From the love sphere to the adventurous bitch.
The album SPHERE OF LOVE (2023) was something we couldn't get out of our minds; with the, SIMONA It became known in different parts of the world. Not many years ago, she was recording videos after a long day at work, singing in a hotel bed and dreaming of becoming the artist she is today. Now, SIMONA She is disruptive, she claims her sexuality and her freedom, and all her growth is reflected in her album this year: cunning.
Indie Rocks! Magazine: Your music comes from different places…
SIMONA: Yes, totally. I feel that my project is part of immigration, like it has a lot of that. So I feel like it's a little bit of everywhere, but nowhere at the same time. I started my project… I mean, I am Argentine, from Mendoza, but I started it here in Barcelona. That was the beginning, but yeah, it's the middle of everywhere.
Indie Rocks! Magazine: Barcelona is where you found a space to exploit your creativity, but, looking back, you have been making music since you were little. Let's not forget your punk band with Luca Bocci.
SIMONA: Yes, well, art was always in me. I went to a musical school, like classical music, and I was in the piano conservatory. I had my punk band with Lukewith my friends from school, when I was very little, around 13-14 years old or so. Afterwards I completely left music and, when I came to live here, one day I went to the studio with some friends, but only to see how they worked, to have a few beers while they produced. They told me to record something and that's where I started. They told me: “Wow, what you recorded is good.” I always really liked to write and I had little things in my notebooks, what do I know… and so I lost my fear of the microphone a little and started playing with my friends, without any pretensions… and well, later there were pretensions.
Indie Rocks! Magazine: It's funny that music has called you since you were little. At least I don't know if your family had any influence or support for you to get into music.
SIMONA: I don't know, but the truth is that my parents always listened to a lot of music. In fact, there was no TV in my house; we had a sound system re capped They loved having parties and it was a priority, for example, to go see a show. They were very fans of Charlieof the Skinny Spinetta; my mom was a big fan of Brazilian music, kind of Gal Costa, Rita Lee…
There is also my sister, who is seven years older than me and was really punk. I listened to more alternative Argentine music: Boom Boom Kid, Fun People… I don't know, more of that move. So I grew up listening to a lot of music. And since I went to that school, I also discovered the magic of music from a very young age. I sang in the children's choir in my city and I remember when I was already a mezzo soprano and we sang with four voices… we were children, and I flashed a lot when the harmonies were put together. I experienced that tickling of music from a very young age, to be honest. It was very, very crazy. And then I encountered music again many years later, but without realizing it, it was always there with me.
Indie Rocks! Magazine: Your story makes me think that it seems that music chooses you, and not the other way around.
SIMONA: 100%. I had never thought about it like that, but the truth is that it has been quite like that. In fact, when I left school I didn't imagine that I would end up doing music. Sometimes I don't believe it either: when I'm on tour or I see people listening to my music, it still seems surreal to me, even though the project has been going on for years.
Indie Rocks! Magazine: At this time it also seems that it is not only about music but about standing out on social networks. In a sea of content, how do you make your concept and aesthetic authentic?
SIMONA: The truth is that it is difficult. There are times when I feel super found on an aesthetic level and other times, rediscovered. There are moments – like small highlights— in which everything fits: the angle, the outfit, how i feel There are a lot of factors. I love fashion, movies, photos… all the visual imagery forms a huge part of my project, because I like beautiful things.
I also work with a team of incredible friends who helped me from the beginning with the identity of the project. I still use a lot of hand; For a long time I was the creative director and, although I listen to everything, I always have the last word.
Now, just in cunningI started working with a creative team—two friends who have a studio called Serious— and it was like: wow, it's great to work with external creative direction, because it helps you focus. I am super collage in everything: to compose, to make music, to create… and when you are with a team you can say: “Ok, let's take a path and let's go. full with that.” I feel that with cunning That was achieved, with the stars, the album… we have released a lot of super interesting graphic and visual material.
Indie Rocks! Magazine: In the promo cunning even the aesthetics are disruptive. There is a photo on your Instagram where the things in your bag are on the floor and you can see everything…
SIMONA: Yeah! There is a song on the album called “ADVENTURER BITCH”. I have everything in my purse (in Argentina we call a purse a purse), so I'm literally an adventurous bitch. We played with it a lot because it gave us a lot of fun. Anyway, I carry a mini bag and I have five hundred thousand things inside.
Indie Rocks! Magazine: Entering cunningyour most recent album, how has the reception been?
SIMONA: I feel that it is an album that opened me to a different audience. Maybe before I was more linked to the club, to the party, but this year has been when I have played outside the most: not only in Spain, but also in Paris, Switzerland, tomorrow we will play on a radio station in Marseille, in Brussels… I have been booked more for parties and electronic contexts.
Yes ok SPHERE OF LOVE I had a flirtation with the club, this album is really clubbing: super high BPM, a more distorted sound. I feel like it's for the brave. It's not like my other music that you can maybe play while you're cooking. Still, there are people who listened SPHERE OF LOVE and you like this album, or who listened MIME and they love him too. But yes, it has opened me to other spaces and other audiences.
Indie Rocks! Magazine: We love that this album is more about partying, because it hasn't been many years since women have been able to party freely, with our friends or alone. In some parts it is still not well regarded. Thinking about your references, at what point in music would you say we are for women?
SIMONA: I feel like this is the first time in history that, for many women, being a “whore” is no longer an insult, and that on an artistic level is great. We are reappropriating something that made us ashamed for a long time. It's super contrasting because, for example, you have Rosalia releasing a religious album, but there are also incredible exponents. Obviously there are the icons like Madonnawho taught us everything a thousand years ago, but now I see artists like Tokischawhich sucks an entire egg from them.
I feel like music made by women is at a point where we make music for ourselves, not for men. We speak in our language, with our codes, for an audience of girls and gay. At least as far as I'm concerned and what I hear more and more.
Indie Rocks! Magazine: You are coming to our country soon, what can we expect from your concert in Mexico City?
SIMONA: It's going to be a super special date. I have only been to Mexico City once and they received me with a lot of love. One of the most beautiful shows of my life.
I'm preparing something a la carte: I asked my fans there what they wanted to hear, and I want it to be magical. Let it be romantic, but it's a bitch; re emotional; that there is a little bit of everything: to cry, to dance, to get excited, to get sexy… I like that, the eclectic, because that's how women are too: we can inhabit all those spaces without having to deprive ourselves of anything because we are changing or cyclical, or whatever.
Don't miss out SIMONA this December 11th in Indie Rocks Forum!
