Bee Simonds
Seattle, WA
www.myspace.com/beesimonds
Interview with: Bee Simonds from Bee Simonds
Written By: Rance D. Reed from GreenlandLive.net
The band Bee Simonds is an emotionally charged, driving, just-poppy-enough rock to get stuck in your head, and unpredictable enough to keep you guessing. Bee Simonds is the lead vocals and she plays guitar, percussive guitar at that, and she is backed by a solid rhythm section, and keys section. The band is rock mixed with elements of blues, trip-hop, punk, and soul.
She wrote 'Pillars' two years ago while piecing together the pieces of her never-a-dull-moment life in Bali…a trip she took alone to find God. As soon as Bee Simonds returned she immediately entered the studio, and while at the studio she met her right hand man, and drummer Jeff Gall. She was introduced to Chris Woertink, her bassist, through a friend she will forever be indebted to, and Dan Crowdus, is keyboard player came fresh from Kentucky where he and Jeff grew up together.
Bee Simonds would be lying if she didn’t cite AniDifranco as the most inspirational of her influences; 'I’m big into Truth, and those who don’t shy away from it, so I tip my hat. Cat Stevens is a favorite, although I’m not sure that is reflected in my music.' Bee likes to think that her music appeals to a wide array of people in the musical stylings are palatable, even dig-able, to fans of straight up ROCK, and also fans of smoky breathy sweet female sung songs. Bee defies age for sure, and sexuality, and gender. 'I like to think it appeals to people that pay attention to what is being said, she emote, but also thinks too much, so everything she write means something more.' According to Bee, 'Metaphors turn me on!'
Bee's music is driven by truth all she wants to do is play, play, and play some more, if she can continue to play music, write music, and reach people just by speaking the truth she will die happy. Her message is simply this. Speak your Truth. Live your Truth. “Say what you mean and act how you feel because those who matter don’t mind, and those who mind don’t matter.” Life is an emotional, confusing, contradictory thing—she struggles to understand life, and yearn for peace in the faith that she doesn't need to understand. The expression of human emotion, her experiences here on this earth is something she believes in. 'I refuse to believe we are just a narcissistic, self-aggrandizing race completely void of the divine. We are here to learn something. I believe we have within us, the tools to reach higher ground. Paying attention to our experience is vital. Everything matters.'
Bee's latest album portrays that she is an dichotomy. She's the extremist seeking balance, happy on either end, and plagued by the incessant searching. The album begins with a few hard-hitting, pop rock tunes definitely radio friendly, and interludes at the 7th song with a brutally honest spoken word piece, and then becomes more and more sparse and raw until the 13th song where it is just Bee and her guitar, live in a large room, the first song recorded for the album in fact—very vulnerable, very…unguarded. The album is, essentially two personalities, two sides of Bee, two different emotions entirely. “Of course I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes; every moment defines us.'
Rance D. Reed and GreenlandLive.net would like to THANK Bee Simonds for taking the time to do an interview with us!
CHECK OUT BEE SIMONDS AT www.greenlandlive.net or www.myspace.com/beesimonds