As weird as 2020 was, Sophie Simmons actually accomplished a lot more in her career than she has in previous years. “I’m not sure if it had something to do with being so focused, less external distractions and more home time,” Sophie tells Eat This Music. “In any case, I am weirdly thankful for the silver lining of 2020 being my career really taking off.”
“I think we’re all in kind of the same headspace,” Sophie continues. “It’s a very weird time.” In fact, Sophie is the type of person that wants to encourage anyone who is struggling with mental health to think about speaking to a therapist: “I think it’s really healthy to talk all these feelings through,” Sophie adds. “I know people have a stigma when it comes to therapy, but I think there’s no better time to sign up for it [than] now.”
People know Sophie for being the daughter of Gene Simmons, and also for songs like “Mine“, “Magnets” and “Paper Cut“. However, Sophie Simmons is her own person, and not many people know about Sophie’s love of poetry. ‘Secrets I Would Never Say, but I Would Sing‘ is a book Sophie has been working on for the past two years. It is a compilation of poems and lyrics she has collected over her songwriting career. The writings have been curated to go with little pieces of art supplied by her publisher By The 7.
“I feel the title is really self-explanatory,” Sophie says to Eat This Music on the title of her book. “These are all secrets that I would write into songs or poems, but I would never say it to people’s faces.” In fact, Sophie is not sure why, but it is a lot easier for her to express how she feels through her art – vocally or penned.
“I wouldn’t go that far; it takes so long to put something like this together. I feel like I’m in a different place in my career, but it’s still very much a part of me and the journey of songwriting.” — Sophie Simmons on the creation of her book
“So, I think it’s really important to catalogue it,” Sophie continues in our chat. “I think we intend on this being a series so the reader can grow with me as I grow as a writer.”
The creative process for Sophie’s book was different than most books. A lot of the poems came from songs or one-liners Sophie wrote down for inspiration for songs. The process was mostly editing down to content that she collected over the years and then pairing it with little pieces of art that accentuated the meaning.
All parts of Sophie’s life influence her art in some way: “I think it’s impossible to keep at least a little bit of yourself out of your art,” Sophia tells Eat This Music. “This book is entirely influenced by my life I would think.”
Sophie wanted the book to look like a mixture of typewriting and also handwriting. Kind of a combination between electronica writing of songs and poems and also handwritten songs and poems, which is what she mostly does. “I thought it would be nice if there was a handwritten touch in there, and yes some of the lines are accentuated with handwriting,” Sophie continues. “I’ll let you read into the meaning of that.”
May 18, 2018, March 2018 and Los Angeles are specified dates and locations towards the end of the book – and the placement of these is there for a reason. 2018 was one of the most difficult years of Sophie’s life: “I lost both grandparents and I went through quite a big heartbreaking betrayal and gaslighting,” Sophie reveals. “Something I hope I never go through again. Those poems didn’t need titles, they need dates.”
One of Sophie’s favourite poems in the book is called “coming home.” Sophie originally wrote that poem as a Christmas song and then she realized it is much more about coming back to a place you were avoiding from your past: “I think it’s a really relatable feeling for a lot of people,” Sophie explains about her favourite poem.
Sophie believes her poetry and music writing are the same: “I don’t really think about something being a poem or a lyric when I’m writing it,” she says. “I just try to get it all out in the open and then decide what it is after.”
2021 is the year Sophie Simmons starts focussing on her songwriting more. Writing for a lot of other artists too and developing some newer artists. 2021 is looking really exciting for her. “I think fans can expect a consistent flow of releases for songs I’ve written for other people,” Sophie reveals on her 2021. “I’ll try to keep everyone updated on my socials when things are coming out.”
“Also, I would just like to thank everyone for listening,” Sophie concludes.
