The Artist Explains - simon a. - 'Badland'
Fresh from releasing his EP ‘Way To Go’ - simon a. has just dropped his new single ‘Badland’. A silky number that tackles online personas and told from the perspective of an influencer. He took a moment to talk to us about the track in more depth.
Hey there simon.a, how are you? Your new track ‘BADLAND’ is out now - can you tell us what it is about?
I'm well, thanks! The song's about social media and the trappings of it. It's told from the perspective of an influencer and basically goes through how damaging it can be to live your life only through these social media channels. Views get distorted, perceptions shattered, feelings hurt. Now you're in the Badland.
Where was the track recorded? Any behind the scenes stories from the process?
It was recorded in my bedroom actually haha. That's where I record most of my stuff just out of ease. I started with the instrumental before I even knew what the song was, but I wanted to do something similar to Tame Impala's Borderline. That was the starting point; it clearly ended up somewhere completely different. The lyrics did literally come from me looking at Instagram like "Yo, what is all this?" It's so easy to get lost in comparison but it's taken me time to realise that it's all just everyone putting their best foot forward and throwing some glitter on top. I was wondering what it would be like to be that person, the one with the glittered foot, and so that's how we got here!
This is the latest track since you released your EP last May - is ‘BADLAND’ leading to something bigger in the long term?
It's actually a single for a project dropping next year! I've got two more singles coming this year in preparation for that. I'm pretty excited for it ngl.
The track tackles the digital world and takes the viewpoint of an influencer. Do you feel the digital side of life has a positive or negative effect on the world? Especially when it comes to music?
To be fair, there's positives and negatives for it. Social media can do so much good. The sharing capabilities are incredible, and not even just for music and fan engagement; I would have had no idea what was really going on with the protests last year were it not for Twitter. I just think, just like most things do, it's become a competition, and it's the pressure to just "look good" not even in the attractive sense but like to look well, is the damaging part. That, and also the fact that everyone has grown so comfortable with their own opinions to the point where they take on a life of their own and it can get rough. In music for me, it's more of the comparison thing. Since everyone is on here sharing success stories every day it continuously makes me evaluate my own life, more often than not as "less than". That's definitely not good, it's still a struggle to get off that sometimes.
Now the track is out there - what next for you?
I'm filming a music video for it now that should be out soon. Other than that I guess it's just more tune for your head top!