Sid Simons at La La Laundry – Photos by Rachelyn Remz
Last Call is an interview series where I, Brittany Marino, ask talented folk all about their lasts: last time they did something, last time they felt something, etc. This week I sat down with dynamic musician and friend, Sid Simons. He shared his fries with me.
Establishing himself as a compelling element to the NYC music scene, Simons’ music combines the sound of 60s soul, glam rock and Americana. His live performances are always a spectacle, not only because Simons has surrounded himself with a group of extremely talented musicians, but the energy from the band is undeniable, infectious even. They are having fun and so is the crowd. Seeing Sid Simons in concert is sure to get you dancing, so don’t miss the opportunity to see him play Mercury Lounge on November 29th.
Purchase tickets here.
Brittany: Last person you texted and what about?
Sid: Can I look at my messages?
Brittany: Of course.
Sid: Ah okay it was Sammi, my saxophone player. We’d just written a song today, like, right before coming here. So we just wrote a song and she was sending me a voice memo of the song.
Brittany: Last song that you played?
Sid: (laughs) That song. That song, it’s a brand new song, no song title. I’m excited about it.
Brittany: Oh I am too, I am a big fan of the sax.
Sid: We are trying to incorporate it as much as we can. This song is really interesting. It’s, it’s a little more experimental and jazzy and weirder than I’ve ever gone.
Brittany: I’ve always felt like your music has always been very fun and playful so I can’t wait for you to get weird.
Sid: I wanna like, destroy the structure, almost like an anti song.
Brittany: Ok how about the last time you cried?
Sid: It was a week ago, and it was at my brother… my brother is in this new movie. This new A24 movie, and I went to the premiere and fucking cried the entire way through the movie. It was so emotional.
Brittany: Is it because the movie is emotional, or because seeing your brother and being proud of him made you emotional?
Sid: It was probably a bit of both. But the movie is so emotional. I am not trying to spoil…
Brittany: What’s the movie?
Sid: It’s called The Iron Claw. My little brother is one of the main actors in it. It’s him and Zac Efron.
Brittany: Oh, okay yes. I am familiar. I haven’t seen it yet though.
Sid: So yes my little brother, I am not trying to spoil it but, he dies in it.
Brittany: That is a spoiler! So now I’m gonna have to put a spoiler alert at the beginning of the interview.
(both laugh)
Brittany: I personally don’t mind spoilers, but you’re like, I’m not trying to spoil it… but here’s this massive spoiler.
Sid: (laughs) So I got to experience, in a way, what it was like to literally lose him.
Brittany: I can’t even imagine how intense that is. It already kills me to watch people I don’t know die in movies, let alone a simulation of my brother dying.
Sid: I could differentiate between my brother and the character though… I thought, going into it, am I gonna laugh the entire time? It is my brother, I have known him forever. But I really felt his character.
Brittany: Was he with you when you saw it?
Sid: No he wasn’t with me. I was with my older brother. But he came out after. He did a Q&A with all them.
Brittany: Did your older brother react similarly?
Sid: Oh YEA. And he’s like a fucking, (pounds chest) a hard guy.
Brittany: Okay, I feel like I might know the answer to this, but this leads me to my next question. Last movie you watched?
Sid: I think that was it. It was either that, or Ice Age. I moved into a new apartment, and I don’t have any furniture. And me and Maura, just set up, we built a fort with my TV.
Brittany: I think I saw that on Instagram.
Sid: We just watched Ice Age like that. I think Iron Claw was after that though.
Brittany: I have not seen Ice Age in a million years, but that is a classic.
Brittany: I also feel like I might know the answer to this question because you alluded to it in an earlier question but, last song you wrote?
Sid: (laughs) the one from literally an hour ago.
Brittany: Yep. Ok fair. What about before that? Are you consistently writing right now?
Sid: I’m writing a lot right now. Last was about a week before. We might play it on the 29th because I’m excited about it.
Brittany: Do you make a point to be consistently writing music?
Sid: I go through crazy spurts. I won’t write for a little bit, like for a month or two and I freak out a little bit. And then something will happen in my life and then I write ten songs.
Brittany: Do you feel like you’re in one of those spurts right now?
Sid: Oh yea, I’m excited about music again. It is usually when you discover someone new, you know? I’m really into this artist, Colin Stetson, who is a saxophone artist.
Brittany: I’m not familiar, I will have to check him out. But that makes sense. You collaborate with a talented saxophonist and are trying to incorporate it more into your music, so I can only imagine that drawing inspiration from other saxophone artists can be a good motivator.
Brittany: Last concert you went to?
Sid: Probably Telescreens. They are a local band.
Brittany: Where did you see them?
Sid: At the Sultan Room. And they are just so good. I’ve literally seen them play like, 25 times. Because they are friends.
Brittany: And it never gets old?
Sid: Honestly, no, it’s weird.
Brittany: I don’t think it’s weird. I have bands that I can see a million times over and it will always be a magical experience.
Sid: Exactly. Again, they’re just really good friends of ours and it is always exciting. It’s not a dull show at all. They always bring some spontaneity to it.
Brittany: When did you see them?
Sid: A week ago?
Brittany: Do you go to concerts a lot?
Sid: Yes definitely but I see a lot of my friends and local bands. I don’t see a lot of bigger artists.
Brittany: Who’s one of the last bigger artists you’ve seen?
Sid: Oh Yard Act. Do you know them? They are an English band.
Brittany: I know one song by them, 100% Endurance.
Sid: I saw them at Warsaw, they were cool. They were really good.
Brittany: First time?
Sid: Yea.
Brittany: Last thing you splurged on?
Sid: Hmm. I just moved apartments. So I haven’t been spending money.
Brittany: Nothing, not even as a little treat?
Sid: Oh, OH! I bought… did you see me the other night at Victoria with the hat? Did you see that fucking fedora?
Brittany: Oh yea I did, Ryan’s birthday?
Sid: Yes, I saw it on the street. I said this is going with the outfit, I gotta buy it right now. I became best friends with the guy. So it was a fedora. I’d never fucking wear that shit. All my friends were like, what the fuck are you doing?
Brittany: When you do splurge on things, what is something you splurge on? For me, I haven’t bought a concert ticket for a big artist in a while. But when I do splurge, it will be for concert tickets. Or traveling. That’s where I like to spend the big bucks.
Sid: Mine is clothes. And also traveling. Those two are like, it’s essential for me. Everything else is secondary. I mean, obviously, I haven’t bought an instrument in a while, but that’s up there as well.
Brittany: I love clothes. I love to look cool and wear nice things. I rarely splurge on that though.
Sid: I get that. I am a weird buyer, though. I like getting obsessed with things, like, broaches and shit. I will buy like four broaches. And then a week later, over it.
Sid: I splurge on food too.
Brittany: Oh god same, I’m going broke because of that.
Brittany: Last argument you got into?
Sid: It was definitely with my brother.
Brittany: Younger?
Sid: Yea younger. Fuck what was it about? Probably some stupid shit.
Brittany: Do you fight with him a lot?
Sid: We bicker, hard. But, you know. We fight, and then we just get over it. I don’t remember what it was about. Something dumb. I think he was trying to tell me to do something.
Brittany: I am the same way with my sister. I remember I was with an ex actually, and at one point he saw us interacting for the first time. He was like, you guys argue a lot! And I was like, huh what are you talking about? This is just how we are together.
Sid: It is interesting because, when I’m bickering with someone, that means I really love them.
Brittany: Absolutely.
Sid: The other day with my friend Nicole, I was teasing her a little bit and she got really upset. I was like, shit I do this with all my other friends but you’re not use to this yet, this dynamic.
Brittany: I am specifically like that with my male friends (laughs). If you see me bickering and playfully arguing with a guy, that is a huge indicator of me being super close with them.
Brittany: Last note written in your notes app? Do you use your notes app?
Sid: Oh yes. I have like 5000 in here…. Okay. (laughs) This is the last lyric that we were writing:
‘I’m just that lonely call.’ So fucking lame. That’s literally it.
Brittany: Nope, disagree. But do you write a lot of lyrics in your notes?
Sid: Well, the reason I wrote that is because when we were coming up with that riff today, the melody or whatever. I’ll just sing random shit. And I was saying that. So I wrote it down just to have it. I’ll probably change it later.
Brittany: I’m a big notes app person, BIG. Everything goes in there.
Sid: Oh same. If I lose that shit…
Brittany: Are you kidding me? That’s my lifeline. Sometimes it’s really dumb stuff and other times it’s, if I lost this information, my life is over.
Sid: Voice memos as well. If I lost my voice memos dude.
Brittany: That makes sense because you’re a musician. Are you talking into your voice memos? Is it like, note to self, do laundry tomorrow?
Sid: (laughs) No, it’s music.
Brittany: Okay yea. I don’t use it because a lot of my notes are reminders and lists. So if I were to do voice memos, it’d be like, here is my grocery list: blah, blah, blah. And I would hear that back, and would be mortified at the sound of my voice. Actually, when I have to transcribe this, ew. I am gonna hate it.
Brittany: Do you have trouble listening to your own voice? Obviously you are a musician who sings so I can’t imagine you hate it.
Sid: I did hate my voice, for sure.
Brittany: So you got over it?
Sid: I think recording actually really helped. Because when you first listen to your voice, you hear it back, and you’re like, I don’t like that. How do I, how do I like it? What should I do to change that? To change my opinion on what I sound like? So I figured out how to sing in a way I like in the last couple years.
Brittany: I also think singing is different than talking. Because you can have a great singing voice but just listening to yourself talk, that can be an out of body experience. Since you sound one way when you hear yourself talk out loud and another way when recorded. But I also think a lot of people feel that way.
Brittany: Last time you got your heartbroken? Which can be about love, but can also be about anything else.
Sid: My immediate thought is love.
Brittany: Have you gotten your heartbroken recently?
Sid: Definitely. (laughs)
Brittany: You don’t have to elaborate on it.
Sid: Well, we broke up. Then we got back together for a little bit. It was kind of beautiful for a minute. But then it kind of sets in, some of the problems came up again, and you realize this is why we broke up in the first place. And then it’s just, it’s even harder.
Brittany: I think when people do get back together, there’s hope. There’s always hope when you get back together that things will be different. Sometimes they are, but most of the time they’re not. But then that becomes inspiration for your art.
Sid: Exactly, I am never dating again. That is my headspace right now.
Brittany: I am also never dating again. But also next week if you see me with a partner, I never said that.
(both laugh)
Brittany: Hi, meet my new boyfriend / girlfriend. But for right now, never dating, never falling in love. That shit sucks.
Sid: Fuck that shit.
Sid Simons at The York
Brittany: Last time you called your mother?
Sid: Yesterday, because I’m going upstate. Tomorrow.
Brittany: Are you guys close?
Sid: Yea yea yea. Really close. I’m really close with my family. She’s Australian so she’s like (proceeds to do an excellent Australian accent), ‘bring up whatever you want it’s gonna be cold as shit up there.’
Brittany: She’s Australian? Is your dad American?
Sid: My dad is English / Australian.
Brittany: You grew up in the US? I’m not detecting any accent from you.
Sid: I lost it.
Brittany: Ok.
Sid: But I grew up in Australia until I was 12.
Brittany: Oh I didn’t realize that.
Sid: When I get drunk though!
Brittany: Yea I was gonna ask, if you spend time in Australia do you fall back into it?
Sid: Hell yea. You know what’s interesting though? When people move here when they are like, 25 and they lose their accents, that makes no sense to me. When you’re between, 0 to like, 15, I feel like it makes sense because you don’t have an full identity at that age. You are still learning who you are. So it makes sense to be susceptible to other accents.
Brittany: A lot of your personality comes from the people that you’re surrounded by. If you’re around a bunch of english speaking Americans at a young age, you’ll probably adopt an American accent. So you moved here when you were 12?
Sid: Yea
Brittany: Yea… that is still young enough for you to switch over to an American accent.
Sid: I mean, I was fighting it.
Brittany: Last thing you obsessed over?
Sid: (long pause) Actually! You know, this kind of ties into the heartbreak question actually. There was this couch….
Brittany: Ok
Sid: We desperately needed a couch. We don’t even have any furniture. And there was a couch, a beautiful couch on the street and I usually don’t take… I would never take from off the street. I mean I do but…
Brittany: Couches are tricky, other things I am open to but couches have potential for bedbugs and that’s terrifying.
Sid: Yea exactly but this was just recently put out on the street. Me and my roommate were like shit, we need to get this. It was so beautiful. We ran home and got the car, we were fucking driving and then we realized we couldn’t get it in the car, it didn’t fit. And I fucking called an Uber. And Uber came and they were like, we’re not taking this.
Brittany: I’m sorry, what couch is gonna fit in Uber? Maybe an XL?
Sid: Oh I got an XL.
Brittany: Then you have to ask to put all the seats down and stuff it in there. Or you can be like here’s some rope can we just tie this to the top real quick? I will help you secure it.
(both laugh)
Brittany: So you didn’t get the couch right?
Sid: I didn’t get the couch and I was so fucking bummed. So that’s the heartbreak to also answer that one.
Brittany: I’m sure someone else got the couch, and now they’re obsessing over it.
Brittany: Last question, last time you felt alive? Whatever that means to you.
Sid: Woah.
Brittany: You can have an really profound answer or something very dumb. I feel like the last time I felt alive was watching a scary movie, simply cause it’s intense and you really fucking feel it.
Sid: Actually my first reaction to this question, and I said it already, was the movie with my brother. I don’t think I have ever felt so emotional, and so, everything is precious. Life is so precious and you can lose someone like that. Everything can change. Realizing how beautiful everything is right now and not taking everything for granted all the time, which I do. I think everyone does. I think after that movie… I take everything in now.
Brittany: See that was a profound answer and my answer was dumb.
Sid: You’ll know what I mean when you watch it.
Brittany: I won’t know exactly how you felt, but I’ll be sad for sure.
Sid: That’s what’s cool about it, me and my other brother, we’re the only ones in that theater, or actually in the world. This experience, this specific experience.
Brittany: Wait, I imagine your parents saw it too, right?
Sid: They haven’t yet.
Brittany: Oh god I can only imagine. Me being a mom and watching… I’d be fucked up.
Sid: They are gonna lose their shit.
Stream Dead Ringer on Spotify now.
