“I feel very reborn”: Seraphina Simone hints at fresh sounds of upcoming EP with latest single release
With her new EP on the horizon, we caught up with Seraphina Simone to chat all things music production, upcoming projects, and the inspirations behind her latest single, "Better Days”.
Photo by Hannah Mould
So how are you doing in the new year? Last year was really, really busy for you. You were on the road with Self Esteem, you supported Lo Moon, put out new music? Have you found some time to rest?
“It was really busy. Last year was weird. It was, like, three quarters amazing. And then a quarter of it was really hard.”
“Touring with Self Esteem is always just the most soul-nourishing thing. And I was working on this EP that is coming out this spring, doing lots of recording and production. I was busy all year, and it was really, really motivating. And then it hit Autumn, which was the first time really in three years that I hadn't been really, really busy. It was the first time I've been fully freelance and I found it really hard to adjust.”
“So yeah, I'd say the last bit of 2023 was like a transition. And so I feel very reborn, I guess. I feel ready for this new kind of energy.”
Your new single, Better Days, comes out tomorrow. I know everyone's really excited for it. So how are you feeling about the release yourself?
“I'm really excited. Now. It's a funny one, releasing music. I think a lot of people that make any kind of creative offering feel like this, where so much of the joy is in the making of it. And that part is like purging a part of yourself— like putting down into a tangible, external form something that is going on inside of you.”
“And it's a kind of therapeutic cathartic, indulgent thing that is just yours. And the only thing you're thinking about is how best to express a feeling. I get very lost in that period, and I find it thrilling, and then it obviously gets to a stage where you have to release it to the world.”
“I finished producing this song early last year with a guy called Matt Wills. So it's been done for ages. It’s like a finished product, it goes in the drawer, waiting to be released. And later you have to re-familiarise yourself with it and also be aware that you're about to release it to the world, and people will then have an opinion on it. It's not just yours anymore.”
Yeah, it's nerve inducing, putting a piece of yourself out there! And as you said, you finished writing this track a while ago, so it’s sort of like putting yourself back into that time where you were going through those struggles. So do you want to talk a bit about what was going on at the time, what informed the track?
“The track came from another song that I wrote in 2020 that was supposed to be on this EP, but I just couldn’t quite get it right. This song had completely different verses, which turned into the Better Days verses. The old song was a really morbid kind of piano dirge that a lot of my songs do start out as. So I kind of lifted it. And then the song just came quite quickly from that, because it already had the verses mapped out.”
“But I remember thinking, because it's about the dissolution of a relationship, I want it to be quite a frenetic rhythm, I don't want it to be like a ballad, I want it to contrast with the sad theme.”
“And also, I think that when you're in that stage where a relationship has kind of just ended and you're still in the grief of it, you know it's the right thing, you know, intellectually, that a few months down the line, you're going to be fine, you're going to be better, you're going to be happier. But in that moment you’re like ‘Fucking hell, this is so painful.’ It’s a whirlwind of emotions. So I wanted to get that frenzy into it. I think the bridge is the best example of it. It’s very breathless— there are so many words in it that I find it quite difficult to sing live.”
I like how you sort of convey the feeling of the song through the beat itself. It's a really nice style as well– almost a departure from your usual sound, in the sense that it’s underlaid by this dancey beat. So was that what you had in mind from the get go? And is it going to be similar to the sound of the rest of your EP?
“No. It’s a one-off. But I think the EP in general does have more of a maximalist, alternative pop sound, maybe slightly more so than the last one. But Liverpool was its own entity almost, it's more of a ballad. And then there's three other songs, which are all quite different to each other, but they all explore slightly different avenues of alternative pop.”
“One’s slightly more grungy, one is more like shoegaze pop, and then Better Days is kind of more drum and bass-filled. And it was because I was just listening to a lot of PinkPantheress and being like, ‘God, this is great’. And then, because of that, I went back and listened to the very first Mis-Teeq record, which I was too young to really appreciate at the time, but it’s so so good.”
“And it is such a departure from my usual stuff. I guess it was a bit of a challenge of like, can I make something that is in that sound world, that doesn't just sound like I've decided to lift a beat and shove it on a track because it's cool. So I wanted to try and see if I could make something that makes sense for the song. But it's kind of an homage to that.”
You've been doing lots of amazing things quite recently, and obviously since you started music, to do with self producing. And towards the end of last year, you did some work surrounding women in studio production and engineering, and you also co-produced this new release. So how important do you find it that yourself and other women are represented in that space?
“Oh my god, like a trillion percent. I just love it. I love it so much. It gives me so much joy to produce– I love the infinite creative potential of it. I didn't know how to produce for quite a few years when I was first making music and it gave me so much freedom when I first started to learn it, even at the very beginning.”
“I love producing with other people because I am still learning. And I think that when you're working with someone else, the kind of creative alchemy means you're going to create something more: they're bringing their energy and their skill set. And then together, we make something better than either of us would individually."
“I don't want to be kind of very broad about this, but I think it is such a male-dominated industry. And a lot of the attitude has to kind of be ‘fake it till you make it’, which I think women have historically not been that comfortable doing because in today’s society we have been conditioned to be like, ‘Well, unless you're excellent at something, don't put your neck on the line. Because if you say you can do something, and you can't, well, never try that again,’ you know.”
“So I think it's nerve wracking to be a female-identifying producer and to try and exist in a space that, up till now, has been quite testosterone filled.”
And such a huge part of it is confidence. Some men are naturally just like, ‘Oh, I can do it.’ And it's fine for them to then screw up. Whereas if a woman says she can do something, and then makes the tiniest mistake, people are like, ‘women can't do anything’.
“Yeah, it’s definitely that kind of internalised belief as well. For instance, I found it very difficult to call myself a producer up until the middle of last year, even though I was producing all my own stuff. I was like ‘No, but I'm not like those proper producers.’ but in this course I did for women in production with The F-List, one of the things was just encouraging us to own it. Call yourself a producer– people call themselves producers who know a lot less than you do. So just do it. We know what we’re doing.”
Are there any other words of advice you'd give to other women looking to go into production?
“I would say just start. Ableton is my baby, my place, my kind of comfort zone. I think it looks scarier than it is. And as soon as you just start to know the geography of it and what various things do it becomes quite instinctive in how you use it, and how you use it is completely up to you. I watch a lot of tutorials on YouTube. I follow a magazine called Composer Magazine, which is kind of more in the film and TV world, but I think it's still quite relevant.”
“Treat it like another instrument. And realise that it is just a blank page for you to sculpt into whatever you want. But what it's there to do is help you get out what's in your head. And if you don't have the language for production, then often what you say can be misconstrued and bulldozed over by someone else's idea. And if you don't know how to express yourself succinctly, then you might find yourself with a production job that’s just not quite what you had in mind.”
“It's your art and it's a piece of your soul that you're choosing to carve out. And so I guess just treat it with all of that respect and love that it deserves.”
As you said, you’ve got a new EP on the horizon. You have a headline show in April. Do you want to tell us a bit more about what’s to come this year?
“So I’m doing a headline show on April 24th, at The Courtyard Theatre. I’m really excited about it. I’m approaching it with a bit more thought as to it being a show as a whole. I’m really influenced and inspired by Rebecca (Self Esteem) in that sense, of thinking of the show as a whole piece of art, rather than song by song. I’m just thinking about it as a journey, and I'm excited to share that and play the songs live.”
“And then I’ve got a new EP coming in the Spring, another new single that will be coming out after Better Days, and then who knows about the rest of the year! Just manifesting!”