. On these social media platforms she shares her own music, posts covers of other songs and promotes upcoming shows. Going viral is something that occasionally gets in the back of her mind when she is posting her music. “It’s an intrusive thought when making a song like ‘Oh what’s the best part that’s gonna click. What's the 15 seconds that I should be promoting?’” she says. “For content creation, the fact that I do post my covers and stuff on Instagram and TikTok was just something I wanted to do, something I did before I had my own project. I’ve always liked content creation, like I’ve had YouTube channels many, many failed YouTube channels over the course of many years, starting at like 13. I feel like, compared to a lot of the artists I do know and are friends with that I actually like that side of it. Not as much as creating music, but it isn’t something that I dread.” 

cherry. Photo credit: Mungo Dulmage.

Usually, cherry writes everything by herself; however, for the newest single, “doe-eyed,” she sought the help of her live band, making it the first-ever song that cherry pick has released as a full band. “I was just struggling a lot with just what I should do,” she recalls. “I brought it to my live band and then we just wrote a song. I started with a riff, and then we figured it out together. Then we took it to my producer, Cam [Blake], and then he shuffled a whole bunch of things around ‘cause he is like a structure wizard and he can hear like when a pre-chorus should actually be a bridge and stuff like that. My bassist, Tao [Da Silva], sings on most of it.”

Additionally, “doe-eyed” marks the first time a music video has been released for a cherry pick song. “That experience was awesome because that music video was put on by my childhood best friend [Ashé Sabongui],” smiles cherry. “I really don’t like music videos, but because I’m supporting a really close and good family friend of mine, we did it, and it turned out awesome. I'll probably make more in the future. I just think music videos can be cringe sometimes.”

One of cherry pick’s most popular songs is “daze.” It was released on the same day as “pity,” however, the creative process of “daze” happened quite spontaneously and on the spot.  “My music teacher let me take home one of these really, really old Mac computers in the music room that had Logic installed on them, but they couldn’t really connect to the Wi-Fi,” states cherry. “It was the day before ‘pity’ was gonna drop, and it’s so embarrassing, but I was like on TikTok, and I heard Wisp’s ‘Your Face’, and I was like ‘Damn. This song is so fire. I want to make a song like that.’ So that night I sat down for like 5 hours and I just wrote and recorded ‘daze.’”

Last year, cherry pick released her debut EP, sorry place. The EP opens with “pretty thing,” an atmospherically ethereal song with haunting vocals and a fascinatingly mesmerizing soundscape. “When I wrote that song, I can't even lie, I was on shrooms and I was in the forest,” laughs cherry. “I found the main chord progression, and I was like, ‘Oh my God. This is so gas.’ I was trying to do a more sophisticated version of ‘daze’ a little bit, just because they are in the same key and they use a lot of the same chords. I obviously wasn’t trying to replicate ‘daze,’ but it kind of has a similar feeling. But I was just trying to go for something that was more dynamic, more interesting, had more parts, had a better hook and just told a story a bit better.”

Meanwhile, “tip-toe” another song from the EP, has some excellent loud/quiet dynamics in play, combining whispered vocals, soft and beautiful guitar lines, and a soothing atmosphere, with loud, punishing guitar riffs and thunderous noise.  “When I focus on dynamics, my sound just sounds so much better,” says cherry. “We sound cleaner. The hard parts hit harder. The tender parts hit more tender.” Utilizing loud/quiet dynamics is one of her favourite things to do. “I just like when you can really, really feel a song and you’re taken on a journey with it when it’s just so emphasized.”

There is a lot of exciting news in store for fans of cherry pick. “I do have a new EP on the way, we’re just finishing up the mixing and mastering.” According to cherry, the upcoming EP, which is yet to be named or have a release date, marks an improvement vocally and sonically. “Vocally, I’ve realized what’s actually attainable for me and what sounds good,” she shares. “For a lot of my songs in the past, I was trying to do like crazy vocal things with like flips and whatever. I am not a singer first and foremost; I am a guitarist. That is my instrument and how I express myself. I think that with this EP, I’m not trying to sing anything that is uncomfortable. I’m just trying to sing what I think sounds good. For the songs, I think I’ve figured out dynamics a bit more and structure a bit more. Overall, I think the songs are more polished and less elementary.”

Next year, cherry pick also plans to tour as much as possible. “We had a tour planned this year, like we had everything; shows booked, bands booked, posters, places to stay, we had everything booked, but we just didn’t get our visas in time,” says cherry. “I also didn’t get a grant that I was waiting for to expedite the visas in time, so we had to cancel the tour. Next year, I'm hoping I can redeem that.”

Currently, cherry pick has numerous shows planned that you can attend. On September 21st, they will be opening for Hotline TNT, and on October 16th, they will be opening for Softcult. Additionally, on November 13th, they will be playing with PISS, Emma Goldman, PERRA, and Sundress. “I am really looking forward to these shows,” says cherry. “I’m really nervous as well because we have a new guitarist [Logan Keilty], and so it's gonna be his first shows as well. He’s kind of being dropped into the deep end of shows with his first show being opening for Hotline TNT at the Hollywood; that’s crazy.”