Nationality: Simon Popp
Occupation: Composer, drummer
Current Release: Simon Popp's Blizz is out via Squama.
Recommendations: Book: Joachim Ernst Berendt - The World is Sound: Nada Brahma; Music: Coisas by Moacir Santos

If you enjoyed this interview with Simon Popp and would like to stay up to date with his music, visit his official website. He is also on Instagram, and Facebook.



When did you start writing/producing/playing music and what or who were your early passions and influences? What was it about music and/or sound that drew you to it?

I grew up on an old farm in rural Bavaria and first got introduced to the drums by my uncle (also a drummer) when I was about 9 years old. He showed them to me and I loved them from the first moment.

My parents were very supportive from the beginning, I received drum lessons from a local drum teacher and got my own practice space in the barn next door. Very soon I started first bands with friends or played in school projects, whenever a drummer was needed.

At first I grew up with the music my parents listened to: artists like Fleetwood Mac, Fairport Convention, Led Zeppelin, Joan Baez or Jimi Hendrix come to my mind. Also I remember accompanying my mom to the local library once a week, where I got hooked on musicians biographies or the CD- and tapes collection there.

When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening and how does it influence your approach to creativity?

What I ask for when listening to music is that it makes me experience something. That can be a certain emotion, imagining pictures or connecting to situations or moments from the past.

When it comes to creativity for me it’s pretty similar. I try to create a space for something interesting to happen and keep my mind open to anything that might come up. Basically I’m just experimenting until something happens that touches me in some way.

Sometimes the first trigger maybe a certain sound, a musical idea or an happy accident - but I’m always trying to turn towards my gut feeling when developing the idea. When I get to the point where I don’t feel anything while writing music, I normally stop or go into a different direction.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and art?

I like it when things are allowed to appear and are able to develop in the moment. In the studio I have everything moveable and ready to go, because I want to be able to start right away and see where it takes me. I’m trying to approach without any preconceptions and search for something that I would enjoy listening to.

When it comes to perfection and imperfection, I learned that imperfection can be much more interesting. I like keeping “mistakes” on my recordings, like sticks falling down or my dog walking through the studio.

Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools - and what are the most promising strategies for working with them?

My most important tools are my wide spectrum of drums and percussion instruments I collected over the years. That ranges from different drumsets, classical percussion or pitched idiophones to culture-specific instruments like for example an Indian Dholak, a West African Balaphone and or a German Zither.

For me, each instrument has its own personality and when working on a track, I often just let it run on my speakers, walk through the room, turn to an instrument and see what it has to offer for to the track. Sometimes it’s really interesting to push the boundaries of an instrument, searching for unfamiliar ways of playing it or experiment with preparations and unconventional recording techniques, just to see what’s possible.

When recording I like to enrich my instruments with electronics from an early point or blend them with electronic sound generators to blur the line between organic and snthethic. For my new album Blizz I delved deeper into this interplay between electronic and organic percussive sounds.

Take us through a day in your life, from a possible morning routine through to your work, please.

A perfect day starts with a coffee. Then I would go for a run to the river nearby with our dog. I would have a short stop and meditate, then back at home I take a bath.

After that I would go to the studio with nothing ahead, start to play and be open for the rest to happen.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of a piece, live performance or album that's particularly dear to you, please?

My album Laya is a good example, since it was my first statement as a solo artist and it opened up the door in so many ways for me.



When recording it back in 2019, at first I didn’t really have any intention of doing a solo album at all. I had just bought some new instruments and studio equipment I wanted to check out, and started creating a few short ideas with them. After some time, I realized I really liked what I’d laid down, and I decided to expand these simple ideas into full tracks. In the middle of the room, I built a big circle with all my various instruments and sounds, mic’d them and started recording.

Most of the tracks developed out of short improvisations. Then I would add two or three layers on top, or sometimes, some sparse electronics. My idea was to create a very organic and multilayered world of sound, creating the tracks completely in the spur of the moment. No edits or delays in the process. Accepting the take as is and going with my gut feeling.

For me the whole process had a very natural flow, without any pressure - something I’m trying to keep up for all my releases.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Contrary to making a cup of coffee, being creative cannot be planed that well. When making a cup of coffee we do have a plan of the steps that follow each other. Of course one day the coffee happens to be better than the day after, but with music for me it is just not possible to follow a certain instruction plan.

It occurs that I’m in the studio for hours working to that one point where it all turns together. It can be frustrating but even more satisfying and surprising. Sometimes my ideas would come to me during the day, when I’m for a walk, in the shower or shopping.

My most important tool in those situations is my phone to capture these ideas in the notes app or singing a short sound memo. I will record my ideas quickly because they might disappear as fast as they came.

Music is vibration in the air, captured by our ear drums. From your perspective as a creator and listener, do you have an explanation how it is able to transmit such diverse and potentially deep messages?

I think listening and creating music is literally similar to any spiritual practice. There is something much more happening than just sound waves reaching our ear drums.

We might never be able to explain this fully, but it’s definitely something that’s deeply rooted in all of us.