REINTRODUCING BRADLEY SIMPSON — A BOOK OF MAGAZINE

BY: KATARINA LA POLL

PHOTOGRAPHER: MATTHEW GERETY, MUSIC EDITOR: JESSE ZAPATERO, PHOTO ASST: ALEX HUNZIKER

famously known as the frontman of the British pop sensation The Vamps (hailed for being the only artist to have headlined the London’s O2 Arena for five consecutive years), Bradley Simpson, is gearing up to release his first solo project. Fresh off The Vamps’ 10-year anniversary tour, the singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist is already back on the road and hyping up fans with his singles Cry At The Moon, Picasso, and Daisies. In an age where musicians are pressured to have snippets of their music reach internet virality even before they’re released rather than share songs in ways that might be more organic to who they are, thankfully Simpson has the ability to take the latter approach.

In preparation for the debut drop, Bradley Simpson put his new songs to the test and introduced the solo project with a string of live performances starting at the iconic and intimate 100 Club in London. After London, Simpson flew across the pond and played his first US show in six years at NYC’s Baby’s All Right followed immediately the next night by a show at The Moroccan in LA. Sure enough, crowds turned up energized and visibly swooning to his songs and stage presence. Listener are hearing a more vulnerable and mature storyteller than what they’re used to with lyrics holding some gravity below the surface of their catchy guitar patterns and indie-rock melodies— “You paint only tragedy and I'll keep coming back to you,”“let me pose and I’ll let you paint me black and blue, Picasso.” Showcasing his singles Picasso and Cry at the Moon live seems a natural choice for Simpson. He’s definitely got a knack for live performances that can feel as much like you’re in a living room jam sesh with him as you are at a full blown rock show.

In this interview, Simpson shares briefly what it’s like showcasing this new side of himself and his appreciation for the qualities that make up different music venues. He’s cognizant of the ways in which a physical space can determine the energy of a performance and inform an audience’s experience of the music.

Introducing himself as a solo artist at the 100 Club, Simpson remembers the first time he walked into the space and reckoned, “it felt like it would be a good experience for the fans.” “You step into this room where giants have played and you do feel that when you step into the 100 Club.” There are photographs on the walls of iconic artists who have performed there, “so you've got Metallica and Sex Pistols,” plus the venue “is still family run which is rare in venues and even just anywhere in London in particular, finding places that still retained that family feel.”

Simpson continues that the more he learned about 100 Club the more amazing he found it. “Originally the venue was being used as a bomb shelter in the war (WWII) and when the air raid went off, people would come down and they'd put speakers in there, and they’d put music on and everyone would dance.” On our video call, it’s apparent Simpson is fascinated by this history and has more to share about what he learned from the owners than our time allows for. Certainly as the speed of commerce accelerates and often erodes cultural preservation, it is exciting to hear Simpson take a personal approach to releasing music. This organic approach has already allowed him to learn more about the lineage of musicians he walks with and the histories of spaces which are vital to keeping a community or subculture alive.

Picasso is such a good song, you just released Daises - What's it feel like to have it all these great songs out right now?

Feels good. I think with all of these songs and always around releasing music, you sit on it for so long before it comes out, so it's always a sigh of relief to eventually get it off your laptop and into the world. I love this song. I think it's a really good representation as to what people could expect from the album. Hopefully it helps people out and they can have a dance to it and have a sing along. And the reception for this song in particular at the shows, because we were playing it for a couple of months before it actually came out at shows, so it was nice. It was nice to know that people were into it before it even came out.

Because you performed it at the 100 Club?

Yes. Yeah.

That's so cool. Performing at such an iconic venue.

Oh it was so so cool. Yeah, it was kind of intimidating in a way because you step into this room where giants have played and you do feel that when you step into the hundred club, but I loved it. We set up there for the week. It's still family run, which I think is really rare in venues and even just anywhere in London in particular, finding places that have still retained that family feel. And so it started with, I think it was the great granddad of the lady who's running it now, started it, and then it just got passed down and down and now her and her brother are running it. So they were great. It was a great space to showcase the new songs in.

That's kind of amazing that it's still family run.

I know!

How did you feel like that made your experience different? I feel like that is so rare these days.

Yeah, it is. It really is. And I think, again, because you walk around the venue and they've got all of the photos of the artists who've played in there, so you've got Metallica and Sex Pistols, and actually saw Paolo Nutini, who's one of my favorite artists there a couple of years ago. I just remember that the venue just feels really cool. It's a great place to go and watch music. So it felt like it would be a good experience for the fans. And then the more you get to know about it too. She was telling me originally it was being used as a bomb shelter in the war and when the air raid went off, people would come down and they'd put speakers in there. So rather than just sheltering from the bombs and just sit in there, they'd put music on and everyone would dance. So there’s just so much history in the venue. It was amazing. I feel like there's a lot of bucket list venues that I've wanted to play that I haven't had the chance to, that getting to play this time around, which is really cool.

You didn't play there as a part of The Vamps, did you?

Never, no, first time for me.

What was it like your first performance as a solo artist?

It was weird! It was really weird at first. I’m so used to having the boys around me. But I'm lucky I have some great musicians on stage with me. And I think it's such a different experience. The music feels really different, it’s a different head space, everything's really different. So it's almost like jumping between two worlds. And I am just trying to cultivate this solo world sonically with the album, but then also in terms of a live feel, it does feel different to me. So it was a bit strange at first and then it kind of settled in and I've been enjoying it.

Different in what way? Atmospheric?

Atmospheric, yeah, and I think the style of the form, because as well, the songs that I played within the band, they’re songs that I've been singing for like 10 years and I started singing when I was 17. A lot of them were written when I was a lot younger. So I think from that perspective, it's nice to be playing songs that feel really relevant to me now. And they've been stuff that I've been going through in more recent years. So yeah, different in a good way. And also because I’m writing the songs now, I'm writing them a lot lower so I don't have to sing as high, so it's easier in that sense.

I know you'd written these songs and they felt like they were personal to you and that you didn't want to necessarily give them away - was this part of your transition toward solo artist, or was it a long time coming?

Yeah, all of that really. We had a conversation a couple of years ago and Connor had started working on a project called Lunar, which he's still doing. And I think all of us spent a lot of time working on the fifth album. Then we toured it and then we did the 10 year anniversary tour. So I think all of us weren't necessarily in the headspace to write the sixth album at that point. I'd started writing stuff that, like you say, felt a little bit, it didn't feel right within the band and didn't feel right to pitch out to other artists. So it kind of very organically started. I was like, well, I feel like I'm in a good writing headspace with this, so I just carried on doing it and it built into a project really, rather than one day being like, I'm going to do the solo album.

That makes sense. I saw you also played at Babies, I love that venue!

Are you based in New York?

I’m in Los Angeles right now but I lived in New York for a chunk of time. But ya it's a classic spot where you know when your buddies play that venue, you're like, oh hell ya, you're playing Baby’s, you get the squad together and go and know you’re gonna have a good time.

It felt like that. Yeah, it was kind of similar feel to 100 Club actually. But yeah, really cool, really cool venue. Loved all the ashtrays on the back wall. They look sick. And also New York. It's the first time I played in America in six years, so it was nice to be back playing shows and it felt like a really cool venue to start it off with. I loved it, man. New York fans were crazy. Great.

Yeah, you can really turn up in there, it’s got that energy. So then you went straight to play your LA show the next night?

Yeah, flew.

Wild.

Yeah, yeah it was.

What are you most proud of right now about your journey?

Ooh I'm not sure. I'm happy. Well, no one's heard the full album yet, but I'm really happy where I have got to with the album. I'm really proud of the album and I think it is just nice to show a different side to me, that's what I'm kind of proud of is that I've been honest in these songs and playing them without people hearing them and seeing the reaction and seeing that they're into it before it's out is really cool. And I'm proud of that because it's a lot of people, in a very sick way of teasing songs online, and I think that's really, really interesting and fun, but I do like the approach of playing them live and seeing people's reaction to them live because it feels like the way that I want to showcase these songs. So I'm proud of that, that we've managed to get the set sound decent before the songs are out. Then the fans know the songs now off the back of either sharing them with each other or just off live videos and stuff.

Yeah, sometimes you hear a song and wonder if it's going to translate to a live performance, the energy's different, but I saw some of your performances and people are so hyped in the crowd.

When we did the New York show it was the Met Gala the same night, and we had a couple of drinks afterwards and they were saying and there were fans that were really like, yeah, this is great, this is great and then they'd be like, “what is she wearing?” So it was like they were split between Met Gala and the show, which I was like, yeah, listen, you have to do what you have to do.

Oh wow a weird time and sort of turning point culturally to have that show during the night of the Met Gala. So, is the album done or are you still writing?

Yeah, the album's done. I mean, I've got to do one last thing, but when I was in New York, actually the day before we played Baby’s, I did most of the album in New York in a studio called Flux, which is in Lower East Side and with a producer called Boots. And we kind of thought we'd finished the album. And then there was one more song that I wrote. I did a lot of the album here at home now and I've got a studio. So I wrote a lot of it just from here and then there was one more song that was written and I said to Boots - he was flying in for the show, he lives in Nashville now, and he flew in and I was like - “how do you feel about flying in one day earlier and us finishing the song?” and he did. So we got the last song of the album done the day before Baby's All Right. So we're just in mix territory now, but it's nearly there.

How would you describe the music on this album to the music you used to make?

I think I grew up on a lot of rock and alternative music. That was kind of what got me into music as a kid and got me into playing guitar and wanted to be in bands. And it's the same for all the boys in the band to be honest, that we all grew up on quite different music, but organic, live band, sound of music, but just from different genres. And I think I'd never delved into that side of what I like and my influences so I think you can hear that a bit more in the music and hopefully it's showing a different side of me in that sense. So I think there's a point of difference just sound wise. And writing solely by myself, for myself, is a very different headspace to writing within the band, which I love writing within the band, but it's just different. So I think it naturally comes out in a different way, being it lyrically or production style, but I think I've been able to deep dive and I think the music's a bit more of a, it's been very therapeutic to look back at the past 10 years when writing the album, so I think a lot of that has gone into music.

I love that you returned to your initial inspirations as a kid. How did you entertain yourself as a kid? Was it mostly music? I feel like it’s such a window into people and you can really get a sense of them knowing how they entertained themself when they were young.

Yeah, it’s true. Yeah, I loved music. I used to play in bands growing up. I was in bands from thirteen until sixteen when I met the boys. I used to skateboard. I used to love skateboarding, and that was my other thing. It was music and skateboarding. I loved that. And I wasn't bad at school, it didn’t not interest me, I was just like, it doesn't interest me anywhere near as much as the music and skateboarding does. So that was where my interests were, yeah, that mainly just normal kids stuff, playing football and then my sister was a massive influence, my sister's five years older than me and I love speaking to people about their sibling dynamic and stuff because my sister had such an impact on who I am not even just in terms of the music that I listen to, but the TV that we used to watch that all fed into who I am and who I am now, and she had a massive influence. She got me into Nirvana and Queens, the Stone Age, and so I think a lot of it was hanging out and listening to music. We used to go to gigs together. And so yeah, just normal, nothing too wild. I wasn't into, I dunno, any super weird hobbies.

Yeah, sibling dynamics are so interesting. I have five siblings and my older brothers definitely showed me so much music too.

Yeah, it’s cool. I feel like the older sibling has such a different experience. I went into the same school as my sister and she’d already carved a path, but without someone else doing it, like you know she goes to the first parties, my parents are like, well, why aren’t you back? And then I go to the party and they’re a bit more relaxed. Yeah, it's interesting. I think the oldest sibling always has to carve the path that makes it easier for the younger one.

If you could be a book, what book would you be? Or if there was a title for your book, what would it be?

In the moment I'd say “Change” because there's a few bits of change and I like that I think change is good, in any sense, like a location change, a love change, I think it's good. It forces you into new time territory. So at the moment, I would say “Change.”

I love that. There’s that saying, change is the only constant.

Ooh, I like that. That’s sick.