They Are Behind Us – A Band Looking Towards The Future

I have a lot of friends with great taste in music and when I see them post about a band or they share a band or music with me, I always want to check out their recommendations. Mikey Canoy is someone whose knowledge of and taste in music I have a great respect for.  Not only is he the super talented guitarist in metalcore band Set For Tomorrow, but he is a skilled producer and writer who is helping other bands create music. Some of those bands are up and coming and based out of the same area Mikey is, Richmond, Virginia.

One of those bands is They Are Behind Us.  Back in May, I saw a story by Mikey on Instagram about a song that was coming out by this band called “Death Over Honesty”.  Just from the little bit of the song I heard in that story, I was intrigued.  Lo and behold, the song dropped, and I was hooked right away.  I had to learn more. 

I started following They Are Behind Us, or as they have affectionately nicknamed themselves, “TABU”, on their socials.  I dove into their catalog of previous songs on Spotify.  I saw how active they were on social media, which is so important these days. These guys were fun and entertaining, but most importantly, talented. 

Most recently, on July 1st when TABU dropped their latest song, “Don’t Let Me Go”, that’s when I decided I wanted to write about them. To be honest, I had been thinking about it since I heard "Death Over Honesty".  I asked. They agreed.  I was so excited because I had a feeling there was a cool story to tell, and I was correct. 

They Are Behind Us currently consists of guitarist Ford Wesson and vocalist Tyler Morris.  Ford has been there from the beginning, starting the project in September of 2024.  Tyler officially joined the band recently, with his first song being “Death Over Honesty”.

I asked Ford to tell me about the band name, They Are Behind Us.  He told me that he really likes band names that look cool on a page, and he also really likes acronyms. Those are two big parts of the name. He thought “TABU” looked and sounded cool. There’s more to it, though, with a deeper meaning.  It references old projects, old relationships, old situations – “they are behind us”. It’s about moving on and looking towards the future in all aspects of life.

The story of how Ford and Tyler linked up originally is interesting.  There was a song called “Leviathan” that Ford wrote, and then rewrote with Mikey Canoy, but the song just wasn’t sitting right with him. Ford told Mikey that he was having trouble imagining new vocal parts for the revamped sections. Mikey introduced Ford to Tyler, who helped them rewrite the song. After that one, Tyler co-wrote a few more songs with Ford for TABU that have yet to be released. The cool thing is, now those songs will be released with the same voice that was on the demos. As Ford said to me, it felt like it was “meant to be”.

Ford and Tyler both have experience in their local music scene. Tyler has his solo music that mostly sits in the emo realm under the name Tired Violence, his progressive post hardcore project called Unsafe, Unsound, and he is also debuting a nu metalcore project soon called To Die For. Ford is mainly focused on TABU at the moment.  However, he also has an indie pop/alternative rock project called littleDEATH that’s been on a bit of a break for a couple years, but has new music coming soon!

The music creation process is a fascinating subject for me, because every band has their own way of doing it. Ford explained TABU’s to me.  Up until Tyler joined, most of the lyrics and music were written by Mikey Canoy and Ford. There are a few different ways it happens, but typically, it starts with a demo that Ford writes in his home studio. Usually, he’ll make a few demos and let Mikey decide which one is best, then Ford sends him everything he has for it including synths, drum parts, and so on.  He and Mikey go through and rewrite or revamp any sections that need more. Now that they have Tyler singing for TABU, the next step is to send it to him and let him write lyrics and vocal parts. After Tyler has had his time with it, they go back in on the instrumentals and make any tweaks needed to support the song that’s been written on top. Then they all work together to make it as good as it can be.  These three artists are a great team!

Ford did want to mention his friend JK Royston. JK was the producer and co-writer for Ford’s previous band, littleDEATH, and he helped write “Run Away” when Ford started TABU. He has also co-written a number of songs with Ford for TABU that will be coming later this year. 

The two most recent TABU songs are very different from one another, which I think is cool because it shows the band’s versatility and how their music can appeal to fans of different genres.  They’re not confined to one style of music, even though they do consider themselves to be a metalcore band.  “Death Over Honesty” is a heavier track, but it has an upbeat tempo.  “Don’t Let Me Go” is a more emotional song, but the heavier elements bust through later in the track. Tyler’s clean and hard vocals are stellar.

Ford shared with me that he and Mikey wrote the instrumentals for both of these two recent songs before Tyler joined the band, and they knew that they were the start of a new era of the band’s sound. Ford said that he believes Tyler’s voice and lyrics have built on that progression in a really beautiful way. These talented artists have only just started to scratch the surface of what they can do together. Ford believes both of these songs being so different gives listeners a good taste of what’s to come from this band in the future. I’m definitely excited to hear more from them!

As I said before, Ford and Tyler seem to really be having fun together (along with Mikey Canoy when they’re working with him in his studio).  I have been loving their Instagram videos, some which include Mikey in a cameo role. The chemistry is apparent, and their energy is something that has drawn me to TABU, along with their awesome music, of course. Ford did share with me that eventually, when the time is right and they’ve found the perfect song for it, they’d like to do a full music video.  For now, we’ll keep enjoying their entertaining antics on social media.

Ford and Tyler are planning on starting to play live shows by the end of the year. Regarding other goals and plans, they will continue to release a new song every month until the end of 2025, and then they will probably switch to around six-to-eight weeks between new songs for as long as they are continuing to be enjoyed by their listeners. I can't see that enjoyment ending anytime soon.

I loved getting to interview Ford and learn more about They Are Behind Us.  I think he and Tyler are not only tremendously talented, but also really nice and a lot of fun.  I can’t wait to hear all of the music they’re working on together with Mikey, and I look forward to seeing them someday when they start doing live shows!

There will be a new They Are Behind Us song in three-to-five weeks.  Make sure to follow the band on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube so you don’t miss any of the excitement that's to come from them, and keep listening to the music they’ve already released on whatever platform you choose! Also make sure to check out the Mikey Canoy Productions website.

Written by: Annie Schlottman Photos by: Hannah Lujbli / Fire Rose Studios