Simone on her upcoming EP, 'Someone You Remember'
“Linger” cover art.
In a musical landscape where female solo artists are making waves, singer-songwriter Simone is a standout talent. If the spectrum of genre ranges from Carly Rae Jepsen to Phoebe Bridgers, Simone bridges the gap with infectious styling and raw, introspective lyricism. A rock backbeat here, a hard-hitting acoustic there, she creates a sound that is both dynamic and deeply resonant; and it’s all formed together in a singular perfect storm.
Coming off of her first headline “Open Book Tour”, putting on shows at bookstores around the country, she prepares for the release of her upcoming EP ‘Someone You Remember’ in early September. We sat down with her to discuss the writing and recording process.
Do you feel like music has always just come naturally to you?
Yeah, [my brother and I] grew up just like surrounded by the arts, not even music specifically, but we were exposed to musical theater young just being from New York. My mom was always a big musical theater fan and still is always going to Broadway shows and stuff. And my dad has always been like a huge rock music guy and had played in bands in college just with his friends. It was something that happened so naturally where we were just both, me and my brother, like always performing together, always singing together. I think because he also liked doing it and he was doing it, like it made me want to do it more because, you know, you just want to be like your older sibling.
What can you say about the writing and recording process of your EP?
As far as the EP, I wrote all of those songs in LA. I wrote a song called “Manhattan” which is out now, and that's how I met the guy that I wrote this EP with. We wrote a bunch of songs together that ended up becoming, you know these five songs that I love so much that became a part of the EP. They were all written in LA and I got to record them in Nashville last September, which was a trip that was just so much fun.
I've been to Nashville a few times, when I was younger, I would do songwriting camps and stuff just to get better and learn things. The first time I went I was like 11. It was my spring break and my dad was just like, ‘There's a lot of music in Nashville, we should go.’So, we just did that, as tourists and very nerdy music stuff. But it was my first time recording there and it was such a refreshing experience almost, just because everyone in Nashville is so talented. I've always known that, but seeing it firsthand these are real musicians and people who really care about the songs they’re making. I just love it there.
The second song on the tracklist, “Any Girl” is set to release on the 28th. I love the song because it's just a really earnest and straightforward song.
I was listening to a lot of ’70s music and whatever I'm listening to kind of reflected what I was making at the time. But I think “Any Girl”, especially even when I was a standout from everything else I was writing because, now, thinking back to it, it was the first time in my songwriting where I kind of let myself get that angry and even sarcastic a little bit. I'm trying to think of songs that would be fun to do live. And I feel those are always what people want to sing along to. So I feel like that's something that I'm also focusing on right now, just making songs that people want t sing along to, not just cry to it.
I love the poster that you’re putting up around the city, I think that is so funny. My favorite thing is when you can just tell that someone's like having fun. How did you come up with that?
It's crazy because I thought about it so fast. There's like a trend going around New York of guys hanging up posters of them looking for a girlfriend. So I was like, ‘Oh, this is the perfect time.’ And then I realized immediately, why more women don't do that. It's because men are so creepy! I mean, luckily, it's not my real phone number, no information can lead back to me. But we set up this fake phone number that, if you call it, plays “Any Girl” and then you can leave a voicemail. Let me just tell you, the voicemails I'm getting are crazy.
I'm focusing on the fact that there'll probably be a couple of people who realize that this is a joke and that I'm promoting my song. It's wild out there, but I don't regret it.
Also thinking about your live performance made me aware of the fact that I think our generation is really recognizing the power of the female solo artists. I just feel like they have the spotlight right now. So, when you're performing live, it's just you? Have you ever had a band behind you?
The majority of what I've played has just been me and a guitar and every now and then when I was younger, I would have a band play for like one or two songs and then the rest of the show would be me. And then I played one show with a drummer and a track. Actually, the last show I played in New York was my first solo playing with another guitarist, she was amazing. She played guitar with me and sang harmonies, which was awesome.
There is something really unique and special about your voice that when you put it on the internet, you just the greatest responses! How do you feel about that?
I don't know, it's weird, recently, there's been a few more videos of me singing that have been doing well on Instagram. It's funny because I've never really felt like a vocalist. I've always just felt like a songwriter. I've always been like, ‘Oh, I hope my voice sounds good in this.’And so it just felt like the fact that I could sing was just lucky. But I mean, over the years, I've gained more confidence in my voice, which is great. I just think it is cool to see those things happen because it's something that I don't think about and so the fact that it connects with other people is so nice.
You can listen to “Linger” out now and the full EP, ‘Someone You Remember’ out September 9th.
