Simone Talks Her Latest Release, “Manhattan”

Simone may never be going back to “Manhattan,” but we’ll be going back to listen to her latest track. The artist’s latest release captures the feeling of being stuck in a place where everything reminds you of something or someone. For Simone, that place is New York City. Twenty Minutes Later got the chance to catch up with the artist, following her move to LA. Read our interview below to learn more about Simone and her latest release, “Manhattan.”

YOUR NEW SONG IS CALLED “Manhattan,” DID YOU GROW UP THERE?

I grew up in Manhattan on the Upper West Side. My family still lives there, but I live in LA now. I just moved there in June, but before that, my whole life was spent in New York City. A big part of the song is about wanting to get out of a place where you’ve been for a long time. When you live somewhere for your entire life, it can be hard to find areas that aren’t tainted by things that have happened there. I felt like every area of the city was already lived in. That’s how the idea for the song started—feeling like I was trapped in this one place.

DID YOU WRITE THE SONG AFTER YOU MOVED TO LA?

We wrote the song in October, on one of my first trips out to LA. It was funny because I was there for a week, and on one of the last days, I had my first session with Kevin Fisher, who produced the song. It was weighing on me that I really didn’t want to go back home for several reasons. I was still in school and after having this experience where I was out in LA doing music full time, I didn’t want to leave. I had all these other feelings that I had been talking about in therapy, about feeling like I couldn’t really go anywhere in New York because of how tainted everywhere was. I would walk down Battery Park and remember that I went there with a friend that I don’t know anymore because we had a falling out. I was explaining that to Kevin and the song went from there. It was funny singing “I’ll never go back to Manhattan” because I was literally going back two days later. But now that I live here, it feels like a full-circle moment.

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE IS BETWEEN NEW YORK AND LA?

It's so different. New York is such a walking city. Everything is so close together, at least in Manhattan. When I lived there, I didn’t spend a lot of time outside of Manhattan, which is probably one of the reasons I had that issue. LA feels big. It’s so spread out, so it feels like there’s so much to do. I’m liking it here.

YOU MENTION A COUPLE OF SPECIFIC PLACES IN “Manhattan,” ARE THERE ANY OTHER PLACES IN NYC THAT HOLD BAD MEMORIES FOR YOU?

I could literally walk down any block and ruin it for myself. Union Square was a big area in my life. Being there now is super weird because so many of my formative years were there. I spent 7th-9th grade there. The Upper West Side is also super weird to go back to because that’s where I grew up. It’s hard for me to not connect those places with memories. Sometimes it’s not even bad, it’s just that I was there once with someone else and that’s weird.

WHERE ARE YOUR FAVORITE PLACES TO GO IN THE CITY?

I love Soho. I love the West Village. Obviously, the shopping is fun, but there are so many other restaurants and cute places. South Street Seaport is also one of my favorite areas. It’s by the water and has these cobblestone streets. I love places in the city where it doesn’t feel like a city.

DID YOU GROW UP AROUND THE NEW YORK CITY MUSIC SCENE?

Yeah, I mean, my dad is a big music fan. He doesn't do it professionally, but my brother and I both got into music from him playing us stuff and burning us CDs. I don’t know if we went to a lot of concerts at that age, but we would watch all these shows related to music like Big Time Rush and High School Musical and Lemonade Mouth. All of those shows influenced my love for music. I think my first concert ever was Glee Live. We could only watch the music scenes, so when I was six, I watched all the performance videos. That was my first ever concert and everything changed from there.

YOU’RE OPENING UP FOR MAUDE LATOUR AT IRVING PLAZA SOON, WHICH IS A VERY ICONIC NYC VENUE. WHAT DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE LIKE TO PLAY “Manhattan” IN MANHATTAN?

I’m so excited for that show. I love Irving Plaza. I’ve been there a few times and to play there is going to be exciting. I'm kind of nervous because it is such a funny song to be singing in New York. It’s also a weird song to sing in LA because there’s also a part that says, “I hate it here,” which means, “I hate California,” but I think if I make a little joke about it, I’ll be fine. Hopefully, people won’t take it too seriously and it’ll be fun. I think people like songs about the places they’re in.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE LYRIC FROM THE SONG? OR ONE THAT YOU ARE MOST EXCITED TO SING LIVE?

I feel like eventually a lyric that will be fun to sing live is, "I might just be too sensitive for heartbreak, so maybe I should stay away from love.” That feels like a very scream lyric. I also love the bridge so much. It’s not that the bridge lyrics feel like the best lyrics I’ve ever written, but I think it paints such a picture. I love songs that do that—that make you feel like you’re there. It’s a bridge that poured out of me. It was literally me writing down everything that happened. I think that it’s going to be super fun to sing live, especially with a band. I just love the energy of it.

HOW LONG DID THE SONG TAKE YOU TO MAKE FROM START TO FINISH?

I remember it took me a while to get the chorus right. Sometimes when I have a specific idea in mind, I like to take more time with it because I want to get it perfect. The chorus was a little hard to figure out because I was like, “How can I make this sound like a chorus, but also anthemic, specific, and personal to me?” So that part of the song took a lot longer. Sometimes when I write alone it’ll be a little bit shorter, but when you’re in a session, you are in the studio for five or six hours a day getting that song out. A lot of the vocals in the song are the scratch vocals we made during that first day, which is cool. I think Kevin and I were very confident about the emotion from the first takes.

YOU WORKED WITH KEVIN FISHER ON BOTH ON THE WRITING AND THE PRODUCTION OF THE SONG. WHAT WAS THAT DYNAMIC LIKE IN THE STUDIO?

The way that we often work is that I take my lyrics and writing and control that. Usually, I’ll bring in an idea and he’ll start building the track. I’ll finish the lyrics in the corner, writing on my phone. and then if I’m like, “Hey do you like this line?” I’ll have him give feedback or help me figure out a way to write it better. That’s my favorite way to work with people. My favorite things about my songs are that they come directly from my brain. Sometimes it’s hard for other people to get into your brain and help you write what you want to write. It’s been fun working with Kevin because he gives me the freedom to write what is personal to me. And it’s also special that this is the first song we made together because we kind of just knew that we needed to keep working together.

THAT’S REALLY SPECIAL. IS THERE A PART OF THE PRODUCTION THAT YOU REALLY LIKE?

Every time you write with someone new “who do you listen to?” is always one of the first questions and then the producer kind of takes it from there. Sometimes they nail it and other times it’s cool, but it’s not my sound. Kevin and I have very similar tastes in music. I walked into the session and told him I listened to Taylor Swift, Lorde, Maisie Peters, and Phoebe Bridgers, and he was like “I love everyone that you just listed.” I think we clicked because of that too. He’s good at matching the vibe of what I’m trying to make. The production on “Manhattan” is so happy and it’s such a sad song—and I think it fits perfectly. But my favorite part of the production is when the second chorus kicks in. It’s this huge moment. And then there are moments of silence in the beginning, so I think it builds nicely. He killed it with this one.

YOU MENTIONED A FEW OF YOUR INFLUENCES (TAYLOR SWIFT, LORDE, MAISIE PETERS). IF YOU COULD PLAY “Manhattan” FOR ANYONE, WHO WOULD YOU PLAY IT FOR?

If I could play one of my songs to Taylor Swift it would be an honor. I think feedback from people that are in the industry, like a manager, is so different from feedback from an artist. If she said, “this song sucks,” I would never release it. I think she’s amazing and to be able to play her one of my songs, especially this one because you can hear the influence so much, would be incredible. I think lyrically it’s very much a storytelling song, and she’s the reason why I love telling stories in songs. To be able to share it with her would be a dream.

HOW ARE YOU FEELING HEADING INTO THE RELEASE?

I get nervous before releasing music, especially because it’s been a bit since I've released music. It definitely feels a little bit scary, but I think I’m going into it being like “I love this song,” and we’ll see what happens. I just hope it’ll find the right people who will resonate with it. My favorite part about releasing music is hearing what people say about it. The feedback of people that just listen to music all the time is so encouraging. They’re listening to all the people who I love listening to, and if they also like what I’m making, that’s cool. When you write a song it’s a personal story and when you release it, it becomes everyone else’s story, which I always love too. I’m excited to put it out in the world and let it live. Before I release a song, I’ll listen to it all the time. I’ve probably listened to “Manhattan” 500 times, and the minute it comes out I will probably never listen to it again. I’m just going to let it go and see what happens. I’m excited to see.

YOU CAN LISTEN TO “Manhattan” BY Simone ON STREAMING SERVICES LIKE SPOTIFY AND APPLE MUSIC. GO LISTEN AND MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW @twentyminuteslater TO STAY UPDATED ON FUTURE POSTS.