Perth Music

Simon Kelly is a singer songwriter from Fremantle, WA and has just released a new mini album through MGM.  He caught up with Perth Music to answer a few questions:

Q. Tell us a little bit of history about yourself as a singer/songwriter. How did you start out and what have you achieved?
I started playing on my 13th birthday and started my first band at 14, we started gigging soon after and by the time we were 19 we had played the big day out and toured aust with Suicidial Tendencies!  we also released an album but broke up not long after.  i played in lots of different bands after that but ended up concentrating on more accoustic things mainly because it suits the solo thing and i was tired of putting energy into bands and having them fall apart.  i have been writing songs since i started but only started singing a few years ago, cos i had nobody else to sing my songs for me.  i released a 14 track album from my home studio down south and just recently moved to fremanlte and have released a 7 track mini album, recorded in a proper studio and all!

Q. What bands have had the greatest influence on you and who are your favourite bands at the moment?
Probably Metallica was the first big influence i was into the energy and anger and techincality of it, then mellowed into the grunge thing and from then on i have been exploring as many different genres as i can.  Gomez were another band that influenced me heavily and encouraged me to get into home recording, cos they were my age and recorded their first album in a garage and blended lots of different styles to create somethign original.
But Bob Marley is my biggest alltime influence although you might not pick it from listening to my music.  but i listen to just about every style of music and dont have any set ideas about what i want to sound like so hopefully it comes out as a bit of a mix of all of it.

Q. What helps in writing new songs? Do you need solitude to get inspiration?
Yeah i cant really write when there are other people around…  just because song writing for me is about just letting go and opening up and letting whatever come out and often it is crap and embarrasing but just you just listen out for the good stuff.  so i guess its becuase i am too self conscious to write in front of people, but also becuase i record every idea as soon as it comes out because if i dont i forget it straight away, so i dont like any distractions when i write..

Q. What is your favourite live music venue to play? Do you prefer small pub shows with a small audience or bigger shows with lots of people cheering you on?
I prefer to play to bigger crowds, there is alot more energy in the room, it is usually louder and a good cheer is always good to inspire you! and the more people in the room the higher the odds that some of them will actually like what you are playing
Q. Favourite AFL Team?
Fremantle all the way…….

Q. What is your song writing process? Do you write the lyrics and music together or one first and then the other?
As i mentioned before its just finding some time to myself and just messing around till something sounds good.  then i record it and see where those ideas lead to.  although every time seems to be different, sometimes i just play around with a chord progression as a starting point or a drum beat but sometimes a phrase or melody will just pop into my head and i go from there…

Q. Is Myspace good or evil?
Not sure how it could be evil, i think the internet is great its like a giant brain that anyone can tap into and explore and as for myspace i think any platform that encourages interaction between humans is a good thing. It is great for a musician too, you can contact other musicians and hear some of their tunes and make contact with the people that come to your gigs and develop a relationship with them.  Myspace is god, i mean good…. perhaps i do spend too much time on it….

Q. What is your take on the Perth Music Scene at the moment? Do you think it is thriving or is it a bit of over-hype?
I have been living down south and travelling for the last few years so i am still catching up on all the local bands but i think overall its pretty healthy. i havent spent enough time in other cities to really compare it though.

Q. What plans do you have for the next few months?
I have already started recording a full length album so i hope to keep making progress on that, i would also like to get a more permanent band together rather than just borrowing people from here and there like i do at the moment.  i also have a festival penciled in for new years in northern NSW so would like to try and organise some more gigs while i am over there and just generally keep playing as much music as i can.

For more info on Simon check out his Myspace page.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 17th, 2006 at 6:19 am and is filed under Local Bands, Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.