Words by Andrea Gombalová

Photography by Ben Cole

Music tip: Finding the Frequency with sim0ne

For sim0ne, music wasn't a career change so much as a realization. After years spent in front of the camera, stepping into electronic music became a way of expressing the parts of herself that had always been there. Blending influences from '90s rave culture with a distinctly contemporary perspective, her debut EP zer0 marks the beginning of a new chapter. We caught up with the Edinburgh-born, London-based DJ, producer, and vocalist to talk about ambition, femininity, finding community on the dance floor, and building a creative world that's entirely her own.

Andrea Gombalová: You started your career in front of the camera long before you stepped behind the decks. What made music become the place where you wanted to express yourself most?

sim0ne: It was less of a decision and more of a realization that I had already been expressing myself through music my entire life – through the songs I would listen to because they could describe what I was feeling better than I could or the tracks that made me want to dance at the club – and choosing to lean into that.

Did making music feel like stepping into a completely new identity, or did it finally feel like becoming yourself?

It felt like everything finally made sense, like this was a way I could truly express myself and reflect my inner world back to people.

Tell us about your upbringing and the first time you experienced a moment of calling when it became clear: I have a vision and I will follow it.

In all honesty I had an excruciatingly normal upbringing in Edinburgh that I think I tried to rebel against. Unfortunately for my angsty teenage self my parents were pretty lenient and in hindsight would turn somewhat of a blind eye when I would sneak out to raves and didn’t question it when I would disappear to Ibiza for the summer throughout university. That’s why it annoys me I took so long to turn to music because I was clearly being pulled towards the dance floor.

 

I do remember my Mum trying to inspire some ambition in me and asking me “What do you want to do? You can’t just have fun all the time, that’s not how life works” and I remember thinking “Why not? Why can’t I do that?” So when I started DJing it was like oh this is how I do it.

Your debut EP is called zer0. Why did "zero" feel like the right place to begin?

Well, obviously, it’s in my artist name but it felt like a clean slate. I aspire to a long music career so it felt right to put a stamp on the starting line.

zer0 looks to the past through the lens of the future. What is it about '90s rave culture that still feels relevant today?

We are losing so many third spaces in the internet age but I think people really yearn for that connection that dancing together brings. You can really leave everything at the door and just be in the moment and as our lives are more automated by technology I think moments where we can feel real and very present will become more important.

When does something feel successful to you and when does it feel like a failure?

I guess to me success looks like pushing myself to do something outside my limits. I used to throw up backstage with nerves before playing a 3000 person crowd, now I’m happy infront of 20,000.

Every mistake I’ve made has pushed me further, I think you only really fail when you give up on yourself.

Electronic music is still a space where women often have to prove their technical ability before they're taken seriously. Have you felt that pressure yourself?

Absolutely, when I talk with other female artists about this we agree it’s like you have to be twice as good to get half as far.

I’m a perfectionist and because of that I used to take myself so seriously which pushed me to become great but also seriously impacted my ability to enjoy performing. Now I care a lot more about my relationship with the crowd, I know they trust me and that gives me freedom to play around a lot more. 

What kind of woman did you need to see when you were younger that perhaps didn't exist yet?

Women being unashamed in their wants and ambitions. Peggy Gou was the first female DJ I really saw myself in – she was cooler than all her male peers and didn’t compromise her taste or femininity, I remember thinking that was really inspiring. 

I was a longtime Charli xcx fan pre ‘brat’ so seeing her go from an artist I got to see perform at parties in London to a global superstar while being so candid about her aspirations and fears is amazing , she’s always felt like one of the cool girls in the year above at school, I love that she doesn’t dilute herself.

What's something you're still trying to learn as a producer?

Something I really want to focus on is making more honest songs, it’s fun making a party track but I think there’s a challenge in making something vulnerable in dance music that I feel really drawn to right now.

Having worked in fashion from such a young age, how has that shaped the way you think about performance?

Fashion is the same as music in my mind, it’s all about expressing what you feel on the outside and translating it into a visual language for people to see. You can see it at concerts, I went to see 2hollis at Brixton Academy recently and I remember thinking that if you covered the billing you could probably guess who was performing by the way the fans in the queue were dressed. I love that.

What's something that instantly inspires you outside of music?

The people around me. I’m so fortunate to travel the world for work so I get to meet so many people and become part of their worlds. It’s hard not to feel inspired when you can be surrounded by the New York club kids, a J-pop group in Tokyo and the East London creatives in the same month.

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