Simon William Interview | Respect The Artist Interview
How did you get your Artist name?
My name is Simon, my middle name is William!
How did you get into creating?
I grew up in a very musical environment, my father was in a band and I attended gigs and listened to music with him. Throughout my life I've tried my hand at learning various instruments. Starting with drums, then onto guitar and piano (I'm not very good at piano), but I truly found my passion when it came to writing songs and singing.
Where are you from?
I come from a small village called Harrold in Bedfordshire, United Kingdom. It's very close to our town of Bedford and that is a very musical place, there's always something happening here! I played my first show here and I hope soon with coronavirus restrictions lifting to get back into performing live again.
What did you do to advance your skills/knowledge?
I'm entirely self taught, I actually don't know theory at current, I just play and sing by ear. Learning however is important and I spend a lot of time practising. The more you do something, the better you will become at doing that thing.
What does your current setup look like?
Wires, wires wires! I write and produce demos on my home computer, I have a keyboard, a selection of guitars and a few good microphones. This paired up with any decent recording software is all you need.
Who inspires you?
I have a lot of influences, I've always been very eclectic in my taste. Recently I've been listening to a lot of Jazz: Jamie Cullum, Tom Misch, Jordan Rakei. Though more mainstream influences would be the likes of Lewis Capaldi or Tom Grennan. I used to listen to a lot of dance music and also used to produce it myself, so I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of my influence comes from those roots as well.
What's your go-to song right now?
I'd say the song that I've been grooving too the most lately is Better by Jack Garratt. Something about that record just makes me want to dance!
What is your dream as an artist?
I'd love to have an impact on the world as we all do. I know I have stories to tell and I know people enjoy them so I'd like to find all those people and connect with them through the world of music. Oh and a Grammy would be nice!
What is your goal when you create?
To document how I feel or have felt in the most honest way I can and I suppose make it sound nice too. I think it's easy to sit down and make it hard for yourself thinking "I have to write the best song ever". Writing a good song sometimes comes at the snap of your fingers, but a lot of good songs also take a lot of time. Often the best thing to do is to write as many songs as possible and a lot them might be terrible, but you'll get some good lines down somewhere along the way.
What's your go-to song right now?
I'd say the song that I've been grooving too the most lately is Better by Jack Garratt. Something about that record just makes me want to dance!
What is your dream as an artist?
I'd love to have an impact on the world as we all do. I know I have stories to tell and I know people enjoy them so I'd like to find all those people and connect with them through the world of music. Oh and a Grammy would be nice!
What is some advice you would give to someone with a dream?
Keep going and believe in yourself! Dreams weren't made by slacking or not believing in them and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I've had my confidence knocked a few times by people I held close. But off the back of that I realised it doesn't matter. I have what it takes and so do you!
Tell us about your most recent release
So my debut EP, it's called Just So You Know and it's really a document of a past relationship. It references a journey of being totally broken to potentially feeling better and letting go. At time of writing, the first single Happy is due to release in just two days on June 26th and I am absolutely buzzing! This song holds a place near and dear to my heart, it's so beautiful and worth a listen. Happy is a story of loss and longing, it's the idea of missing someone and wishing you could change how things went, but in the end ultimately wishing them the best and moving on.
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