FEATURED ARTIST OF THE WEEK: SIMON WALDRAM

Hi! Everyone, 
This weeks FEATURED ARTIST OF THE WEEK is the multi talented SIMON WALDRAM

1.Please introduce yourself

Photo Credit: Matt Cawrey

Hello, I'm Simon Waldram. That isn't a made up rock and roll pseudonym, believe it or not

2. How did you get into music?

Some friends of mine at school had a band who I saw live. That was the first time I realised that anyone could sing or play if they wanted to. I got an electric guitar at 15. I didn't know what to do with it, but I knew I wanted to do SOMETHING with it. I spent years making noise and then started writing actual songs about 7 years later.

3. What instruments do you play?Guitar, keyboards mainly, but I'll have a bash at any instrument put in front of me. Whatever it is if you can get something out of it that sounds good to you, then that's all you need

4. Who are your influences?
 Stevie Moore, Sebadoh, Galaxie 500, The Fat Tulips, Throwing Muses, Joy Division, Elliott Smith, Nick Drake, Stina Nordenstam, Yoko Ono, Propagandhi, Black Sabbath, Steven X Davies, Emzae, Anda Volley, Kate Bush, Neu!, The Velvet Underground etc etc

5. Tell us about your latest release
My new album Into the Blue came out on July 27th.  It's a joint release by Mad To Live Records and my label Phase Velocity. It's out on CD and cassette as well as digitally and the physical releases have extra tracks. I'm doing a little tour at the moment to support it. Also in June I released a limited edition mini-CD of Emzae and me performing together at Fearon Hall in Loughborough last year. I play guitar live for Emzae sometimes. I also have a transatlantic band called Cake Sloth (first record out next year hopefully), a noise project called Manko Force and I'm starting an acoustic based duo with my friend Fern later this year.

Photo Credit: Matt Cawrey

6. Whats your songwriting process? 

It varies. With my album Insolation (2016) I wrote down all the titles of songs I wanted to write and waited for them to come to me. Amazingly it worked! Most of my album Industrial Skyline (2011) was improvised. I recorded loads of spontaenous guitar and then cut and edited them into long pieces of music, like I read about Can and Miles Davis doing in the 70s. A lot of the more songwritery stuff just comes from wanting to express a certain thing or talk about a certain subject. I really try not to analyse songs and songwriting too much. It usually just happens and I think of myself as very lucky to have that in my life.

7. Which musician/ artist would you most like to collaborate with & why?
Propagandhi because they inspired me to start writing more socially conscious songs and about things that are important to me like animal rights
R. Stevie Moore because he's the godfather of home recording, which means he's my godfather really. I spent time talking with him before a gig once. He was a really nice guy
Elton John or Kate Bush or Yoko Ono just because I bloody love them!

8. If you were on a desert island what 3 musical gear would you take? 
Drums - you could get out frustration of being stuck on there and they'd help you stay fit and the noise
Saxophone - I've always wanted to learn and the noise might attract passing ships and/or repel possible preadators
A grand piano. How cool would it be to be on a desert island with a grand piano?? It'd make a helluva music video

9. Where can fans find your music (links etc)?
Bandcamp: https://simonwaldram.bandcamp.com
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1kO54yy7tud3X0XI6SbJ9z
FB page: https://www.facebook.com/SimonWaldramMusic
Website: https://simonwaldram.com

I would like to say a huge thank you to SIMON WALDRAM for taking part in this weeks #featuredartistoftheweek 😀😀

Until next time

Law